Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Gary Davis

Performer: Rev. Gary Davis
Distributor: RED Distribution

Notes: Recorded between 1935 & 1971. Includes liner notes by Ed Ward. This is a part of Shout!'s Heroes Of The Blues series. Audio Remasterer: Mike Thomas. Liner Note Author: Ed Ward . An expert ragtime and blues guitarist, Rev. Gary Davis recorded gospel, marches, ragtime, jazz, and minstrel pieces throughout his long career (which included recordings issued in every decade from the 1930s until his death in 1972), but turned increasingly to spiritual material, and it is for his own brand of gospel-blues that he is best known. This collection gathers material from the mid-'60s following Davis' discovery by the so-called folk revival, and it documents his raspy singing voice and expert guitar playing. His signature tune, a version of Blind Willie Johnson's "Tear This Building Down" called "Samson & Delilah," leads off this set and exemplifies the skill of this fine gospel bluesman. ~ Steve Leggett

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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