David Eugene Lewis (1938 – March 13, 1998) was an American rock and

rhythm & blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

(R&B) keyboardist, organist, and vocalist based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, US.

Peter Blecha Peter Charles Blecha is an American historian, curator, essayist, author, musician, and director of the Seattle-based Northwest Music Archives. He is primarily known for research related to aspects of Pacific Northwest musical history. In additio ...

accounts his Dave Lewis Combo as "Seattle's first significant African American 1950s rock and roll band"

, "Dave Lewis", ''Seattle Metropolitan'', December 2008, p. 74. and Lewis himself as "the singularly most significant figure on the Pacific Northwest's nascent rhythm & blues scene in the 1950s and 1960s."

Lewis, Dave (1938–1998): Father of Northwest Rock
HistoryLink, July 22, 2008. Accessed online February 20, 2009.

Life and early career

The Texas-born Lewis came to the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

with his family during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. There was music in his background: his father, David Lewis Sr., was an accomplished amateur guitarist, and his mother Bertha Lewis was similarly talented on piano. The family moved first to seek work in the navy town of

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, Kitsap County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city ...

, across

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

from Seattle, where they settled in the segregated Sinclair Heights housing projects. One of their neighbors was the young

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

, who took some music lessons from David Sr. The Lewis and Jones families both eventually moved to Seattle, where they lived about five blocks apart from one another in the Central District, the center of African-American life in Seattle at the time. His father worked as a fabricator at

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

and also pulled shifts in a barber shop. Lewis tried both guitar and piano, but gravitated toward the latter, especially after hearing

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

, who was launching his performing career in Seattle in the late 1940s. Lewis's first performing group was a

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

vocal group called the Five Checks, formed to enter a talent show held at Edmond Meany Jr. High School (now Edmond S. Meany Middle School). They went on to perform at schools around Seattle, often for audiences who had never heard anything of the sort, at least not in live performance. As a student at Seattle's Garfield High School Lewis formed the combo that would bring him to local prominence. George Griffin from his doo-wop group played drums; Barney Hilliard and J. B. Allen both played saxophone; Jack Grey played upright bass, and Al Aquino rounded out the group on guitar. Starting off at teenage

sock hop A sock hop or sox hop, often also called a record hop or just a hop, was an informal (but officially organized) dance event for teenagers in mid-20th-century North America, featuring popular music. The term sock hop came about because dancers wer ...

s and house parties, they soon graduated to being an opening act for touring R&B acts when they played Seattle's downtown Palomar Theater (then at the corner of Third and University, now replaced by a multi-story parking garage). The Dave Lewis Combo opened for, among others

Sugar Pie DeSanto Peylia Marsema Balinton (October 16, 1935 – December 20, 2024), known professionally as Sugar Pie DeSanto, was an American R&B singer and dancer, whose career in music flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. Early life DeSanto was born on October ...

, Sugar Chile Robinson,

Nellie Lutcher Nellie Rose Lutcher (October 15, 1912 – June 8, 2007) was an American R&B and jazz singer and pianist, who gained prominence in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Lutcher was most recognizable for her diction and exaggerated pronunciation a ...

, and

Wild Bill Davis Wild Bill Davis (November 24, 1918 – August 17, 1995) was the stage name of American jazz pianist, organist, and arranger William Strethen Davis. He is best known for his pioneering jazz electric organ recordings and for his tenure with t ...

. In the summer of 1956, Lewis still had one more year to complete at Seattle's Franklin High School, but his combo was the hottest item in the region. They toured the Pacific Northwest as the opening act for a leg of a

Bill Haley & His Comets Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band formed in 1947 and continuing until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...

tour. This led to similar opportunities with

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...

the Platters The Platters are an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The act ...

Ike and Tina Turner Ike or IKE may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ike (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Ike (surname), a list of people * Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969), Supreme Commander of ...

the Drifters The Drifters are an American pop and R&B/soul vocal group. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in 1959 and ...

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

, and Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps. In summer 1957, Lewis and his combo settled in for a long tenure as the house band at the leading Seattle R&B club, Birdland (22nd and Madison), where they popularized the song

Louie Louie "Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955, recorded in 1956, and released in 1957. It is best known for the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen and has become a Standard (music), stand ...

, which would become strongly associated with the region. By this time, Al Aquino and Jack Grey had left the band, replaced by Bud Brown on guitar and Chuck Whittaker on electric bass (replacing Grey's upright acoustic). On several occasions the teenaged

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

—then "Jimmy" Hendrix—sat in on

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...

s there, but Lewis's audience found him undanceable. Later members of the Combo were Jerry Allen (guitar) and Carlos Ward (saxophone).

Role in desegregation

Lewis's broad popularity played a significant role in the

desegregation Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation), leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws ...

of the Seattle music scene. At the time Lewis began his professional career, Seattle still had two musician's union locals, AFM No. 76 for whites and AFM No. 493 for blacks. Lewis's combo became the first African-American band to play frequently on traditionally white turf, including downtown clubs,

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

fraternities A fraternity (; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in the Western conce ...

, and even suburban venues. When Local 76 complained about Lewis getting a gig at the popular Parker's Ballroom on Aurora Avenue, owner Dick Parker told them that if they made him choose between booking Lewis's combo and being able to book Local 76 bands, he'd choose Lewis. On January 14, 1958, the two Seattle locals merged.

1960s success

In 1962, taking advantage of the opportunity offered by the

Century 21 Exposition The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) was a world's fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962, in Seattle, Washington, United States.world's fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

), Lewis put together a new band. J. B. Allen remained from the old group; the new band members were guitarist Jim Manolides and drummer Don "Candido" Mallory. The new group took over from Manolides' old group the Frantics as the house band at Dave's Fifth Avenue near the fairgrounds. Shortly after the end of the fair, Lewis switched from piano to

Hammond B-3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created from rotat ...

, and formed a new trio with guitarist Joe Johansen and drummer Dickey Enfield (who would be replaced in 1966 by Dean Hodges). His new trio scored minor hits with "David's Mood (Part 2)" (1963) and "Little Green Thing" (1964), both of which were heavily covered by other Pacific Northwest bands. By the mid-1960s, though, Lewis pretty much gave up touring, settling instead into a long series of local club gigs that lasted into the early 1970s.

Declining years

Although Lewis in his years of success was not known to be a drug user "beyond an occasional reefer," he was busted for drug possession in 1975, receiving probation. He attempted a comeback in the 1980s with the Paramount Orchestra, an attempt at a house band for Seattle's landmark Paramount Theatre, where his brother Ulysses Lewis was one of the partners in the management firm at the time. The "grandiose" project was not notably successful. Furthermore, Lewis got into increasingly serious drug problems, leading him to get involved with a drugstore robbery, for which he was convicted and served two years in prison. Lewis did some performing in his later years, including playing in a 1987 Northwest Rock reunion concert at the

Seattle Center Coliseum Climate Pledge Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located north of downtown Seattle in the entertainment complex known as the Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, for which it was ...

, and was inducted into the Northwest Area Music Association's Hall of Fame in 1989. Lewis died of cancer March 13, 1998. Some of his recordings were finally reissued in CD form in 2006.

Discography

Singles

* "Barney's Tune" / "

How Deep Is The Ocean "How Deep Is the Ocean?" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin in 1932. The song was developed from an earlier Berlin song "To My Mammy" which was sung by Al Jolson in his film '' Mammy'' (1930). In the earlier song, the lyrics include the qu ...

" (Northgate 1002, 1959) * "Candido" /" (R .C.) Untwistin"' (Seafair 105, 1961) * "David's Mood – Part 2" / "David's Mood – Part 3" ( Jerden 711, 1963) * "David's Mood – Part 2" / "David's Mood – Part 3" ( A&M 724, 1963) * "Lip Service" / "Little Green Thing" (A&M 735, 1964) * "The Swim Thing" / "Mr. Clyde" (A&M 749, 1964) * " Honky-Tonk – Part 1" / " Lonely Bull" (A&M 756, 1964) * "

House of the Rising Sun "The House of the Rising Sun" is an American traditional folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". It tells of a person's life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans. Many versions also urge a sibling or parents and children to avoid the ...

" / "Three Dots" (A&M 765, 1965) * "Feel Alright" / "Givin' Gas" (A&M 772, 1965) * "Trees" / "Dave's Fifth Avenue" (Jerden 785, 1966) * "

Searchin' "Searchin" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller specifically for the Coasters. Atco Records released it as a single in March 1957, which topped the R&B Chart for twelve weeks. It also reached number three on the ''Billboard'' s ...

" / "When My Dreamboat Comes Home" (Panorama 51, 1966) * "Searchin'" / "When My Dreamboat Comes Home" (Piccadilly 230, 1966) * "MMM-MMM-MMM" / " Hold On, I'm Comin'" (Piccadilly 235, 1967) * " Hi Heel Sneakers" / " Jack Daniel's Green" (Panorama 1003, 1968) * "Lip Service" / "Little Green Thing" (A&M 1068, 1969)

EP

* ''Givin' Gas'' (Pye International NEP.44057, 1964), UK release.

Albums

* ''Little Green Thing'' LP (A&M LP 105/SP 4105, 1964) * ''Dave Lewis Plays Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass'' LP (Jerden 7006, 1966) * ''High Heel Sneakers'' LP (Panorama 107S, 1967)

Reissues and compilations

* ''Los Organ'' LP (Piccadilly PIC-3355, 1980) * ''MMM-MMM-MMM.'' LP (First American FA-7799, 1980) * ''The Godfather of Northwest Rock & the King of Seattle R & B'' CD (Jerden JRCD 7026, 2006)

Other appearances

*''Bolo Bash'' (Bolo BLP 8002, 1964) – "Candido", "Untwistin'" *''Original Great Northwest Hits Vol. 1'' (Jerden JRL/JRS 7001, 1964) – "David's Mood, Pt. 2" *''Original Great Northwest Hits Vol. 2'' (Jerden JRL/JRS 7002, 1964) – "Little Green Thing", "Lip Service" ;Discography Notes

References

External links

''Seattle Times'' obituary March 16, 1998HistoryLink.org page on Dave LewisDave Lewis A&M singles discography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Dave 1938 births 1998 deaths American rock keyboardists American rhythm and blues keyboardists American rock singers Garfield High School (Seattle) alumni Singers from Seattle Franklin High School (Seattle) alumni 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers