More Info on Reverend Gary DavisSimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
for|those of a similar name|Gary Davies (disambiguation)Infobox musical artist | name = Reverend Gary Davis| image = The_Reverend.gif| caption =| image_size =| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Gary Davis| alias = Blind Gary Davis| birth_date = Birth date|1896|4|30 Laurens, South Carolina|Laurens , South Carolina , United States| death_date = death date and age|1972|5|5|1896|4|30 Hammonton, New Jersey|Hammonton , New Jersey , United States| origin =| instrument = Guitar , Human voice|vocals | genre = Gospel blues Piedmont blues Country blues Folk-blues | occupation =| years_active = 1930s& ndash;1970s| label =| associated_acts =| website =| current_members =| past_members =| notable_instruments = Reverend Gary Davis , also Blind Gary Davis , (April 30, 1896 & ndash; May 5, 1972) was an United States|American blues and gospel blues|gospel singer and guitarist , who was also proficient on the banjo and harmonica . His Fingerstyle guitar|finger-picking guitar style influenced many other artists and his students in New York City|New York included Stefan Grossman , David Bromberg , Roy Book Binder , Larry Johnson , Woody Mann , Nick Katzman , Dave Van Ronk , Tom Winslow , and Ernie Hawkins .cite book | first= Tony | last= Russell | year= 1997 | title= The Blues - From Robert Johnson (musician)|Robert Johnson to Robert Cray | edition= | publisher=Carlton Books Limited | location= Dubai | pages= 105 | isbn= 1-85868-255-X 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 .
Biography
Gary Davis was born in Laurens, South Carolina|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. http://www.arbiterrecords.com/notes/2008notes.html Liner notes to Lifting the Veil: The First Bluesmen (1926-1956) Rev. Gary Davis & Peers (World Abiter Records, 2007)
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|Durham , North Carolina , a major center for African American culture|black culture at the time. There he collaborated with a number of other musician|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 sound recording and reproduction|recording sessions marked the real beginning of Davis' career. During his time in Durham, Davis converted to Christianity; he would later become ordination|ordained as a Baptists|Baptist minister of religion|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 Roots revival|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 (song)|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 myocardial infarction|heart attack in Hammonton, New Jersey . http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/1970.html Thedeadrockstarsclub.com - accessed December 2009 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
1956
1960
1961
1961
1962?
1964?
1964
1964
196?
1968
1968
1970
1971
1971
1971
1972
1973
1973
1973
1974
1976
1984
1984
1985
?
1988
1988
1988
1993
2002
2003
2007
2007
2009
2010
cite web|url= http://www.jazzdisco.org/riverside-records/|title=Riverside Records Discography Project|publisher=Jazzdisco.org|accessdate=November 28, 2010 cite web|url= http://www.jazzdisco.org/prestige-records//|title=Prestige Records Discography Project|publisher=Jazzdisco.org|accessdate=November 28, 2010 cite web |url= http://www.wirz.de/music/blvilfrm.htm|title= Prestige/Bluesville Discography|first1= Stefan |last1= Wirz|date= December 2, 2010|work= American Music|publisher= |accessdate=December 4, 2010 cite web |url= http://www.wirz.de/music/77frm.htm|title= 77 Records Discography|first1= Stefan |last1= Wirz|date= August 16, 2010|work= American Music|publisher= |accessdate=November 28, 2010 cite web |url= http://www.wirz.de/music/kickmfrm.htm|title= Kicking Mule|first1= Stefan |last1= Wirz|date= August 2, 2010|work= American Music|publisher= |accessdate=November 28, 2010 cite book |title= Oh, What a Beautiful City: A Tribute to Reverend Gary Davis|last1= Davis|first1= Gary|authorlink1= |last2= Tillig|first2= Robert|year= 2010 |publisher= Mel Bay Publications|location= Pacific, Missouri|isbn= 9780786682584|page= |pages= 151–152|url= http://books.google.com/books? id=dVMAckx2RJoC|accessdate=November 28, 2010 cite encyclopedia |last= Henderson|first=Alex |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= Vladimir Bogdanov|encyclopedia= All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues|title= Reverend Gary Davis |url= http://books.google.com/books? id=qYtz7kEHegEC|accessdate= November 28, 2010 |language= |edition= 3rd |year= 2003|month= |publisher= Hal Leonard Corporation|volume= |location= Milwaukee|id= |isbn= 0879307366 |oclc= |doi= |pages= 142–143|quote= |ref= cite book |title= Paul Clayton and the Folksong Revival|last1= Coltman|first1= Bob|authorlink1= |year= 2008 |publisher= Scarecrow Press|location= Lanham, Maryland|isbn= 0810861321|page= 241|pages=|url= http://books.google.com/books? id=UAn-54_ogxcC|accessdate=November 28, 2010 cite web|url= http://www.fieldrecorder.com/docs/store2010.htm|title=The Field Recorders' Collective|publisher=|accessdate=January 28, 2011
See also
Cocaine Blues
Gospel blues
References
Reflist
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& #33; A Tribute To Rev. Gary Davis . Paul Mill Press, 1992.
von Schmidt, Eric Remembering Reverend Gary Davis Sing Out! 51(4)67-73 2008.
External links
http://www.revgarydavis.com/ RevGaryDavis.com, a site devoted to Gary Davis.
Allmusic|class=artist|id=p69080/biography|pure_url=yes Davis biography on AllMusic.com
http://www.culturalequity.org/alanlomax/ce_alanlomax_profile_reverend_gary_davis.php Biography of the Reverend Gary Davis from the Association of Cultural Equity
Blues Persondata | NAME =Davis, Reverend Gary | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = United States|American blues and gospel blues|gospel singer and guitarist | DATE OF BIRTH =April 30, 1896 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Laurens, South Carolina , United States | DATE OF DEATH =May 5, 1972 | PLACE OF DEATH = Hammonton, New Jersey , United States DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Reverend Gary Category:1896 births Category:1972 deaths Category:People from Laurens County, South Carolina Category:Acoustic blues musicians Category:African American musicians Category:American blues singers Category:American blues guitarists Category:American buskers Category:American gospel singers Category:Blind musicians Category:Blind bluesmen Category:Country blues musicians Category:East Coast blues musicians Category:Fingerstyle guitarists Category:Folk-blues musicians Category:Gospel blues musicians Category:Piedmont blues musicians Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:Ragtime composers
cs:Reverend Gary Davis de:Gary Davis es:Reverend Gary Davis fr:Reverend Gary Davis hsb:Gary Davis it:Reverendo Gary Davis fi:Reverend Gary Davis
