CHICAGO — The last time I talked to Sam Lay it was late at night and he was on the road and on the telephone, driving back home to Chicago from Cleveland where he has just been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
He said that night in 2015, “I hope you can hear me,” and I could then and realized how many times I had heard him in person, on recordings and in films. And seen him on stages, where he delighted with his drumming and singing, with his buoyant personality and flamboyant dress, often decked out in matching suits, shoes, hats, capes and canes.
One of the most influential and esteemed drummers in the history of popular music, Lay was by then accustomed to accolades. He had already been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis, Tennessee, and the Jazz Hall of Fame in Los Angeles. Though the word “legend” is tossed around so cavalierly these days that it is applied to winners of televised dance contests, Lay was the real thing and a vital link to the history of the blues.
