Sam Lay was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
15 Facts About Sam Lay
1.
2.
Samuel Julian Lay was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 20,1935.
3.
Sam Lay began his career in 1957, as the drummer for the Original Thunderbirds.
4.
The recordings Sam Lay made during this time, along with Waters's album Fathers and Sons, recorded in 1969, are considered to be among the definitive works of Waters and Wolf.
5.
In 1963, Sam Lay joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and recorded and toured extensively with them.
6.
Sam Lay's drumming can be heard on over 40 recordings for Chess Records, with many notable blues performers.
7.
Sam Lay toured the major blues festivals in the US and Europe with the Chess Records All-Stars.
8.
Sam Lay has been inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame, in Los Angeles, and the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, in Cleveland.
9.
Sam Lay was nominated eight times for the coveted W C Handy Award for Best Instrumentalist, including a nomination in 2005.
10.
Sam Lay made two albums with his own band, released by Appaloosa Records and Evidence Records, and two recordings for Alligator Records with the Siegel-Schwall Band.
11.
Sam Lay was nominated in 2000 for a Grammy Award for his performances on the CD Howlin' Wolf Tribute.
12.
Sam Lay was honored by the Recording Academy in January 2002 with a Legends and Heroes Award for his significant musical contributions.
13.
Sam Lay shot many home movies of fellow blues performers in small Chicago venues in the late 1950s and 1960s, parts of which were included in History of the Blues and the WTTW television production Record Row, by the filmmaker Michael MacAlpin.
14.
Sam Lay was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, in 2015.
15.
Sam Lay died at a nursing facility in Chicago on January 29,2022, at the age of 86.