{{short description|American blues singer and guitarist}} {{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians --> | name = Pete Mayes | image = | caption = | image_size = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Floyd Davis Mayes | birth_date = {{birth date|1938|3|21|mf=y}} | birth_place = Double Bayou, Texas, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|2008|12|16|1938|3|21|mf=y}} | death_place = Houston, Texas, United States | origin = | instrument = Vocals, guitar | genre = Texas blues, electric blues | occupation = Singer, guitarist, songwriter | years_active = 1950s–2008 | label = Various }}

'''Pete Mayes''' (born '''Floyd Davis Mayes''', March 21, 1938 – December 16, 2008)<ref name="bare"/> was an American Texas blues singer, guitarist and songwriter. He was variously known as '''Texas Pete Mayes''' and '''T-Bone Man''' (because his guitar playing resembled that of his hero T-Bone Walker).

Mayes made few recordings but ''For Pete's Sake'' was released in 1998, nearly fifty years after he first appeared on stage. It was his most widely distributed recording and won the Blues Foundation's W.&nbsp;C. Handy Award in the category Comeback Album of the Year.<ref name="Obit">{{cite news|first= Andrew|last=Dansby |url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6169500.html|title=Texas Blues Legend Pete Mayes Dies |newspaper=Houston Chronicle|accessdate=December 29, 2009}}</ref>

==Biography== Mayes was born and raised in Double Bayou, Texas.<ref name="bare">{{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues: A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger | location= Santa Barbara, California| pages=403 | isbn= 978-0313344237}}</ref> The town was home to a dance hall, which played a significant part in his life.<ref name="AMG">{{cite web|author=Skelly, Richard |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/pete-mayes-mn0000266882/biography |title=Pete Mayes: Biography |publisher=AllMusic.com |date= |accessdate=2014-01-28}}</ref> As a child he learned with a cheap guitar without a full set of strings and practiced for hours each day. Mayes was aged 16 when T-Bone Walker invited him on stage to perform.<ref name="Obit"/>

In the early 1950s, Mayes played with various bands at the local dance hall. After several years he led his own group, opening the show for touring musicians.<ref name="AMG"/> While in the United States Army, Mayes worked with the Contrasts, which comprised three white and three black musicians.<ref name="Obit"/> Mayes learned from watching T-Bone Walker and Gatemouth Brown, and he later cited Walker, B.B. King, Kenny Burrell, plus Lowell Fulson as major influences.<ref name="AMG"/>

In 1960 Mayes relocated to Houston, and during the following decade he played with Fulson, Big Joe Turner, Percy Mayfield, Bill Doggett, and Junior Parker. Mayes also toured with the jazz musicians Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie.<ref name="AMG"/> Unable to make a living as a full-time musician, Mayes worked as a ranch hand and then as a painter for the Houston Independent School District. He retired from the latter job with disability pay.<ref name="Obit"/><ref name="AMG"/> Mayes performed whenever possible. He undertook tours in the 1970s and played frequently in the 1990s, even though his health had started to fail.<ref name="Obit"/> In 1983, he inherited from an uncle ownership of the local dance hall.<ref name="AMG"/> In 1986, Double Trouble Records of the Netherlands issued ''Texas Guitar Master'', which included a live "Battle of the Guitars" with Joe "Guitar" Hughes.<ref name="russell">{{cite book | first= Tony | last= Russell | year= 1997 | title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray | edition= | publisher= Carlton Books | location= Dubai | page= 120 | isbn= 1-85868-255-X}}</ref> In 1996, Mayes appeared at the Long Beach Blues Festival.

By the time ''For Pete's Sake'' was released (1998), Mayes was still actively managing the Double Bayou dance hall. Following years of ill health, which included heart problems, diabetes and the amputation of both legs, he died in Houston in December 2008, aged 70.<ref name="Obit"/> He was survived by his wife, a son and a brother.<ref name="Obit"/>

==Selected discography==

===Albums=== *''For Pete's Sake'', Antone's (1988) *''Live! at Double Bayou Dance Hall'', GoldRhyme Music (2005)<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/pete-mayes-mn0000266882/discography |title=Pete Mayes: Discography |publisher=AllMusic.com |date= |accessdate=2014-01-28}}</ref>

===Singles=== *"The Things I Used To Do", Home Cooking Records (1965) *"Crazy Woman", Ovide (1969) *"Movin' Out", Ovide (1969)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sundayblues.org/archives/tag/pete-mayes |title=Pete Mayes: Big Road Blues |publisher=Sundayblues.org |date= |accessdate=2014-01-28}}</ref>

==See also== *List of Texas blues musicians

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p189707/biography|pure_url=yes}} Biography] at Allmusic

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayes, Pete}} Category:1938 births Category:2008 deaths Category:American blues guitarists Category:American male guitarists Category:American blues singers Category:Songwriters from Texas Category:Texas blues musicians Category:Musicians from Houston Category:United States Army soldiers Category:People from Chambers County, Texas Category:20th-century American singers Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:Guitarists from Texas Category:20th-century American male singers Category:American male songwriters Category:20th-century American songwriters