Sam Lay, Drummer Behind Blues Greats and Bob Dylan, Dies at 86


Powerful and virtuoso drummer Sam Lay, who played and recorded with Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, was a founding member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and supported Bob Dylan when he was electrified at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. 29 at a nursing facility in Chicago. He was 86 years old.

His daughter Debbie Lay confirmed the death but said she did not know why.

Mr. Lay’s exuberant, distinctive drumming was known for its double medley, adapted from the rhythms of the clapping and tambourine beats he heard at the Pentecostal church he attended growing up in Birmingham, Ala.

“The only way I can describe it is you have three different drummers playing the same beat, but they’re not hitting at the same time,” Mr. Lay said. “Sam Lay in Bluesland” Directed by John Anderson and published in 1968, Mr. 2015 documentary based on the album Lay.

plays the harmonica Siege of CorkyA longtime collaborator said the double mixing groove is part of Mr. Lay’s ability to do more than just keep the beat.

“He just blew you away,” Mr. Siegel said in a phone call. “The chute and the concept of time didn’t hold him back.” He added: “People think he’s playing it loud. No, he played sensitively, but he used the full dynamic range, and when you do that and you reach a crescendo, it’s like a powerful, coming towards you engine. But with Sam it was like five engines.”

After arriving in Chicago in the early 1960s, Mr. Lay played in bands led by the harmonica and singer. Little Walter and singer howling wolf, with whom he recorded songs that became blues standards such as “Death Floor” “The Red Rooster” and “I’m Not Superstitious.”

After being fined once by Howlin’ Wolf for wearing pants without a black stripe on them, Mr. Lay argued that behind the drum kit, no one could see his pants. As their disagreements continued, Mr. Lay drew a Smith & Wesson gun and pointed it at Howlin’ Wolf’s face.

Mr. Lay left to join Howlin’ Wolf. Paul Butterfield Blues Band In 1963, he was tempted by the prospect of making $20, almost three times what he would earn at a concert. On the harmonica and vocals, Mr. Led by Butterfield, the band also included guitarists. Bishop of Elvin and Mike Bloomfield bassist Jerome Arnold and keyboard player Mark Naphthalene — it was racially integrated, rare at the time, and bought the blues to a white audience during a busy time in the civil rights movement.

The band played at the Newport Folk Festival on July 25, 1965. Hours after their set, Mr Lay, Mr Arnold and Mr Bloomfield were part of Mr Dylan’s backup band and stunned the audience by playing an electric set. It started with an uplifting version of the song “Maggie’s Farm.”

Shortly after, Mr. Dylan asked Mr. Lay to support him in the title track of his album. “Highway 61 Revisited.” In addition to drumming, Mr. Lay whistled a toy in the song’s memorable opening. (Organist Al Kooper said he was the one who brought the whistle into the studio).

“I blew this up and it sounded like a siren,” Mr. Lay told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2004. “Bob said, ‘Do this again. So I did it again.”

Later in 1965, the Butterfield band’s debut album was released, simply called “The Paul Butterfield Blues Band”. One track, “I Got My Mojo Working,” featured Mr. Lay as lead vocals.

An illness caused Mr. Lay to leave the band in late 1965.

Samuel Julian Lay was born on March 20, 1935, in Birmingham. His father, Foster, a Pullman train porter who played the banjo in a country band, died when Sam was 17 months old. His mother, Elsie (Goodness) Lay, cleaned Pullman cars.

Growing up, he listened to country music; In his youth, he took drum lessons from the composer’s son, WC Handy Jr. He dropped out of high school (which ended his dream of running faster than Olympic champion Jesse Owens) and moved to Cleveland in 1954, where he worked at a steel mill and began exploring his musical path.

One day, he entered a wine bar after hearing the sound of the harmonica playing by Little Walter, who asked him to sit down when he learned that it was drumming. In the late 1950s, Mr. Lay joined the Thunderbirds, a blues and R&B band.

When little Walter was shot, Mr. Lay restored him to health. He joined Little Walter’s band while in Chicago. But not long left; He was soon hired by Howlin’ Wolf.

Mr. Lay was a slick dresser who wore flashy capes and hats and carried a walking stick. She styled her hair for a while after Little Richard’s. And in the 1960s he brought his wind-up eight-millimeter camera to the clubs. He had no sound, but on stage he captured footage of Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Albert King, Buddy Guy, and more.

“As soon as the Howling Wolf found out that a camera was watching him, you would think he had somehow been taken over,” Mr. Lay said in Mr. Anderson’s documentary.

Footage he took was used in Mr. Anderson’s film and in Martin Scorsese’s 2003 public television series. “Blues.”

After playing with harmonica and singer in 1966 James CottonMr. Lay heard from Muddy Waters that an enemy of Mr. Cotton, who shot him years ago, had just gotten out of prison and was going after him. Mr. Lay rushed home, picked up his .45 Colt, went to the cabin and prepared to defend Mr. Cotton.

But while Mr. Lay was waiting for the gunman (who never came), his gun went off. Phoenix told the New Times in 1999. He shot himself in the groin.

“I am still recovering,” he said in the interview.

In 1969, Mr. Lay was part of the all-star band that included Muddy Waters and Paul Butterfield, who recorded the album. “Fathers and Sons.” It reached number 70 on the Billboard chart.

For the next 50 years, he performed with Mr. Siegel’s ensembles, the Siegel-Schwall Band, the Chamber Blues, and the Chicago Blues Reunion, and became the leader of his own blues band.

But the blues didn’t pay all of Mr. Lay’s bills. He worked as a security guard for many years.

Mr. Lay, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2015He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame as part of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and three years later.

In addition to his daughter, he is survived by four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. His wife Elizabeth (Buirts) Lay died in 2017. His son Bobby died in 2019 and his son Michael died last month.

Mr. Lay’s confidence was not lacking.

“I don’t know anyone in the world who can follow a band as well as I do, especially when it comes to blues and that old-timey rock ‘n’ roll,” he said in Mr Anderson’s documentary.

“The secret,” he added, “is to pay attention to what everyone else is playing, to keep your eyes and mind open.”



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