Dave Lewis (musician)
Encyclopedia
David Eugene "Dave" Lewis (1938 – March 13, 1998) was an African American
rock
and rhythm & blues (R&B) keyboardist
, organist
and vocalist based in Seattle, Washington, USA. Peter Blecha accounts his Dave Lewis Combo as "Seattle's first significant African American
1950s rock and roll band" and Lewis himself as "the singularly most significant figure on the Pacific Northwest's nascent rhythm & blues scene in the 1950s and 1960s."
with his family during World War II
. There was music in his background: his father, David Lewis, Sr., was an accomplished amateur guitarist, and his mother Bertha Lewis was similarly talented on piano. The family moved first to seek work in the navy town of Bremerton, Washington
, across Puget Sound
from Seattle, where they settled in the segregated
Sinclair Heights housing projects. One of their neighbors was the young Quincy Jones
, who took some music lessons from David Sr.
The Lewis and Jones families both eventually moved to Seattle, where they lived about five blocks apart from one another in the Central District
, the center of African American life in Seattle at the time. His father worked as a fabricator at Boeing
and also pulled shifts in a barber shop. Lewis tried both guitar and piano, but definitely gravitated toward the latter, especially after hearing Ray Charles
, who was launching his performing career in Seattle in the late 1940s.
Lewis's first performing group was a doo-wop
vocal group called the Five Checks, formed to enter a talent show held at Edmund Meany Jr. High School (now Edmond S. Meany Middle School
). They went on to perform at schools around Seattle, often for audiences who had never heard anything of the sort, at least not in live performance.
As a student at Seattle's Garfield High School
Lewis formed the combo that would bring him to local prominence. George Griffin from his doo-wop group played drums; Barney Hilliard and J. B. Allen both played saxophone
; Jack Grey played upright bass, and Al Aquino rounded out the group on guitar. Starting off at teenage sock hop
s and house parties, they soon graduated to being an opening act for touring R&B acts when they played Seattle's downtown Palomar Theater (then at the corner of Third and University, now replaced by a multi-story parking garage). The Dave Lewis Combo opened for, among others Sugar Pie DeSanto
, Sugar Chile Robinson, Nellie Lutcher
, and Wild Bill Davis
.
In the summer of 1956, Lewis still had one more year to complete at Seattle's Franklin High School, but his combo was the hottest item in the region. They toured the Pacific Northwest as the opening act for a leg of a Bill Haley & His Comets
tour. This led to similar opportunities with Ray Charles
, Little Richard
, Jerry Lee Lewis
, the Platters
, Ike and Tina Turner, the Drifters
, Roy Orbison
, and Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps
.
In summer 1957, Lewis and his combo settled in for a long tenure as the house band at the leading Seattle R&B
club, Birdland (22nd and Madison), where they popularized the song Louie Louie
, which would become strongly associated with the region. By this time, Al Aquino and Jack Grey had left the band, replaced by Bud Brown on guitar and Chuck Whittaker on electric bass
(replacing Grey's upright acoustic). On several occasions the teenaged Jimi Hendrix
—then "Jimmy" Hendrix—sat in on jam session
s there, but Lewis's audience found him undanceable.
Later members of the Combo were Jerry Allen (guitar) and Carlos Ward (saxophone).
of the Seattle music scene. At the time Lewis began his professional career, Seattle still had two musician's union
locals, AFM
No. 76 for whites and AFM No. 493 for blacks. Lewis's combo became the first African American band to play frequently on traditionally white turf, including downtown clubs, University of Washington
fraternities
, and even suburban venues. When Local 76 complained about Lewis getting a gig at the popular Parker's Ballroom on Aurora Avenue, owner Dick Parker told them that if they made him choose between booking Lewis's combo and being able to book Local 76 bands, he'd choose Lewis. On January 14, 1958 the two Seattle locals merged.
(the Seattle world's fair
), Lewis put together a new band. J. B. Allen remained from the old group; the new band members were guitarist Jim Manolides and drummer Don "Candido" Mallory. The new group took over from Manolides' old group the Frantics
as the house band at Dave's Fifth Avenue near the fairgrounds.
Shortly after the end of the fair, Lewis switched from piano to Hammond B-3 organ
, and formed a new trio with guitarist Joe Johansen and drummer Dickey Ensign (who would be replaced in 1966 by Dean Hodges).His new trio scored minor hits with "David's Mood (Part 2)" (1963) and "Little Green Thing" (1964), both of which were heavily covered by other Pacific Northwest bands. By the mid-1960s, though, Lewis pretty gave up touring, settling instead into a long series of local club gigs that lasted into the early 1970s.
, where his brother Ulysses Lewis was one of the partners in the management firm at the time. The "grandiose" project was not notably successful. Furthermore, Lewis got into increasingly serious drug problems, leading him to get involved with a drugstore robbery, for which he was convicted and served two years in prison.
Lewis did some performing in his later years, including playing in a 1987 Northwest Rock reunion concert at the Seattle Center Coliseum, and was inducted into the Northwest Area Music Association's Hall of Fame in 1989. Lewis died of cancer March 13, 1998. Some of his recordings were finally reissued in CD form in 2006.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and rhythm & blues (R&B) keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
, organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
and vocalist based in Seattle, Washington, USA. Peter Blecha accounts his Dave Lewis Combo as "Seattle's first significant African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
1950s rock and roll band" and Lewis himself as "the singularly most significant figure on the Pacific Northwest's nascent rhythm & blues scene in the 1950s and 1960s."
Life and early career
The Texas-born Lewis came to the Pacific NorthwestPacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
with his family during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. There was music in his background: his father, David Lewis, Sr., was an accomplished amateur guitarist, and his mother Bertha Lewis was similarly talented on piano. The family moved first to seek work in the navy town of Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...
, across Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
from Seattle, where they settled in the segregated
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
Sinclair Heights housing projects. One of their neighbors was the young Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
, who took some music lessons from David Sr.
The Lewis and Jones families both eventually moved to Seattle, where they lived about five blocks apart from one another in the Central District
Central District, Seattle, Washington
The Central District is a mostly residential district in Seattle located east of Cherry Hill, west of Madrona and Leschi, south of Capitol Hill, and north of Rainier Valley...
, the center of African American life in Seattle at the time. His father worked as a fabricator at Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
and also pulled shifts in a barber shop. Lewis tried both guitar and piano, but definitely gravitated toward the latter, especially after hearing Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, who was launching his performing career in Seattle in the late 1940s.
Lewis's first performing group was a doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
vocal group called the Five Checks, formed to enter a talent show held at Edmund Meany Jr. High School (now Edmond S. Meany Middle School
Edmond S. Meany Middle School
Edmond S. Meany is a public secondary school in Seattle, Washington serving students in grades 6-8. The school is part of the Seattle Public Schools school district....
). They went on to perform at schools around Seattle, often for audiences who had never heard anything of the sort, at least not in live performance.
As a student at Seattle's Garfield High School
Garfield High School (Seattle, Washington)
James A. Garfield High School is a public high school in the Seattle Public Schools district of Seattle, Washington, USA.Located along 23rd Avenue between E. Alder and E. Jefferson Streets in Seattle's urban Central District, Garfield draws students from all over the city...
Lewis formed the combo that would bring him to local prominence. George Griffin from his doo-wop group played drums; Barney Hilliard and J. B. Allen both played saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
; Jack Grey played upright bass, and Al Aquino rounded out the group on guitar. Starting off at teenage sock hop
Sock Hop
The sock hop was an informal sponsored dance at American high schools, typically held in the high school's own gym or cafeteria. The term sock hop came about because dancers were required to remove their shoes to protect the varnished floor of the gymnasium. These hops were a cultural feature of...
s and house parties, they soon graduated to being an opening act for touring R&B acts when they played Seattle's downtown Palomar Theater (then at the corner of Third and University, now replaced by a multi-story parking garage). The Dave Lewis Combo opened for, among others Sugar Pie DeSanto
Sugar Pie DeSanto
Sugar Pie DeSanto is an American rhythm and blues singer of the 1950s and 1960s.-Early life:...
, Sugar Chile Robinson, Nellie Lutcher
Nellie Lutcher
Nellie Lutcher was an African-American R&B and jazz singer and pianist, who gained prominence in the late 1940s and early 1950s...
, and Wild Bill Davis
Wild Bill Davis
Wild Bill Davis was the stage name of American jazz pianist, organist, and arranger William Strethen Davis.Davis was born in Glasgow, Missouri...
.
In the summer of 1956, Lewis still had one more year to complete at Seattle's Franklin High School, but his combo was the hottest item in the region. They toured the Pacific Northwest as the opening act for a leg of a Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets , was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of...
tour. This led to similar opportunities with Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, the Platters
The Platters
The Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
, Ike and Tina Turner, the Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
, Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
, and Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps
Gene Vincent
Vincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...
.
In summer 1957, Lewis and his combo settled in for a long tenure as the house band at the leading Seattle R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
club, Birdland (22nd and Madison), where they popularized the song Louie Louie
Louie Louie
"Louie Louie" is an American rock 'n' roll song written by Richard Berry in 1955. It has become a standard in pop and rock, with hundreds of versions recorded by different artists...
, which would become strongly associated with the region. By this time, Al Aquino and Jack Grey had left the band, replaced by Bud Brown on guitar and Chuck Whittaker on electric bass
Electric Bass
Electric bass can mean:*Electric upright bass, the electric version of a double bass*Electric bass guitar*Bass synthesizer*Big Mouth Billy Bass, a battery-powered singing fish...
(replacing Grey's upright acoustic). On several occasions the teenaged Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
—then "Jimmy" Hendrix—sat in on jam session
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
s there, but Lewis's audience found him undanceable.
Later members of the Combo were Jerry Allen (guitar) and Carlos Ward (saxophone).
Role in desegregation
Lewis's broad popularity played a significant role in the desegregationDesegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
of the Seattle music scene. At the time Lewis began his professional career, Seattle still had two musician's union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
locals, AFM
American Federation of Musicians
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada is a labor union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada...
No. 76 for whites and AFM No. 493 for blacks. Lewis's combo became the first African American band to play frequently on traditionally white turf, including downtown clubs, University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
fraternities
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
, and even suburban venues. When Local 76 complained about Lewis getting a gig at the popular Parker's Ballroom on Aurora Avenue, owner Dick Parker told them that if they made him choose between booking Lewis's combo and being able to book Local 76 bands, he'd choose Lewis. On January 14, 1958 the two Seattle locals merged.
1960s success
In 1962, taking advantage of the opportunity offered by the Century 21 ExpositionCentury 21 Exposition
The Century 21 Exposition was a World's Fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962 in Seattle, Washington.Nearly 10 million people attended the fair...
(the Seattle world's fair
World's Fair
World's fair, World fair, Universal Exposition, and World Expo are various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All...
), Lewis put together a new band. J. B. Allen remained from the old group; the new band members were guitarist Jim Manolides and drummer Don "Candido" Mallory. The new group took over from Manolides' old group the Frantics
The Frantics
The Frantics or Frantics is the name of:*The Frantics , a punk rock band.*The Frantics , a Canadian comedy troupe.*The Frantics , a Showtime network series....
as the house band at Dave's Fifth Avenue near the fairgrounds.
Shortly after the end of the fair, Lewis switched from piano to Hammond B-3 organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
, and formed a new trio with guitarist Joe Johansen and drummer Dickey Ensign (who would be replaced in 1966 by Dean Hodges).His new trio scored minor hits with "David's Mood (Part 2)" (1963) and "Little Green Thing" (1964), both of which were heavily covered by other Pacific Northwest bands. By the mid-1960s, though, Lewis pretty gave up touring, settling instead into a long series of local club gigs that lasted into the early 1970s.
Declining years
Although Lewis in his years of success was not known to be a drug user "beyond an occasional reefer," he was busted for drug possession in 1975, receiving probation. He attempted a comeback in the 1980s with the Paramount Orchestra, an attempt at a house band for Seattle's landmark Paramount TheatreParamount Theatre (Seattle, Washington)
The Paramount Theatre in Seattle, Washington is a 2,807-seat performing arts venue at 9th Avenue and Pine Street in Downtown Seattle in the United States of America. The theater originally opened March 1, 1928 as the Seattle Theatre with 3,000 seats, the theater was placed on the National Register...
, where his brother Ulysses Lewis was one of the partners in the management firm at the time. The "grandiose" project was not notably successful. Furthermore, Lewis got into increasingly serious drug problems, leading him to get involved with a drugstore robbery, for which he was convicted and served two years in prison.
Lewis did some performing in his later years, including playing in a 1987 Northwest Rock reunion concert at the Seattle Center Coliseum, and was inducted into the Northwest Area Music Association's Hall of Fame in 1989. Lewis died of cancer March 13, 1998. Some of his recordings were finally reissued in CD form in 2006.
Discography
- "Barney's Tune"/ "How Deep Is The Ocean?" (Northgate Records, 1959)
- "Candido"/ "R.C. Untwistin'" (Seafair Records, 1962)
- "David's Mood (Part 2)" / "David's Mood (Part 3)" (Jerden RecordsJerden RecordsJerden Records was an independent record label which operated from May 1960 through April 1971.It was based in Seattle and majority owned by Jerry Dennon and Bonnie Guitar, both of whom had been involved previously with Dolton Records and the careers of The Fleetwoods on that label. A split with...
, 1963) - "David's Mood (Part 2)" / "David's Mood (Part 3)" (A&M RecordsA&M RecordsA&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
, 1963) - "Lip Service" / "Little Green Thing" (A&M, 1964)
- Little Green Thing LP (A&M, 1964)
- "Swim Thing" / "Mr. Clyde" (A&M, 1964)
- "Honky Tonk Part 1" / "Lonely Bull" (A&M, 1964)
- "House of the Rising Sun" / "Three Dots" (A&M, 1965)
- "Feel Alright" / "Givin' Gas" (A&M, 1965)
- "Trees" / "Daves Fifth Ave" (Jerden, 1966)
- "Searchin'" / "When My Dreamboat Comes Home" (Jerden, 1966)
- "Hold On I'm Comin'" / "???" (Jerden, 1966)
- "Searchin'" / "When My Dreamboat Comes Home (Picadilly, 1966)
- "MMM-MMM-MMM" / "Hold On I'm Coming (Picadilly, 1967)
- High Heel Sneakers LP (Panorama, 1967)
- Dave Lewis Plays Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass LP (Jerden, 1967)
- "Hi Heel Sneakers" / "Jack Daniels Green} (Jerden, 1968)
- "Lip Service" / "???" (A&M, 1969)
- The Godfather of Northwest Rock & the King of Seattle R & B CD (Jerden, 2006)