If I had my way, I would tear this old building down!
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It’s a New Year and a new Musical Tree! Let’s start with a blind guitar player that had a major influence on some of the greatest guitar players that played. This edition of the Musical Tree is all about The Reverend Gary Davis!
Gary Davis was born in 1896 in Laurens, South Carolina. Out of 8 children he was one of only two children to survive to adulthood. Davis was partially blind at birth, and lost what little sight he had by the time he reached adulthood. He taught himself how to play the guitar at the age of SIX(!) and, by the time he reached his 20’s, his unique style of guitar playing was one of the more advanced styles in all of blues music.
His influences included gospel, marches, ragtime and jazz, all of which he integrated into a style that was his own. By the 1920’s he was living in Durham, North Carolina as a full-time street musician. His popularity in Durham soared, not only because of the diversity of music that he played but because quite simply his guitar skills were unmatched by any other blues player at the time.
Davis recorded for the first time in the 1930’s after receiving financial backing from a local businessman. He cut a mixture of blues and spiritual music for the American Record Company label. However, there was a disagreement over payment for the sessions and, feeling cheated, it would be 19 years before he would record again. One of the songs that he recorded was “I Saw The Light”. Listening to this song you can hear how talented Davis was with his finger picking style of guitar playing. It would be this style that he would teach to many future great guitar players.
Davis began focusing on gospel music and in 1937 became an ordained minister. For a while he refused to play any blues music and just focused on playing gospel tunes. In the 1940’s he moved to New York, where he began preaching and playing on street corners. It wasn’t until the mid-1950’s that his music began to get noticed. With the folk revival movement in full swing, Davis was invited to play at the Newport Folk Festival. He initially resisted but eventually gave in, where his performances were very well received. His songs, such as “Samson and Delilah”, were taken as gospel sermons. He would play for many years at the festival, with his performances often cited by concert goers as the highlight of the festival.
Davis became very popular on the folk and blues circuits, playing for larger audiences. Most of the songs he played were spirituals, but they were not that far removed from the blues music that he had first started playing. One of these songs was “You Gotta Move”. When the Rolling Stones released the song “You Gotta Move” on their great album Sticky Fingers, they gave Davis a co-writing credit on the song.
In 1962 Folk superstars Peter, Paul and Mary had a hit with the song “Samson and Delilah”, which they titled “If I Had My Way”. The trio had become big fans of Davis through his performances at the Newport Folk Festival, and even though the song was in the public domain, the folk trio credited Davis with the song. For the first time in his life, The Reverend Gary Davis was able to live comfortably, even buying a house. When friends would come visit him, he would refer to his house as the “Peter, Paul and Mary house”.
It is impossible to understate his guitar playing abilities. He played complicated rhythms and counter-melodies, picking and strumming his way through a vast repertoire of blues and gospel songs. Around this time–in the early to mid 1960’s– he began teaching guitar and among his students were David Bromberg, Ry Cooder, and Jorma Kaukonen. Jorma was the lead guitar player in the band The Jefferson Airplane, one of the pioneers of the San Francisco psychedelic sound. Jorma, who just turned 80 years young, still performs today, and he still performs a number of Davis’s songs. You can hear The Reverend’s influence on the great song “Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning”, played here with former Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna bassist Jack Casady(who was featured in the first ever Musical Twig!).
Another San Francisco band that was influenced by The Reverend was The Grateful Dead. The Dead played two of Davis’ songs, and gave Davis the songwriting credit on both songs. “Samson and Delilah”, featured here from the Dead’s 1977 studio album Terrapin Station, became a regular concert staple for the rest of the Dead’s career. Paying homage to the song’s religious nature, there was hardly a Sunday Grateful Dead concert that didn’t have the band playing the tune. The Dead also covered the darker “Death Don’t Have No Mercy”, another one of The Reverend’s sermons put to music.
Other artists influenced by The Reverend Gary Davis include Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal, Donovan, and John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful (fun Musical Twig fact – Sebastian also wrote the theme song to the hit TV show ‘Welcome Back Kotter’). Just looking at The Musical Tree, the number of major performers that The Reverend Gary Davis influenced is astounding. What is even more incredible is that he was self-taught on the guitar, blind, and didn’t embrace his stardom until late in his life. His later years were spent comfortably, living in his Peter Paul and Mary house, teaching eager students his unique style on the guitar.
The Reverend Gary Davis died of a heart attack in 1972 and is buried in plot 68 of the Rockville Cemetery in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York. If The Reverend had his way, he would surely tear that old cemetery down.
I hope you enjoyed this edition of The Musical Tree. Feel free to leave suggestions for future articles in the comments. Don’t forget to subscribe to be notified via email when there is a new post.
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Brilliant