Reverend Gary Davis

Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis, (April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972) was a blind African American bluesand gospel singer and guitarist, who was also proficient on the banjo guitar and harmonica. His finger-pickingguitar style influenced many other artists and his students include Stefan Grossman, David Bromberg, Roy Book Binder, Larry Johnson, Nick Katzman, Dave Van Ronk, Rory Block, Ernie Hawkins, Larry Campbell, Bob Weir, Woody Mann, and Tom Winslow.[1]
He has influenced Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, Wizz Jones, Jorma Kaukonen, Keb' Mo', Ollabelle,Resurrection Band, and John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful.
==Biography==
Gary Davis was born in the Piedmont region of the country, in Laurens, South Carolina, and was the only one of eight children his mother bore who survived to adulthood. He became blind as an infant. Davis reported that his father was killed in Birmingham, Alabama, when Davis was ten, and Davis later said that he had been told that his father had been shot by the Birmingham High Sheriff. He recalled being poorly treated by his mother and that before his death his father had given him into the care of his paternal grandmother.[2]
He took to the guitar and assumed a unique multi-voice style produced solely with his thumb and index finger, playing not only gospel, ragtime and blues tunes, but also traditional and original tunes in four-part harmony.
Bull City Blues, 
Durham, North CarolinaIn the mid-1920s, Davis migrated to Durham, North Carolina, a major center for black culture at the time. There he taught Blind Boy Fuller and collaborated with a number of other artists in the Piedmont blues scene including Bull City Red.[1] In 1935, J. B. Long, a store manager with aREPUTATION for supporting local artists, introduced Davis, Fuller and Red to the American Record Company. The subsequent recordingsessions marked the real beginning of Davis' career and are available in his Complete Early Recordings. During his time in Durham, Davis converted to Christianity; in 1937, he would be ordained as a Baptist minister.[1][3]Following his conversion and especially his ordination, Davis began toEXPRESS a preference for inspirational gospel music.
In the 1940s, the blues scene in Durham began to decline and Davis migrated to New York.[1] In 1951, several years before his "rediscovery", Davis's oral history was recorded by Elizabeth Lyttleton Harold (the wife ofAlan Lomax) who transcribed their conversations into a 300+-page typescript.
The folk revival of the 1960s re-invigorated Davis' career and included a performance at the Newport Folk Festival and having Peter, Paul and Mary record his version of "Samson and Delilah", also known as "If I Had My Way" which is originally a Blind Willie Johnson song that Davis had popularized. "Samson and Delilah" was also covered and credited to Davis on the Grateful Dead's "Terrapin Station" album. Eric Von Schmidt credits Rev. Davis with three-quarters of Schmidt's Baby, Let Me Follow You Down which Bob Dylan covered on his debut album for Columbia.[4] Blues Hall of Fame singer and harmonica player Darrell Mansfield has also recorded several of Rev. Davis' songs.
Davis died in May 1972, from a heart attack in Hammonton, New Jersey.[5] He is buried in plot 68 of Rockville Cemetery in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York.
==Discography==
Many of his records were published posthumously.
Year 	Title 	Label 	Number 	Notes
1954 	Blind Gary Davis – The Singing Reverend 	Stinson 	SLP 56 	first LP, recorded April 1954 with Sonny Terry, red vinyl
1956 	American Street Songs 	Riverside 	RP 12–611 	Side A Pink Anderson: Carolina Street Ballads, side B Rev. Gary Davis: Harlem Street Spirituals, recorded January 29, 1956. Also released as Gospel, Blues and Street Songs on Riverside RLP 12-148 (1961), Original Blues Classics OBC 524 and OBCCD 524-2
1960 	Harlem Street Singer 	Prestige 	1015 	recorded August 24, 1960, also Bluesville BVLP 1015, Original Blues Classics 547, Fontana 688-303-ZL (UK 1965). RenamedPure Religion! and reissued as Prestige Folklore 14028 and Prestige 7805 (1972). Remastered and reissued as OBCCD-547-2 (1992). Reissued on Fantasy 24704.
1961 	A Little More Faith 	Prestige 	1032 	recorded August 10, 1961 in Memphis(?). Also Bluesville 1032, XTRA 5042 (UK 1967), OBCCD-588-2. Reissued on Fantasy 24704.
1961 	Say No to the Devil 	Bluesville 	1049 	also XTRA 5014 (UK 1966) and OBCCD 519-2.
1962?	Pure Religion and Bad Company 	77 (UK) 	LA 12/14 	recorded June 1957 in NYC, also Folklyric 125, reissued as Smithsonian Folkways SFW 40035 (1991) with 2 additional cuts.
1964?	Pure Religion! 	Prestige Folklore 	14028 	also Prestige 7805 (1972), reissue of Harlem Street Singer.
1964 	The Guitar and Banjo of Reverend Gary Davis 	Prestige Folklore 	14033 	recorded March 2, 1964, NYC, all instrumentals, also Fantasy OBCCD 592-2. Retitled as The Blues Guitar And Banjo of Reverend Gary Davis on Prestige 7725.
1964 	Rev. Gary Davis/Short Stuff Macon 	Xtra (UK) 	1009 	
196? 	The Legendary Reverend Gary Davis, New Blues and Gospel 	Biograph 	12030E 	also Blue Moon BMLP 1.040 (c.1987)
1968 	Rev. Gary Davis at Newport 	Vanguard 	73008 	recorded 1965
1968 	Bring YourMONEY, Honey 	Fontana (UK) 	SFJL 914 	recorded Cambridge, MA
1970 	Reverend Gary Davis 1935–1949 	Yazoo 	L-1023 	Also Yazoo CD 2011 (1994) as The Complete Early Recordings of Rev. Gary Davis and Document DOCD 5060 (UK 2003) with 2 extra tracks.
1971 	Ragtime Guitar 	Transatlantic(UK) 	TRA 244 	recorded 1960–1971, also Kicking Mule 106 (1974), Sonet SNKF 133 (1977) and Heritage HT 309 (UK 1985).
1971 	Children of Zion 	Transatlantic(UK) 	TRA 249 	recorded 1962, Swarthmore College, PA, also Kicking Mule 101 (1974), Sonet SNKF 152 (1978), Heritage HT 308 (UK 1985) and on Shanachie 97024, Blues & Ragtime (1993)
1971 	The Legendary Reverend Gary Davis, Blues and Gospel, Vol 2 	Biograph 	12034E 	recorded March 17, 1971
1972 	When I Die I'll Live Again 	Fantasy 	24704 	reissue of Prestige/Bluesville 1015 and 1032
1973 	Lo I Be with You Always 	Sonet(Sweden) 	SNKD 1 	also Kicking Mule cassette tape (no number, 1984), reissued on Shanachie 97024, Blues & Ragtime (1993)
1973 	O, Glory – The Apostolic Studio Sessions 	Adelphi 	1008 	final studio album recorded March 1969, reissued as Genes GCD 9908 (1996) with additional tracks.
1973 	At The Sign of the Sun 	Heritage (UK) 	?? 	1962, San Diego, CA. Also HT CD 03 (UK 1990).
1974 	Let Us Get Together 	Sonet(Sweden) 	SNKF 103 	also Kicking Mule cassette tape (no number, 1984)
1976 	Sun is Going Down 	Folkways 	FS 3542 	recorded 1966
1984 	I Am A True Vine 	Kicking Mule 	no number 	cassette tape
1984 	Babylon Is Falling 	Kicking Mule 	no number 	cassette tape
1985 	I Am A True Vine 	Heritage (UK) 	HT 307 	recorded 1962–63, NYC, also HT CD07 (UK 1991)
? 	Reverend Gary Davis 	Heritage (UK) 	CD 02 	reissue of Children of Zion and Ragtime Guitar
1988 	Blind Gary Davis 	Document(Austria) 	DLP 521 	recorded live in spring 1976 at Al Matthes in Toronto
1988 	Blind Gary Davis 1962–1964, Recorded Live 	Wolf(Austria) 	120,915 	
1988 	Blind Gary Davis at Allegheny College, Meadville, PA., 1964-Afternoon Workshop	Document(Austria) 	DLP 527 	
1993 	Rev. Gary Davis: Blues and Ragtime 	Shanachie 	97042 	
2002 	The Sun of Our Life: Solos, Songs, A Sermon 1955–1957 	World Arbiter 	2005 	previously unissued session tapes and sermon from mid 1950s
2003 	If I Had My Way: Early Home Recordings 	Folkways 	SFW40123 	recorded in 1953 by John Cohen
2007 	Lifting the Veil: The First Bluesmen (1926–1956), Rev. Gary Davis and Peers 	World Arbiter 	2008 	unissued session tapes from 1956–57, recorded by Fred Gerlach & Tiny Robinson. Liner notes quote a 1951 interview with Davis.
2007 	Reverend Gary Davis Live: ManchesterFREE TRADEHall 1964 	Document(Austria) 	DOCD-32-20-14	recorded May 8, 1964, Manchester, England
2009 	Live at Gerde's Folk City, February 1962 	Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop	SGGW 114/5/6 	3-CD set
2010 	Reverend Gary Davis 	Field Recorders Collective 	FRC116 	recorded in 1952 in NYC by John Cohen
Category:1896 births
Category:1972 deaths