Search - Cedell Davis :: Feel Like Doin' Something Wrong

Wonderful Delta Blues

LyndonComs@aol.com | Bolinas, California | 12/24/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When my wife, Arline, and I went to the Delta for the first time back in the 1980s, we decided to pick one Delta Blues player to look up. We picked CeDell Davis, because he played the funkiest blues that we had heard. We had a hard time even finding CeDell, but eventually tracked him down at a nursing home in Pine Bluff with the help of Robert Palmer. It was a lot of fun to spend time with CeDell, which we did again on several subsequent trips to the Delta. Without going into all of the details here, the thing that's amazing is how much of the near-legendary world of the blues was just an ordinary part of his life. Robert Johnson was just another bluesman on the streets of Helena to CeDell and his friends. CeDell spent a number of years touring as a guitar player for Robert Nighthawk. While he says himself that it's hard to find any recorded music that compares to the nights when Nighthawk and his band were feeling it, still, I get a real kick out of CeDell and his music. I've heard him play a lot a lot more flat (dissonant) sounding music than he does on this record, and I think the flatter the better, but this record does a nice job of capturing his sound. I think Fat Possum is great label, by the way, and it's worth checking out all their releases."

Cedell Davis plays the blues the way it should sound.

agrafe@loyno.edu | new orleans, la. u.s.a. | 12/11/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a great day it was when this classic blues record was re-released last month. Possessing what may amount to one of only a few cassette copies of this record from its original release, I've had the immeasurable pleasure of listening to Cedell Davis lay down some of the most soulful and intense blues around. Feel Like Doin Somethin Wrong is the epitome of Cedell's style, which some would dismiss as out of tune, but as the liner notes by Robert Palmer express, Cedell simply plays in an "alternate tuning," and his songs are consistent in their sound. Tunes including "I Don't Know Why," and "Falling Rain Blues" exhibit a tone and attitude not found in blues records by artists more interested in production and shine. Feel Like Doin Somethin Wrong is about a feelin', and Cedell Davis has it in spades. The "Boogie Chillin" cover is perhaps as good as the original, what with the R.L. Burnside groove and Cedell's urgent howl. "If You Like Fat Women" is something of a staple within Cedell's repetoir, winding up on his next record as well, and with good reason, for it's a hilarious song that again hits the groove with a vengence. The bottom line here is emotion, and if you can feel the intensity of Cedell Davis' songs, then by all means seek out any and all records by him and any of the other Fat Possum Records recording artists. Their sound might even be more "accessible", and I guarantee it's just as intense!"

Nothing Wrong Here!

deepbluereview | SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA USA | 05/28/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Some would say that the only thing CeDell did wrong was to play his right-handed guitar upside down, left-handed, using a butter knife for a slide. For CeDell however, this was not only a necessity due to crippling effects of childhood polio but, it created a haunting, yet original, sound that ultimately turned out to be just right. "Feel Like Doin' Something Wrong" is not only CeDell's first full length recording but also, hands down, CeDell's best work. Fat Possum and Robert Palmer deserve a lot of credit for discovering CeDell and producing this masterful disc. The sound and quality remain true to what you might have heard on any given night in Junior Kimbrough's juke joint where CeDell performed. While much of the CD features CeDell and his mutated brand of slide guitar, there are also numbers that include the Burnside family and free jazz artist, Col. Bruce Hampton. For the adventuresome, this is highly recommended!"