June 9, 1926

Blues musician CeDell Davis was born in Helena (Phillips County), where his mother worked as a cook but was also known as a faith healer. As a recording artist, Davis helped bring blues from its rural Southern roots into the twenty-first century. Because of the crippling effects of childhood polio, he learned to play his guitar upside down, using a butter knife as a slide. With his unique slide guitar style, he performed the traditional Delta blues he learned growing up in Helena. In 1957, Davis was badly injured in a stampede at a St. Louis tavern, crippling him even further and confining him to a wheelchair. Although he was a longtime professional musician, recordings of his music were not available until 1983. Following that, he recorded several albums and became a favorite with a new generation of blues fans. In 1994, he released his first solo album, Feel Like Doin’ Something Wrong. He remained active in music until the end of his life; members of rock bands R.E.M. and Screaming Trees appeared on his 2002 release, Lightning Struck the Pine. He died in 2017.