#sam lay

Sam Lay 

Home Movies shot by Howlin' Wolf and Sam Lay. Chicago early 1960s

Drummer Sam Lay died on this date in 2022.

(via Sam Lay, Drummer Who Backed Blues Greats and Bob Dylan, Dies at 86 - The New York Times)

The drummer Sam Lay in performance with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in Boston in 1965. He was known for using the full range of his instrument, to powerful effect.

“Among the Most Historically Significant and Musically Innovative Drummers,” Sam Lay Dies at 86

Sam Lay, the influential drummer to who played with Little Walter and Howlin’ Wolf, co-founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and backed Bob Dylan when he plugged in at Newport, died of natural causes on Jan. 29, his record label said.

Lay was 86.

“Rest well, Sam Lay,” Dom Flemons wrote on social media. “Thanks for laying down the beat for so many.”

Lay’s career took him from sessions with Walter, Wolf, Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker and others to Butterfield’s band to the Newport Folk Festival stage when Dylan went electric and beyond.

In announcing his death, Alligator Records lauded Lay as “among the most historically significant and musically innovative drummers in both the early blues and rock ‘n’ roll scenes.”

During his lifetime, Lay was inducted into the Rock and Roll, Blues and Jazz halls of fame.

“Rest in peace, Mr. Sam Lay … what a blues lineup they must have in heaven tonight,” Chess Records, home to many of Lay’s collaborators, said on social media.

Dylan heaped praise on Lay in 2002 when the drummer received the Chicago Chapter of the Recording Academy’s Legends and Heroes award.

“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,” Dylan said.

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band 1965 Elektra ——————————————————————— Tracks: 01. Born in Chicago 02. Shake Your Money-Maker 03. Blues with a Feeling 04. Thank You Mr. Poobah 05. I Got My Mojo Working 06. Mellow down Easy 07. Screamin’ 08. Our Love Is Drifting 09. Mystery Train 10. Last Night 11. Look over Yonders Wall ———————————————————————

Jerome Arnold

Elvin Bishop

Mike Bloomfield

Paul Butterfield

Sam Lay

Mark Naftalin