Reverend Gary Davis
Encyclopedia
Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis, (April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972) was an American
blues
and gospel
singer and guitarist
, who was also proficient on the banjo
and harmonica
. His finger-picking
guitar style influenced many other artists and his students in New York
included Stefan Grossman
, David Bromberg
, Roy Book Binder
, Larry Johnson
, Woody Mann
, Nick Katzman
, Dave Van Ronk
, Tom Winslow
, and Ernie Hawkins
. He has influenced the Grateful Dead
, Bob Dylan
, Jackson Browne
, Townes van Zandt
, Wizz Jones
, Jorma Kaukonen
, Keb' Mo'
, Ollabelle
, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Jack White
and Resurrection Band
.
, 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.
He took to the guitar and assumed a unique multi-voice style produced solely with his thumb and index finger, playing not only ragtime
and blues tunes, but also traditional and original tunes in four-part harmony.
In the mid-1920s, Davis migrated to Durham
, North Carolina
, a major center for black culture
at the time. There he collaborated with a number of other artists
in the Piedmont blues
scene including Blind Boy Fuller
and Bull City Red
. In 1935, J. B. Long
, a store manager with a reputation for supporting local artists, introduced Davis, Fuller and Red to the American Record Company
. The subsequent recording
sessions marked the real beginning of Davis' career. During his time in Durham, Davis converted to Christianity; he would later become ordained
as a Baptist minister
. Following his conversion and especially his ordination, Davis began to express a preference for inspirational gospel music.
In the 1940s, the blues scene in Durham began to decline and Davis migrated to New York. In 1951, well before his 'rediscovery', Davis's oral history was recorded by Elizabeth Lyttleton Harold (the wife of Alan Lomax
) who transcribed their conversations into a 300+-page typescript.
The folk revival
of the 1960s re-invigorated Davis' career, culminating in a performance at the Newport Folk Festival
and the recording by Peter, Paul and Mary
of "Samson and Delilah
", also known as "If I Had My Way", originally a Blind Willie Johnson
recording that Davis had popularized.
Davis died in May 1972, from a heart attack
in Hammonton, New Jersey
. He is buried in plot 68 of Rockville Cemetery in Lynwood, Long Island, New York.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and gospel
Gospel blues
Gospel blues is a form of blues-based gospel music that has been around since the inception of blues music, a combination of blues guitar and evangelistic lyrics...
singer and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, who was also proficient on the banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
and harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
. His finger-picking
Fingerstyle guitar
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking ....
guitar style influenced many other artists and his students in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
included Stefan Grossman
Stefan Grossman
Stefan Grossman is an American acoustic fingerstyle guitarist and singer, music producer and educator, and co-founder of Kicking Mule records.-Early life and influences:Born in Brooklyn, New York, to Herbert and Ruth Grossman...
, David Bromberg
David Bromberg
David Bromberg is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Bromberg has an eclectic style, playing bluegrass, blues, folk, jazz, country and western, and rock and roll equally well. He is known for his quirky, humorous lyrics, and the ability to play rhythm and lead guitar at the...
, Roy Book Binder
Roy Book Binder
Roy Book Binder is an American blues guitarist. A student and friend of the Rev. Gary Davis, he is equally at home with blues and ragtime, he is known to shift from open tunings to slide arrangements to original compositions, with both traditional and self-styled licks...
, Larry Johnson
Larry Johnson
Larry Johnson is the name of:* Larry Johnson , American football running back* Larry Johnson , baseball player* Larry Johnson , American basketball player...
, Woody Mann
Woody Mann
-Biography:Mann specializes in jazz, blues, and American roots music.He was born in New York, where he first studied acoustic guitar with ragtime and blues guitarist Reverend Gary Davis from 1968-72. From 1973-78, Mann continued private lessons, focusing on improvisation with jazz pianist Lennie...
, Nick Katzman
Nick Katzman
Nick Katzman is an American blues musician. Katzman was born in New York City, and lives in both Manhattan and Berlin, Germany. He plays in a variety of musical genres, including Chicago blues, Mississippi blues, Texas blues, and ragtime....
, Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street" ....
, Tom Winslow
Tom Winslow
Thomas Griffin "Tom" Winslow was a prominent American folk singer and writer, best known as a "disciple" of Reverend Gary Davis and a former member of Pete Seeger's band. He performed with his family as The Winslows and recorded with Al Polito. His career as a performing artist lasted over forty...
, and Ernie Hawkins
Ernie Hawkins
Ernie Hawkins is an American acoustic blues guitar player, singer, recording artist, and educator, who has a Ph.D. in phenomenological psychology....
. He has influenced the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
, Townes van Zandt
Townes Van Zandt
John Townes Van Zandt , best known as Townes Van Zandt, was an American Texas Country-folk music singer-songwriter, performer, and poet...
, Wizz Jones
Wizz Jones
Raymond Ronald Jones better-known as Wizz Jones is an English acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has been performing since the late 1950s and recording from 1965 to the present...
, Jorma Kaukonen
Jorma Kaukonen
Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen Jr. is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist, best known for his work with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna.-Biography:...
, Keb' Mo'
Keb' Mo'
Keb' Mo is an American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter, currently living in Nashville, Tennessee, United States.-Early life:From early on he had an appreciation for the blues and gospel music...
, Ollabelle
Ollabelle
Ollabelle is a New York based folk music group named after the influential Appalachian songwriter Ola Belle Reed. The group is composed of five singing multi-instrumentalists hailing from disparate parts of the United States, Canada and Australia.-History:...
, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Jack White
Jack White
Jack White may refer to:* Jack White , with the rock bands The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather* Jack White , UK soldier* Jack White , German producer of disco music...
and Resurrection Band
Resurrection Band
Resurrection Band, also known as Rez Band or REZ, was a Christian rock band formed in 1972. They were part of the Jesus People USA Christian community in Chicago and most of its members have continued in that community to this day. Known for their blend of blues-rock and hard rock, Resurrection...
.
Biography
Gary Davis was born in LaurensLaurens, South Carolina
Laurens is a city in Laurens County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 9,916 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Laurens County.-History:...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, 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
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, 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.
He took to the guitar and assumed a unique multi-voice style produced solely with his thumb and index finger, playing not only ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
and blues tunes, but also traditional and original tunes in four-part harmony.
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, a major center for black culture
African American culture
African-American culture, also known as black culture, in the United States refers to the cultural contributions of Americans of African descent to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from American culture. The distinct identity of African-American culture is rooted in...
at the time. There he collaborated with a number of other artists
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
in the Piedmont blues
Piedmont blues
Piedmont blues refers primarily to a guitar style, the Piedmont fingerstyle, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb bass string rhythmic pattern supports a syncopated melody using the treble strings generally picked with the fore-finger,...
scene including Blind Boy Fuller
Blind Boy Fuller
Blind Boy Fuller was an American blues guitarist and vocalist. He was one of the most popular of the recorded Piedmont blues artists with rural Black Americans, a group that also included Blind Blake, Josh White, and Buddy Moss.-Life and career:Fulton Allen was born in Wadesboro, North Carolina,...
and Bull City Red
Bull City Red
Bull City Red was an American, Piedmont blues guitarist, singer, and predominately washboard player, most associated with Blind Boy Fuller and the Reverend Gary Davis...
. In 1935, J. B. Long
J. B. Long
James Baxter Long, Sr. was an American store manager, owner, and record company talent scout, responsible in the 1930s for discovering Fulton Allen and Gary Davis, among other notable blues musicians.-Biography:Long was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina to parents Henry Baxter Long and...
, a store manager with a reputation for supporting local artists, introduced Davis, Fuller and Red to the American Record Company
American Record Company
The American Record Company was a United States record label, in business from about 1904 to 1908. Then re-activated in 1979.The American Record Company was founded by Ellsworth A. Hawthorne and Horace Sheble and Frederick M. Prescott. It was based in Springfield, Massachusetts...
. The subsequent recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
sessions marked the real beginning of Davis' career. During his time in Durham, Davis converted to Christianity; he would later become ordained
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
as a Baptist minister
Minister of religion
In Christian churches, a minister is someone who is authorized by a church or religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community...
. Following his conversion and especially his ordination, Davis began to express a preference for inspirational gospel music.
In the 1940s, the blues scene in Durham began to decline and Davis migrated to New York. In 1951, well before his 'rediscovery', Davis's oral history was recorded by Elizabeth Lyttleton Harold (the wife of Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
) who transcribed their conversations into a 300+-page typescript.
The folk revival
Roots revival
A roots revival is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly-composed songs with socially and politically aware lyrics, as well as a general modernization of the folk sound.After an...
of the 1960s re-invigorated Davis' career, culminating in a performance at the Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
and the recording by Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio whose nearly 50-year career began with their rise to become a paradigm for 1960s folk music. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers...
of "Samson and Delilah
Samson and Delilah (song)
"Samson and Delilah" is a traditional song based on the Biblical tale of Samson and his betrayal by Delilah. Its best known performer is perhaps the Grateful Dead, who first performed the song live in 1976, with guitarist Bob Weir singing lead vocals. It was frequently played live by the Dead. The...
", also known as "If I Had My Way", originally a Blind Willie Johnson
Blind Willie Johnson
"Blind" Willie Johnson was an American singer and guitarist, whose music straddled the border between blues and spirituals....
recording that Davis had popularized.
Davis died in May 1972, from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in Hammonton, New Jersey
Hammonton, New Jersey
Hammonton is a town in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 14,791. It is located directly between Philadelphia and the resort town of Atlantic City, along a former route of the Pennsylvania Railroad currently used by New Jersey...
. He is buried in plot 68 of Rockville Cemetery in Lynwood, 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 Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell, better known as Sonny Terry was a blind American Piedmont blues musician. He was widely known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers, and imitations of trains and fox hunts.-Career:Terry was born in Greensboro, Georgia... , 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 Prestige Records Prestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several... |
1015 | recorded August 24, 1960, also Bluesville BVLP 1015, Original Blues Classics 547, Fontana 688-303-ZL (UK 1965). Renamed Pure 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 Prestige Records Prestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several... |
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 Bluesville Records Bluesville Records is a subsidiary of Prestige Records, launched in the 1960s with the primary purpose of documenting the work of the older classic bluesmen passed over by the changing audience... |
1049 | also XTRA 5014 (UK 1966) and OBCCD 519-2. |
| 1962? | Pure Religion and Bad Company | 77 77 Records 77 Records was a British record label set up in 1957 by Doug Dobell, the proprietor of Dobell's Jazz Record Shop at 77 Charing Cross Road, London... (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 Prestige Records Prestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several... |
14028 | also Prestige 7805 (1972), reissue of Harlem Street Singer. |
| 1964 | The Guitar and Banjo of Reverend Gary Davis | Prestige Folklore Prestige Records Prestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several... |
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 Biograph Records Biograph Records is a record label founded in 1967 by Arnold S. Caplin. It specialized in early American ragtime, jazz, and blues music. Biograph was the first label to issue records made from piano rolls created by Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton and George Gershwin.In 2002, Biograph Records was... |
12030E | also Blue Moon BMLP 1.040 (c.1987) |
| 1968 | Rev. Gary Davis at Newport | Vanguard Vanguard Records Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary... |
73008 | recorded 1965 |
| 1968 | Bring Your Money, Honey | Fontana Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label which was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records; when Philips restructured its music operations it dropped Fontana in favor of Vertigo Records. In the seventies PolyGram acquired the dormant label.... (UK) |
SFJL 914 | recorded Cambridge, MA |
| 1970 | Reverend Gary Davis 1935-1949 | Yazoo Yazoo Records Yazoo Records is an American record label, founded in the late 1960s by Nick Perls. It specializes in early American blues, country, jazz, and other rural American genres .... |
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 Transatlantic Records Transatlantic Records was a British independent record label. It was established in 1961. It started began primarily as an importer of American folk, blues and jazz records - by many of the artists who influenced the burgeoning British folk and blues boom. Within a couple of years, the company had... (UK) |
TRA 244 | recorded 1960-1972, also Kicking Mule 106 (1974), Sonet SNKF 133 (1977) and Heritage HT 309 (UK 1985). |
| 1971 | Children of Zion | Transatlantic Transatlantic Records Transatlantic Records was a British independent record label. It was established in 1961. It started began primarily as an importer of American folk, blues and jazz records - by many of the artists who influenced the burgeoning British folk and blues boom. Within a couple of years, the company had... (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 Biograph Records Biograph Records is a record label founded in 1967 by Arnold S. Caplin. It specialized in early American ragtime, jazz, and blues music. Biograph was the first label to issue records made from piano rolls created by Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton and George Gershwin.In 2002, Biograph Records was... |
12034E | recorded March 17, 1971 |
| 1972 | When I Die I'll Live Again | Fantasy Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label... |
24704 | reissue of Prestige/Bluesville 1015 and 1032 |
| 1973 | Lo I Be with You Always | Sonet Sonet Records Sonet Records is a jazz record label operating as an imprint of Universal Music Sweden. It was founded in Sweden in 1956.Sonet Records was established by Sven Lindholm and Gunnar Bergström, who managed the label into the 1980s. Dag Haeggqvist, the owner of Gazell Records, became an executive of the... (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 Adelphi Records Adelphi Records is a US record label founded in 1968 by Gene and Carol Rosenthal.Musicians on that label are The Nighthawks and Catfish Hodge , Lenny Breau, Reuben Brown and Richie Cole , Yellowman, Big Youth and Toots & the Maytals , Rev. Gary Davis, Gene Johnson [Rock & Soul], and Rev... |
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 Sonet Records Sonet Records is a jazz record label operating as an imprint of Universal Music Sweden. It was founded in Sweden in 1956.Sonet Records was established by Sven Lindholm and Gunnar Bergström, who managed the label into the 1980s. Dag Haeggqvist, the owner of Gazell Records, became an executive of the... (Sweden) |
SNKF 103 | also Kicking Mule cassette tape (no number, 1984) |
| 1976 | Sun is Going Down | Folkways Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:... |
FS 3542 | recorded 1966 |
| 1984 | I Am A True Vine | Kicking Mule Kicking Mule Records Kicking Mule Records was an independent American record label founded in 1972 by Stefan Grossman and Eugene "ED" Denson. Denson was previously a co-owner of Takoma Records. The company's title comes from the country blues sexual two-timing allegory "there's another mule kicking in your stall".... |
no number | cassette tape |
| 1984 | Babylon Is Falling | Kicking Mule Kicking Mule Records Kicking Mule Records was an independent American record label founded in 1972 by Stefan Grossman and Eugene "ED" Denson. Denson was previously a co-owner of Takoma Records. The company's title comes from the country blues sexual two-timing allegory "there's another mule kicking in your stall".... |
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 Document Records Document Records is a British record label that specializes in early American blues, bluegrass, gospel, spirituals jazz, and other rural American genres , generally made between 1900 and 1945... (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 Document Records Document Records is a British record label that specializes in early American blues, bluegrass, gospel, spirituals jazz, and other rural American genres , generally made between 1900 and 1945... (Austria) |
DLP 527 | |
| 1993 | Rev. Gary Davis: Blues and Ragtime | Shanachie Shanachie Records Shanachie Records was founded in 1976 by Richard Nevins and Dan Collins. According to Harvey Pekar , it is one of the largest independent record labels in the world, and is currently distributed by E1 Music. Starting as a label that specialized in fiddle music, they began releasing work by Celtic... |
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 Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:... |
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: Manchester Free Trade Hall 1964 | Document Document Records Document Records is a British record label that specializes in early American blues, bluegrass, gospel, spirituals jazz, and other rural American genres , generally made between 1900 and 1945... (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 |
Further reading
- Mann, Woody. Ragtime and Gospel, Oak Publications, 2003.
- Reevy, Tony and Caroline Weaver. "Street Sessions, piedmont style
[ sic] ". Our State. July 2002. - Stambler, Irwin and Lyndon. Folk and Blues, The Encyclopedia, New York, St. Martin's Press, 2001.
- Tilling, Robert. Oh, What a Beautiful City! A Tribute To Rev. Gary Davis. Paul Mill Press, 1992.
- von Schmidt, Eric Remembering Reverend Gary Davis Sing Out!Sing Out!Sing Out! is a quarterly journal of folk music and folk songs that has been published since May 1950.-Background:Sing Out! is the primary publication of the tax exempt, not-for-profit, educational corporation of the same name...
51(4)67-73 2008.
External links
- RevGaryDavis.com, a site devoted to Gary Davis.
- www.folkways.si.edu, Smithsonian Folkways recordings information.
- [ Davis biography on AllMusic.com]
- Biography of the Reverend Gary Davis from the Association of Cultural Equity