Lester Davenport
Illustration — Davenport in 1979 Lester "Mad Dog" Davenport (January 16, 1932 – March 17, 2009), was an American Chicago blues harmonica player and singer. Lester Davenport was born in Tchula, Mississippi, Davenport moved to Chicago, Illinois, United States, when he was 14. There he played with Arthur Spires, Snooky Pryor, Dusty Brown, and Homesick James and then worked with Bo Diddley, with whom he played harmonica on a 1955 Chess Records session.
Lester Davenport

Lioneldecoster · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Born
- 1932
- Died
- 2009
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Lester Davenport. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q1820955 · wikipedia · Lester Davenport
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
The documentary record
Statements marked “Documentary record” are set in the article beside the passage they confirm. Each is read from the authority records of the institutions named here; select “Prove” to see the record it was read from, where in that record, and when.
Institutions cited
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Not stated by the sources cited: nationality
Complete reading chain (JSON)In this article
Discography
He led his own group in the 1960s while working during the day as a paint sprayer. In the 1980s he was the harmonica player for the Indiana group the Kinsey Report. In July 1994, Wolf Records released the album Chicago Blues Session, Vol. 11, by Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis, recorded in 1988 and 1989. The collection included Davenport on harmonica and Kansas City Red playing the drums. Davenport released his first album under his own name in 1992 and recorded a follow-up, I Smell a Rat, in 2002. Davenport died in March 2009 in Chicago, from prostate cancer, at the age of 77. In 2018 the Killer Blues Headstone Project placed a headstone for him at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.
Documentary record
Lester Davenport (1932 – 2009) was a musician. The birth of Lester Davenport is recorded in 1932 in Tchula, Mississippi, and the death in 2009 in Chicago, Illinois.
• When the Blues Hit You (Earwig Music, 1992) • I Smell a Rat (Delmark Records, 2002)
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Lester Davenport, revision 1371000638 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.RIP Lester Davenport. Bluesinthenorthwest.com.
- 2.Bill Dahl. Lester Davenport | Biography & History. AllMusic.
- 3.Dirty-South Blues Harp Forum: For blues harmonica players, students, and fans. Modernbluesharmonica.com.
- 4.Chicago Blues Session, Vol. 11 – Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis | Credits. AllMusic.
- 5.Lester Davenport | Album Discography. AllMusic.
- 6.Doc Rock. The Dead Rock Stars Club 2009 January to June. Thedeadrockstarsclub.com.
- 7.Headstones Placed. Killerblues.net.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 24 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
44,023 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Lesmes MonteiroPerson
- Lester BangsPerson
- Lester BowiePerson
- Lester ButlerPerson
- Lester FlattPerson
- Lester HoltPerson
- Lester LeePerson
- Lester MelrosePerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Lester Davenport?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.