It’s safe to say Dave Kelly has well and truly solidified himself as a veteran bluesman; having played with some of the most famous blues musicians to have existed, and even calling some of them friends. So how does a white, Englishman from Streatham grasp the aura of the blues, thought to be only for the mainstay of black men in America?
Dave’s musical influences go back to the early fifties. His parents’ radiogram containing their 78rpm player was enough to warrant him climbing on a chair to wade his way through his parent’s eclectic record collection for hours.
“I was lucky growing up. I had so many different influences as a blues musician. Initially it was Lonnie Donegan and early rock ‘n’ roll, then it just went from there. I wanted to know where music came from.
“As cliché as it may sound to all the blues aficionados out there, when I first heard the Robert Johnson album, it was the first album I heard with nothing but blues.
“At the time growing up in England, you could pick up the odd tracks by these other Mississippi blues artists, but Johnson was the one for me, so he was a massive influence.”
Dave states himself that his hugely talented sister, the late Jo-Ann Kelly was a great influence to him and helped him to become what he is today. She brought him home the sounds of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and the wildest of them all, Little Richard.
Dave was hooked by age 10 and went to his local second-hand shop to swap his train set for a guitar. The rest, as the saying goes, is history.
After spending his youth winning talent contests with his older sister, he was given the opportunity to play in New York as a rough and ready 19-year-old.
“Now we have an Englishman who’s going to play you some blues?” is how Dave was sarcastically welcomed onto the stage of the famous Gerde’s Folk City in 1966.
“They had a strict rule there, each performer would pay two dollars for two songs, and no encores allowed.
“They wouldn’t let me off the stage. I ended up playing six songs, and once I finally got off the stage I was asked to join three different bands. I always wonder who those bands were, and who they became. Who knows?”
After returning to England, Dave sought only one thing. Music. Determined not to get a job, he joined the John Dummer Blues Band. After recording two albums and signing with Mercury (Phillips) Records, it was the late sixties blues boom and the Dummer Band’s knowledge of the blues that allowed them to play with the greats.
“We were top of the second division if you will. We were cheap, available, knew the blues, and that’s what Howlin’ Wolf and John Lee Hooker were looking for I guess.
“In 1968 we toured with Howlin’ Wolf; then two tours in ’68 and ’69 with John Lee Hooker which were obviously a great privilege. But it wasn’t until I met Son House it really kicked off.”
After a dispute with the manager, Dave left the Dummer Band and decided to go solo, where he was asked to be support for Son House.
“So yeah, it was 1970. The great Son House came over from the States and I was asked to play with him on tour.
“I played a few numbers with him each night and eventually got to record with him at London’s 100 Club which was wonderful.
“He was an amazing mentor and such a wonderful performer. I learnt a lot from him. He was a very effective musician, not the best guitarist in the world but very effective.”
Dave’s career took a somewhat strange turn, however, come the early ‘70s. After playing with his life-long idols and touring the world in multiple blues bands, he put his music to one side and became Dave the family man.
“Well like everything, things change, people change. Once you’ve caught the blues, it never goes away, but I was married with a few kids and the blues scene was fading a bit.
“I became a part-time van driver and house husband if you will. I still gigged the folk clubs and pubs but just nowhere near like before.”
With music on hold, it wasn’t until a rainy day in 1979, where a round of phone calls ended with Manfred Mann’s Paul Jones forming the Blues Band, a band consisting of already established musicians that just wanted to play the blues.
“After a few years with the Blues Band and our growing, surprising success, in 1982 I played with Buddy Guy on a TV program called BA in music.
“I’ll never forget him saying to me, ‘A’m not a great singer, so a’ let Junior do most of the singing’, I remember thinking to myself, ‘Wow! You’re one of the most soulful singers around.’
“I didn’t say that to him but that just shows the modesty of the guy.”
It wasn’t until a few years later and with the help of The Rolling Stones’ piano player, Ian Stewart, that Dave met Buddy Guy’s counterpart, Junior Wells.
“Buddy Guy and Junior Wells were playing at the Hammersmith Odeon and Ian Stewart asked me to play in the band with them.
“We had a couple of very quick run throughs, but with blues that’s all you need, as long as you got the feeling.
“So there I am strumming away, and Junior says ‘Ya’ know, this guy sounding a lot like Muddy Waters’, to which Buddy replies with ‘Yeah I’ve heard this cat play befo’.
“It was wonderful to think he remembered my playing. I’ve seen Buddy Guy a few times since then and he always says hello.
“He really is a nice guy, a buddy guy if you will.”
Dave continues playing to this day with the Blues Band, who will see their 40th year in 2018, an amazing accomplishment for any band.
After working with many of his heroes, including Freddie King, The Allman Brothers Band, Lowell Fulson and Bill Payne, and with a career spanning over 50 years, when I asked the now 70 year-old if he ever shows signs of slowing down, he simply replied: “Why would I ever retire? I get paid for my hobby!”