Jed Davenport & His Beale Street Jug Band

Born in Mississippi, USA Jed Davenport settled in Memphis, where he performed regularly when not touring with medicine shows. He played guitar, trumpet and jug, but it was on harmonica that he recorded, beginning in 1929 with exciting, highly vocalized versions of ‘How Long How Long Blues’ and ‘Cow Cow Blues’. In 1930, he recorded with his Beale Street Jug Band, which included Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie, producing ‘Beale Street Breakdown’, a tour de force of harmonica pyrotechnics and ensemble work. A later recording by essentially the same ensemble was credited to Memphis Minnie And Her Jug Band, probably as a marketing ploy. Davenport was last seen in Memphis in the 60s. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.