From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Tue Apr 23, 2002  1:16 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Cow Cow Davenport
 
COW COW DAVENPORT

Born Charles Edward Davenport, 23 April 1894
Died 3 December 1955, Chicago, Illinois

Boogie woogie pianist. One of the most distinctive themes utilized in
boogie-woogie is the train imitation Cow Cow Blues from which Davenport
derived his nickname. Charles Davenport's father, a preacher, wanted to see
his son follow him to a career in the church but it was not to be. Instead
the piano laid claim to Charles at an early age and he took up the insecure
life of the medicine show musician. He joined Barhoot's Travelling Carnival
working the backwaters of Alabama. Here his basically rag-time piano style
was subjected to the influence of Bob Davis and the lusty, rolling result
was to be the basis of Charles' success on record throughout the '20s. He
moved into vaudeville with blues singer Dora Carr as Davenport And Co.
Davenport made his first recordings for Gennett (unissued) and Paramount in
1924. Thereafter he linked up with Vocalion both as performer and talent
scout. As well as recording under his own name (and as George Hamilton, the
Georgia Grinder and Bat The Hummingbird) he supported many other artists,
forming a particularly successful liaison with singer Ivy Smith. During this
period he tried several ventures outside music, failing as a record shop
owner and opening his own café. He also fell foul of southern law and spent
six months in jail. In 1938 he suffered an attack of apoplexy which left him
deficient in his right hand. He continued to perform as a singer but a move
to New York found him eventually washing dishes in the Onyx Club, from where
he was rescued by pianist Art Hodes. He recovered sufficiently to record
again as a pianist, for the Comet and Circle labels, in 1945 and 1946.
Davenport worked towns as far apart as Atlanta, Cleveland and Nashville. He
has composer credit for two much-played standbys of the traditional jazz
scene, "Mama Don't Allow" and "(I'll Be Glad When You're Dead) You
Rascal You". His "Cow Cow Blues" was adapted by Ahmet Ertegun into
"Mess Around" for Ray Charles (1953), which in its turn served as a
model for Paul Peek's "The Rock-A-Round".

Further reading: Peter J. Silvester, A Left Hand Like God (1989).
Document has reissued Davenport's "Complete Recorded Works" on
three CD's. An single-CD alternative is "1926-38", issued in 2000 on
the Wolf label (23 tracks).