O, Glory: The Apostolic Studio Sessions

Performer: Rev. Gary Davis
Engineer: David Baker; Dave Baker; Gene Rosenthal; Lawrence Packer
Producer: John Townley; Matt Hoffman
Distributor: Rock Bottom Distributing

Notes: Personnel: Rev. Gary Davis (vocals, guitar); Larry Johnson (harmonica); Sister Anne Davis (background vocals). Apostolic Family Chorus: John Townley, Monica Boscia, Jerry Novac, Bobby Brooks (background vocals). Principally recorded at Apostolic Studios in March 1969. Includes original release liner notes by John Townley. Personnel: Rev. Gary Davis (vocals, guitar, banjo, harmonica, piano); Jerry Novac, Sister Annie Davis, Monica Boscia, John Townley, Bobby Brooks (vocals); Larry Johnson (harmonica). Liner Note Author: John Townley. Recording information: Apostolic Studios (03/1969). Photographer: John Townley. Unknown Contributor Role: Stefan Grossman. Recorded in 1969, O, Glory: The Apostolic Studio Sessions is the Rev. Gary Davis' final studio LP, but he went out in style, working under the most state-of-the-art studio conditions of his career. The result is perhaps the best-sounding record in his catalog, even if the performances don't quite capture all the fire of his peak period; equally interesting is another break in tradition -- rarely recorded with other artists (outside of a few early-'50s sides cut with Sonny Terry), here Davis is backed by vocalist Sister Annie Davis, harpist Larry Johnson and the Apostolic Family Chorus. Also worth noting is that Davis performs on a pair of instruments he'd never before recorded with, the piano and the five-string banjo. The cumulative result makes O Glory a must for historians, but casual fans will undoubtedly be better served by his earlier material. ~ Jason Ankeny

Blind blues guitarist Reverend Gary Davis is one of the most influential bluesmen in terms of the evolution of folk and rock fingerpicking. A key member of the Piedmont blues movement of the 1920s and '30s, Davis put his own upbeat yet simplistic spin on the rural picking style that marked that scene's sound. Davis moved to New York City in the 1940s where he recorded for the famed Folkways label, eventually becoming a darling of the folk revival that would explode in the coming decades. Everyone from Bob Dylan and Dave Van Ronk to Taj Mahal, Jackson Browne, and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead cite Davis as an influence.

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