Departures of note

Ellis CeDell Davis, a Delta blues guitarist and singer, developed a singular style of guitar playing after polio left him with little control over his left hand. He adapted by using a butter knife in his fretting hand, a method similar to slide guitar that produced what critic Robert Palmer called 'a welter of metal-stress harmonic transients and a singular tonal plasticity.' This distinctive approach defined his music and earned him critical acclaim.

Born in Helena, Arkansas, in 1926, Davis grew up on a plantation and began playing harmonica and guitar as a child. When he contracted polio at age ten, he chose to continue playing despite the handicap, leading to his innovative butter knife technique. After mastering this style, he performed in nightclubs across the Mississippi Delta and played with Robert Nighthawk from 1953 to 1963. In 1957, a police raid caused a stampede that broke both of his legs, confining him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life; these hardships deeply influenced his lyrics and blues style.

Davis moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in the early 1960s and continued his artistic work. His 1994 album, Feel Like Doin' Something Wrong, produced by Robert Palmer, received a 9.0 from Pitchfork Media, which called it 'timeless.' Subsequent releases included The Best of CeDell Davis (1995), The Horror of It All (1998), and When Lightnin' Struck the Pine (2002), which featured musicians Peter Buck, Barrett Martin, Scott McCaughey, and Alex Veley. Davis died on September 27, 2017, from complications of a heart attack in Hot Springs, Arkansas, at age 91. The Tedeschi Trucks Band dedicated their album Signs to him as a tribute to Col. Bruce Hampton's love of Davis's music.