Jesse Ed Davis

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Native American session guitarist originally from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

A full-blooded Kiowa Indian, Davis played in country star Conway Twitty’s band in his native Oklahoma before moving to Los Angeles and quickly picking up session work backing Gary Lewis.

After playing on Taj Mahal’s first three albums, Davis amassed a resume of sessions that included Albert King and B.B. King, John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Gene Clark, and Rod Stewart, as well as standout solos on Bob Dylan’s “Watching The River Flow” and Jackson Browne’s “Doctor My Eyes.”

In the late ’80s, Davis wrote and played the music for the poetry of Indian activist John Trudell, their band was called Graffiti Man. After battling drug and alcohol problems most of his career, Davis died of an apparent overdose at age 43.

Born 21 September 1944, died 22 June 1988