| Bob and I were talking about Dave Riley recently and I decided to dust off an old interview I did with him nearly 10 years ago. ( Ever notice the older you get the faster time goes?) He haad one helluva past year and a half. As rowdy and rough around the edges he was to some, he is a real deal Mississippi Bluesman. His story matches so many other of the Blues greats who followed the Blues pipeline from the south to Chicago. Keep him in your thoughts y'all. Lots of good stuff coming up. We'll drag ass through the hot months and then come September is the time we've all been waiting for. I don't have to tell you. Anyway, time to put this one to bed. Have a week!! Sincerely, Jim Crawford - PBS |
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Out & About
Waiting out the virus: Cold Shott & The Hurricane Horns www.coldshott.com The Sugar Thieves www.sugarthieves.com Gary Zak & The Outbacks www.outbackbluesband.com Hans Olson www.hansolson.net Rocket 88s www.rocket88s.net JC& The Rockers www.thejukerockers.com Carvin Jones www.carvinjones.com Hoodoo Casters www.hoodoocasters.com Rhythm Room www.rhythmroom.com Nina Curri www.ninacurri.com Paris James www.parisjames.com Mother Road Trio www.motherroadtrio.com Blues Review Band Reverbnationbluesmanmike Mike Eldred www.mikeeldredtrio.com Big Daddy D & The Dynamites Facebook www.bigdaddyd.com Cadillac Assembly Line Facebook Innocent Joe and the Hostile Witnesses Facebook Chuck Hall Facebook Pop Top Facebook Tommy Grills Band Facebook Sweet Baby Ray SweetBabyRaysBlues.com
Acme Blues Band Facebook
Thermal Blues Express thermalbluesexpress.com
Tuesday, June 29 Gypsy & Hooter’s Blues JAM, 6 p.m., Pho Cao, Scottsdale Wednesday, June 29 Carvin Jones, 6 p.m., Hitching Post Saloon, Apache Junction Thursday, June 30 Mike Eldred Trio, 8 p.m., Kazimiers, Chandler Hans Olson, 6 p.m., Handlebar, Apache Junction Friday, July 2 Hoodoo Casters, 7 p.m., Rags, Youngtown Mike Eldred (solo), 7 p.m., Wild Vine Uncorked, Chandler BluZone Duo, 6 p.m., Voodoo Daddy’s, Tempe Leon J, 11:30 a.m., DA Ranch, Cornville Mother Road Trio, 5 p.m., Club House, Flagstaff Saturday, July 3 Cros, 8 p.m., Westside Blues & Jazz, Glendale Leon J, 11:30 a.m., DA Ranch, Cornville Mike Eldred (solo), 1 p.m., DA Ranch, Cornville Mike Eldred Trio, 6 p.m., Kazimierz, 6 p.m., Scottsdale Blues Review Band, 6 p.m., Voodoo Daddy’s, Tempe Sunday, July 4 Big Daddy D & The Dynamites, 2 p.m., Windsock, Prescott Carvin Jones, 5 p.m., Catching Flights Bar, Gilbert Leon J, 11:30 a.m., DA Ranch, Cornville Mother road Trio, 5 p.m., The Annex, Flagstaff
Monday, July 5 Mother Road Trio, 5:30 p.m., The Toasted Owl, Flagstaff
Hooter’s Monday Night Blues Jam, 7 p.m., Bourbon Jacks, Chandler |
| Real Deal
by Jim Crawford It’s pretty cool to have a bona fide, certified, sanctified or even vilified, genuine Mississippi Bluesman living amongst us here in the Valley of the Sun. Dave Riley is just such a person, dividing his time between his home in Chicago and a place here in the Valley. Dave was born in Hattiesburg, Miss. in 1949 and lived there with his grandparents until he was 12. His parents had moved to Chicago ahead of Dave and his siblings to look for work as did many poor black people in those days. The guitar was always a part of Dave’s life but he never took it too seriously until he reunited with his parents in Chicago in 1961. “I liked that guitar, Dave said. “I was always real competitive. I had the neighbors call the police on me ‘cause I was playing too loud. I remember I cried.” Riley’s father was a preacher in the Church of God in Christ, Dave’s bio states. When the rest of the family moved to Chicago, they started a family band called “The Riley Singers." “My father started training us, he and my Uncle Sam, to sing gospel music. And they used to whoop you back then and make you sing,” Riley said. “I never liked to sing. I didn’t start singing on stage until about 15 years ago when I went out on my own.” The Rileys moved from Chicago’s North Side to a housing project on the West Side near the Maxwell Street Market, where many of the famous Blues players got started. Riley remembers peeking through the open doors of a local club and watching Howlin’ Wolf perform. His parents did try to keep him interested in the church but young Dave managed to sneak off and play Motown Songs with other like-minded kids in the projects. “My mom was a good singer in our family group,” Dave says. “I always sang background as a kid. I sang baritone. My brothers and me were all the background singers. I just didn’t like to sing but it was better than getting an ass whippin’.” Riley was drafted into the army in 1967 after finishing high school. “One thing though, the service got me away from the church,” Dave said. “When I was going to church there was no drugs or gangs. The guys in the gangs kind of respected me and my brothers for going to church. In fact, there were times when gang members would help me carry my amps and gear to play. I really had to learn to adjust coming up in Chicago. It’s a long way from the cotton fields of Mississippi to the Chicago projects.” Vietnam was where young recruits could almost count on going after basic training and Dave was stationed in Washington State for a short while before shipping out for his required tour. He attended a Jimi Hendrix show one night in Seattle and that’s where it all changed. Hendrix, a Seattle-area native, became a major influence on the young guitarist. “I was drafted in 1967,” Dave said. “Before that I had been listening to and playing lots of jazz, soul, R&B and rock and roll. I had put the Blues completely out of my mind. One night one of the guys asked me if I wanted to go see this Jimi Hendrix dude. I had no idea who he was or what he played but I said ‘Yeah, I’ll go.’ The guy said you get the tickets and I’ll get the weed, so that’s what we did. I was expecting some white guy and out comes this little bitty black dude who just lit the place up. I’d never seen anything like it before or since, the joints being passed all around, the volume of the music. Unbelievable. He played about half rock and roll and half some low-down Blues and that did it. I said ‘I can do this.’ From that day on I said “I got to play me some Blues.’ Hendrix opened the door for me. “I stayed 23 months in Vietnam and managed to play my way out of the bush,” Dave says. “Then I played around Chicago with different bands for about five years.” After his discharge from the army Dave could be found playing bass in the ‘70s and occasionally sitting in with Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, or Howlin’ Wolf. In 1973, he gave up his on-the-road musical career to help raise his only son, Dave L. Riley, Jr. He settled down to family life in the suburbs and took a job as a guard at Joliet State Penitentiary where he stayed for 25 years. “I just stopped playing music for 25 years,” Dave said. “I had a brand new baby boy and I was going to do all I could to see that he came up right. After he went off to college I decided it was time to start playing Blues again. I retired in 2003 and have been playing steady ever since.” Riley formed his own band in 1996 and soon enlisted his son, Dave Jr., to play bass. In 1998 Riley’s neck was broken in a car crash with a drunken driver, ending his career at the prison and leaving him unable to play the guitar for nine months. “I couldn’t play for months and it was killing me,” Dave said. “I always knew how to play, I just couldn’t get it all together. Finally I just kind of snapped out of it and it all came back to me. And, I am very thankful for that.” After retiring from his prison job due to the accident Riley came to Phoenix for a brief stay and, like so many people from the great frozen North, decided it was a no-brainer to at least live part time in the Valley. “You ever been in Chicago in January,” Dave asks with a laugh? “I came down here in ’03 and it was like 85 degrees. I just had to come back. Then I came back for two weeks the next year. I’ve been in the Valley now for 9 years. I met (Valley Blues impresario) Bob Corritore at the King Biscuit Festival where I was playing with (legendary Blues drummer) Sam Carr. We got to talking and decided we were crazy to not be playing some music together since we both lived in the Valley. He and I have been playing together now for about 8 or 9 years and have had our ups and downs. Mostly ups, but I love him like a brother and hope to continue making music with him for a long time. We both know it’s all about the music. You got to want to play the music. And we do.” Dave also has high praise for Phoenix Blues Society, having played the Blues Blast Festival in 2011 along with Corritore. “I love PBS,” Dave says. “Especially for always trying to help the local bands. Letting them have their time in the spotlight. There’s some real good Blues players here and PBS tries to give them a chance. You should give yourselves credit.” The Bob & Dave show will be in the spotlight on Saturday at the Rhythm Room. The guys are celebrating the release of their latest CD “Hush Your Fuss” and hope the room is full of Dave & Bob supporters. Dave is also working on a gospel album with his son Dave Jr. as well as a jazz all-instrumental collection which will further showcase his diverse repertoire. “I’m just doing what God gave me,” Dave said. “Doing what I do. I don’t really care what I play. It’s in my soul. I like to play for everybody.” In the ensuing years Dave, Bob, Yahni (Dave Jr) and Brian Fahey comprised the Riley/Corritore Blues Band . The guys have kept audiences entertained on countless occasions. That is until the insidious Covid-19 pandemic hit us hard in 2020. "Dave Riley‘s last show before the Pandemic was to celebrate his birthday party at the Rhythm Room on March 14, 2020, Corritore said. "In April 2020 Dave came down with Covid and spent three weeks on a ventilator in a medically induced coma. When Dave was finally able to breathe on his own they took him off the sedation, they found out that he had suffered a stroke while intubated." Dave’s son Yahni reports this health update: “Dad’s health is doing good. He basically is fighting the effects of the stroke in which he lost the function of his left side. He has some movement but minimal. We continue to pray and work hard on getting him back as much as possible. I have faith in my dad and will never give up.” Another good man stricken. Keep Dave in your thoughts and send him all the good vibes you can muster. He can use the help.
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