I have just been listening to Paul Jones interviewing Woody Mann about his documentary film project on Blues guitarist Reverend Gary Davis.
An often copied song – Samson and Delilah
As stated in the film he was a great influence on a number of musicians such as Pete Seeger, Bob Weir, Jerry Garcia, Jorma Kaukonen, David Bromberg, Bob Dylan and countless others.
This is a take from the Dead:
Others were influenced – such as Eric Bibb and Ralph McTell
Here’s Gary on I heard the Angels singing:
and Eric Bibb’s version:
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Hesitation Blues from The Rev Gary Davis
and a good rag time version of Hesitation Blues from Ralph McTell
and a version by Janis Joplin –
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In another blog I looked at the versions of Candyman
Here is a reminder of Rev Gary’s version…
and if you want to know how to play it -just listen to Stefan Grossman who is a great fan of Gary Davis:
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and a rare piece of video footage of The Rev Gary playing the famous “Death have no mercy’
and a less rare clip but soulful acoustic version by Hot Tuna:
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Memories of Rev Gary Davis by Stefan Grossman
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Some nice ragtime on this one:
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and finally The Rev Gary Davis performance – June 1967.