Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis, was a blind African American
blues and gospel singer and guitarist, who was also proficient on the banjo
guitar and harmonica. His finger-picking guitar 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.
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.
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.
In 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. 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 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. 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, several years before his "rediscovery", Davis's oral history
was recorded by Elizabeth Lyttleton Harold 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. 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. He is
buried in plot 68 of Rockville Cemetery in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York.
Discography Many of his records were published
posthumously. See also
Cocaine Blues Gospel blues
References Further reading
Mann, Woody. The Art of Acoustic Blues Guitar: 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, ISBN 9780786682584.
von Schmidt, Eric Remembering Reverend Gary Davis Sing Out! 51(4)67–73 2008.
Zack, Ian. Say No to the Devil: The Life and Musical Genius of Rev. Gary Davis.
University of Chicago Press, 2015, ISBN 9780226234106.
Laurence, Trevor. Director, "Harlem Street Singer", feature documentary film
on the life and times of Reverend Gary Davis. Acoustic Traditions 2015
External links RevGaryDavis.com, a site devoted to Gary
Davis. The documentary film on the life and
music of Reverend Gary Davis www.folkways.si.edu, Smithsonian
Folkways recordings information. Davis's grave site at findagrave.com
Davis biography on AllMusic.com Biography of the Reverend Gary Davis
from the Association of Cultural Equity The guitar students of Rev. Gary Davis
with links to performances