Chicago Bluesman "Mad Dog" Dies
Sun-Times reports Lester Davenport died of prostate cancer
Wednesday, Mar 25, 2009 | Updated 10:15 AM CDT
Delmark Records
Lester Davenport played blues harmonica behind Bo Diddley, drums with Howlin' Wolf and Junior Wells, and guitar, bass and drums for the 1979 American Blues Legend Tour.
Lester Davenport played the blues -- Chicago-style.
He got his first harmonica as a Christmas present as a 5-year-old growning up in Tchula, Miss., and moved to Chicago in 1945 when he was 14.
And it was in Chicago where he died of prostate cancer at Mount Sinai Hospital on March 17. He was 77 years old, the Sun-Times reported Wednesday.
Here, too, he made a name for himself -- "Mad Dog" -- as a back-up musician for such great bluesmen as Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf, Snooky Prior and Junior Wells. He roared on harmonica, but played almost every instrument on the blues stage. In the 1980s, he joined Big Daddy (Lester) Kinsey and the Kinsey Report, out of Gary.
He put out his own album in 1992, "When the Blues Hit You" for Earwig Music Co. He followed it up in 2002 with the recording of "I Smell a Rat" for Delmark Records.
And it was in his hometown Chicago where he died of prostate cancer at Mount Sinai Hospital on March 17. He was 77 years old, the Sun-Times reported Wednesday.
He's remembered fondly by his niece, Sharon Davenport, who told the paper, "He was always a very nice man who was concerned about his family members."
He earned the "Mad Dog" handle, according to allmusic.com, becaues he "liked to prowl the stage while playing a few notes on every instrument on the bandstand during his younger days. The shtick earned him the name; his tenacious playing did the rest."
Copyright SunTimes
