RIP- Blues Drummer Sam Lay 29JAN2022

[ERD50]

I just learned of this through Corky Siegal's newsletter.

You may not know Sam Lay, but he has quite a history. Corky featured Sam at a couple his recent concerts that I was at. He'd always make a big fuss over him, probably a couple dozen times during the show, he'd say "And SAM LAY on drums!"

From Corky:

From top of Alligator Press Release

Performed And Recorded With Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, James Cotton, Bob Dylan And Others

Drummed As Dylan "Went Electric" At The 1965 Newport Folk Festival And Appears On Highway 61 Revisited


"Walter, Wolf and Muddy, they must have known it, too – that you're second to none – your flawless musicianship and unsurpassed timing, a maestro with the sticks and brushes."
–Bob Dylan

"Almost without any argument one of the most influential and greatest drummers in the history of popular music. Lay is the real thing."
–The Chicago Tribune

Famed Chicago blues drummer and vocalist Sam Lay – who recorded on definitive tracks by Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and many others, as well recording with and leading his own band – died in a nursing facility near his Chicago home from natural causes on Saturday, January 29, 2022. Beloved for his talent, his buoyant and outgoing personality, as well as for his sense of style (he was known for his cape and walking stick), Lay was among the most historically significant and musically innovative drummers in both the early blues and rock 'n' roll scenes. Lay is an inductee to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame, The Blues Hall Of Fame and The Jazz Hall Of Fame. He was 86 years old.

From wiki (I'm surprised Corky didn't mention Paul Butterfield - hmmm, rival harp players? Some bad history?):

Samuel L. Lay (March 20, 1935 – January 29, 2022)[1] was an American drummer and vocalist who performed from the late 1950s as a blues and R&B musician alongside Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Paul Butterfield, and many others. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.

RIP -ERD50