Biography

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Dave Weld And The Imperial Flames – Burnin’ Love
Delmark DE 806 (2010)
with special guest Lil' Ed


Blues guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and bandleader Dave Weld got his start on Chicago’s west side in the late 70s. At the 1815 Club on Roosevelt Road, Dave was in the house band with Chico Chism, Shorty Gilbert, Hubert Sumlin, Detroit Junior, and Eddie Shaw. Dave played there with Otis Rush, Guitar Junior, Tail Dragger, Little Arthur, Johnny Littlejohn and more. During this time Weld was under the tutelage of J.B. Hutto, a Grammy winning, Blues Hall of Fame slide guitarist. J.B. introduced Dave to his nephew, Lil’ Ed. They started the band “Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials” and played every joint on the west side for ten years and in 1988, with Lil’ Ed’s blessing Dave started “Dave Weld and the Imperial Flames”. Burnin’ Love is Weld’s Delmark debut and it features the legendary Abb Locke on saxophone.

Dave Weld & The Imperial Flames with Abb Locke
Burnin' Love
Delmark DE 806

Blues is like opera music - the singing and the lyrics are the most important part. Dave Weld knows this and he sings and writes extremely well. He also plays a great stinging guitar, often in the slide tradition of J.B. Hutto, Elmore James, etc. He puts his heart and soul into every aspect of the art that's now his business. Many blues fans are familiar with Dave Weld as a result of his gigs with J.B. Hutto and his association with Lil' Ed, J.B.'s nephew. Dave hasn't recorded since 1996 due to a family member's illness but now he's back! With an excellent and loyal band, I might add. - Bob Koester

1. Sweet Shiny Brown Eyes (4:53)
2. Ramblin' (6:34)
3. Burnin' Love (5:26)
4. I Got Mad (4:32)
5. She's Mine (3:49)
6. Talk Dirty (3:52)
7. Donnie Lee (6:15)
8. Ed's Boogie (3:08)
9. Peace Of Mind (5:33)
10. Listen To Mama (4:40)
11. All Of These Things (5:04)
12. Things Are So Slow (6:06)
13. She's Lyin' (5:07)

Dave Weld, vocals, guitar
Lil' Ed, guitar (except 5,9,13), vocal (8)
Abb Locke, tenor saxophone
Harry Yaseen, piano
Dave Kaye, bass (except 4,11,13)
Bernard Reed, bass (4,11)
Herman Applewhite, bass (13)
Jeff Taylor, drums, vocal (4,11), backup vocals (1,3)
Monica Myhre, vocal (6,10), backup vocals (1,3,5,7,9), tambourine (3,5,9)

Recorded November 3-5, 2009


1. Sweet Shiny Brown Eyes (4:53) (Dave Weld)
2. Burnin' Love (5:26) (Dave Weld)
3. Ramblin' (6:34) (Weld/Myhre)
4. I Got Mad (4:32) (Jeff Taylor)
5. She's Mine (3:49) (Dave Weld)
6. Talk Dirty (3:52) (Monica Myhre)
7. Donnie Lee (6:15) (Weld/Myhre)
8. Ed's Boogie (3:08) (Ed Williams, Eyeball Music, BMI)
9. Peace Of Mind (5:33) (Dave Weld)
10. Listen To Mama (4:40) Monica Myhre)
11. All Of These Things (5:04) (Jeff Taylor)
12. Things Are So Slow (6:06) (J.B. Hutto, Foggy day Music/Slideslinger Publ., BMI)
13. She's Lyin' (5:07) (Dave Weld)
All songs published by Welder Music, BMI except 8 & 12

Album Production and Supervision: Robert G. Koester
Recorded, mixed and mastered at Riverside Studio, Chicago by Steve Wagner
Assisted by Dave Katzman
She's Lyin' was recorded at Studio Chicago by Martin Stebbing
Photography: Marc PoKempner C 2010
Design: Dave Forte, ForDzign

Other Delmark albums of interest:
j.B. Hutto, Hawk Squat (617) with Sunnyland Slim
Slidewinder (636)
Stompin' At Mother Blues (778)
Eddie Shaw, Can't Stop Now (698) with Detroit Jr.
Brewer Phillips, Home Brew (686) with Aaron Moore
Detroit Jr., Blues On The Internet (777) with Lurrie Bell
Otis Rush, All Your love I Miss Loving (781)
So Many Roads (643) with Jimmy Johnson
Cold Day In Hell (638) with Abb Locke
Tail Dragger, American People (728) with Johnny B. Moore
My Head Is Bald (782, DVD 1782) with Lurrie Bell
Live At Rooster's (803, DVD 1803)


Delmark Records, 4121 N. Rockwell,
Chicago, IL 60618
www.delmark.com
CP 2009 Delmark Records

We started on this CD around 1999, then life happened. Mom got sick. I moved her to Chicago from Waukegan, so I could look after her. Talk about tough, her last doctor visit was sometime in the mid 60s when they took out her teeth. That was after the lobotomies. After that she lived 25 years on her own, paid off her own home.

They said Donnie Lee would not go to college, being from the depression era West Virginia hills. She did it. They said she would never live on her own after the lobotomies. She did it. They said she would never be allowed to move from assisted to skilled nursing, because of her psych record. She did it. They said she would not live to 86, HAPPY. She did. With a little help from me, she did it!

Bob Koester knows. He ran into Mom and myself having a steak a couple of years ago, when she still could. I asked him to take the band! I met Bob when I first came to town, sometime in the early 70s. He was great then, he is great now. When I met J.B. Hutto, around the same time, he told me “Never, NEVER, let anyone tell you that you can’t make it. Your boss, your family, a bar owner, a girlfriend, your friends, a band member. ANYBODY!” Told me for years.It stuck.

So we made our gigs every week for the next ten years, Jeff Taylor, Abb Locke, Monica Myhre, Herman Applewhite, then Dave Kaye, sometimes Bernard Reed. Running from the nursing home, they were at the house, jump in the van, “ How’s Mom?” drive two hours, play, drive home, sleep, do it the next day. Abb kept me level, “it takes two minutes to get in trouble and years to get out of it,” and coming from Cotton Plant Arkansas in the 40s and 50s, he knew what he was talking about. With a little help from them, like Mom, we did it!

Monica Myhre joined the band and made good times better and the tough times not so bad. A girl that could sing her butt off, help load the van, book gigs, raise kids, put the band up in her house and cook, make a little bed out of blankets on the hospital floor next to Mom and wake up with a smile. When Mom died, helped me load her body in the van and drive Mom back home to West Virginia. I love her. Monica’s parents were from Mexico, and her Grampa rode with Pancho Villa. I didn’t mess with Mom, I don’t mess with Monica. With a little help from Monica, like Mom, I did it!

Mom’s the inspiration for “Donnie Lee”. Lil' Ed and Monica are the inspiration for “Peace of Mind”, Nelson Algren inspired “Rambin’”, I inspired “Talk Dirty” for Monica, Jeff’s past common law wife was the inspiration for “All Of These Things”. Monica’s tough, loving Mother was the inspiration for “Listen To Mama”, Old girlfriends were the inspiration for “Burning Love”, “She’s Lyin’”. Ike and Tina inspired “She’s Mine”. “Sweet Shiny Brown Eyes” I wrote in 1988, but it really fits Monica to a tee!!

Forty some years after Bob Koester and Delmark helped my mentor, J.B. Hutto, with his music and his career, they are helping Dave Weld and the Imperial Flames! I want to thank Steve Wagner for caring as much as I do. Thanks to the great Lil' Ed for caring enough to tell me the truth, and to fight for me. To Pierre Lacocque for guiding and putting a foot in my butt. To the Crossroads Blues Society for support and love.To Harry Yaseen, for being wild and accurate 20 years later. To Bruce Iglauer, Peter, Jacqui, Wes, Matt from the UK, the Pickels, Paul and Gloria, Lorrie and Ed, Barry Dolins, Marc Pokempner, Brad, Rodney, Jerry Criss, Jay Reil, John Shaw, Pat McKeever, Donny Nichilo, Skip Hefernan, Jo Ann, Ron Dentinger, Dale Bugash, Dale Cotton, Jackie G, Jim Godsey, Skip and Sandy, Cathy and Larry, and every venue we work with, we love you!!

Dave Weld February 11th, 2010


Born in Chicago in 1952, Dave was first influenced as a child when he found an old Victrola in the basement and wore out the blues 78s. In high school Dave traded his Stones, Clapton and Mayall records for Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin Hopkins, and B.B. King.

After high school Weld moved to New Mexico, and studied guitar under Kurt Black, a jazz player who worked with Benny Carter, Grant Green and others in the New York jazz scene. He also drove to Nevada and met and jammed with Gatemouth Brown.

Weld bought Hound Dog Taylor's first Alligator album, heard Howlin' Wolf over the radio in the desert one night, packed up and drove back home in his ‘67 Ford and made it with $10 to spare.

Dave found the West and South side of Chicago in the black neighborhood friendlier than the North side, and started sitting in at clubs. He landed a gig with Brewer Phillips and Ted Harvey at Sweet Peas on 43rd Street. Brewer and Ted had been working with J.B. Hutto after Hound Dog Taylor's death. During that year there were shake dancers and fistfights. The gig ended when Brewer was stabbed in the throat by his wife, but they reconciled.

Weld then moved to the 1815 Club on W. Roosevelt which was owned and operated by Eddie Shaw who had Howlin Wolfs band, the Wolf Pack. Dave stayed there and played in the band with Chico Chism, Lafayette "Shorty" Gilbert, Hubert Sumlin, Detroit Junior, and Eddie. The going rate was $15 per night, but Dave played there with Otis Rush, Maxwell St. Jimmy, Guitar Junior, Jew Town Burks, Doug MacDonald, Boston Blackie, Tail Dragger, Little Wolf, Big Bad Ben, Little Arthur, Johnny Littlejohn and more. The gig ended when the band was taken to the Maxwell St. lockup because of the nude dancers. Shaw bailed them out.

During this time Weld was under tutelage of J.B. Hutto, a Grammy-awarded Blues Hall of Fame slide man from Georgia. "Blues will be Blues until the end of the world", said JB and taught Dave Weld the philosophy and feel of bandleading, songwriting, lead and rhythm guitar. For three years Dave spent every Tuesday at J.B.'s house in Harvey, IL. They went to clubs together and Dave even booked JB at Sweet Lips on Lincoln Avenue where Dave had to pay the guys $5 each. J.B. had quit drinking because of diabetes, so he was eager for the company and Dave wrote articles about him, doing the cover story for Living Blues. "You write a song like a full grown man", was some more sage advice from J.B .and when Dave went to visit him in the hospital when he was dying of lung cancer he told Dave to take care of the band with Lil' Ed.

J.B. had introduced Dave to his nephews, Lil' Ed and James Young. They started the band " Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials" and played every joint on the West side for ten years. One of the clubs was Boss Joe's Lounge on W. Lake, where the guys made from $7 to $15 depending on the door, which there never was, but it kept Dave, Ed and Pookie playing! Necktie Nates at W Roosevelt was a hotbed of blues and Little Ed and the Blues Imperials stayed there a year, during which Buster Benton came in to play quite a bit. The gig ended when Nate insulted Pookie's aunt and James jumped down off the stage to give Nate quite a lesson in manners. Then Bruce Iglauer of Alligator recorded them in a historic session, "Roughousin'", and they started world tours.

Dave started "Dave Weld and the Imperial Flames" in 1988 with Lil' Ed's blessing and they came out with their first CD "Roughrockin' in Chicago", on Parsifal Records in Belgium. Dave toured Europe, Canada and Japan with his own band.

Lil' Ed joined Dave's band twice for two years (each time) and the second time they recorded for Earwig Music in 1996, "Keep on Walkin'", and this brought them overseas again, as well as local, regional, and national gigs. When Ed went back to his band he was replaced by the great Abb Locke, legendary sax man who is in the band today with Jeff Taylor, Monica Myhre and Dave Kaye. They continue working every week since the band was formed in 1988, and Dave made his first UK tour in 2005, with the second to closing slot at the Maryport Blues Festival, going full circle by opening up for Hubert Sumlin with the Legendary Blues Band!