Topic: Reverend Gary Davis

[Rivers]

Uncle Bud, great post,very timely. Agree totally re. Live at Newport, stunning vocal and, almost as an afterthought, guitar.

The recording that always gets me though is on the Gospel Blues & Street Singers album (w/Pink Anderson, & Pink is truly great on it too). In fact the whole program is indispensable. The very last track always brings a major lump to my throat, There Was A Time That I Was Blind. I can't think of anything else I've ever heard by any artist that is so sincere and uncontrived.

JohnM, you're dead right, "head cutting" was the name of the game back then. Maybe it still is! 

[Parlor Picker]

The very last track always brings a major lump to my throat, There Was A Time That I Was Blind. I can't think of anything else I've ever heard by any artist that is so sincere and uncontrived.

 

Exactly - that's the track I meant. Amazing voice and guitar and steeped in emotion.

[jostber]

Love the Gospel Blues & Street Singers record. This is also a great one with Mr.Davis:

Pure Religion & Bad Company -
http://www.amazon.com/Pure-Religion-Company-Rev-Davis/dp/B000001DHR/ref=pd_bbs_4/102-7708198-2811344?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1178196625&sr=8-4

[davispicker]

Thanks, Uncle Bud, for the thread on the Rev, who has always been my favorite artist.  His singing and playing of the gospel tunes have always moved me deeply since I started listening to him back around 1975 or so.  I listen to him all the time and never grow tired of it.  For many years I listened to him without attempting to really play any of his songs.  Then a few years back I started to delve more into his playing, inspired by a lesson from Ernie Hawkins, who transmits so much about the spirit of the Rev as a person.  Ernie also understands and plays the Rev's repertoire incredibly well and is a wonderful teacher.  In any case, I find the variety of styles that the Rev mastered to put him in a league of his own.  He is one of those musicians who is difficult to define precisely because he incorporated so many traditions and styles into his playing, and in turn he influenced a wide variety of people in different ways.  Some of you may have seen this wonderful description of the Rev by Allan Evans.  If not, I highly recommend it.

http://www.arbiterrecords.com/notes/2005notes1.html


Cheers,  Brian

[davispicker]

Hi again, good folks,

Just this morning I discovered a wonderful article on Ernie Hawkins in which he relates a lot about his experience with RGD.  Thought I would post the link to it here for ya'll.

http://erniehawkins.com/DirtyLinenOct06.pdf


Cheers,

Brian

[eagle rockin daddy]

This is a really great thread.  I?ve been meaning to add my thoughts for a while as I?ve been thinking a lot about this topic, my relation to the music and message of Rev. Davis.  I share many of the thoughts already expressed, and I fall into the camp of admirers. 
As I think about this I realize that for me, studying Rev. Davis technique involves both my heart and my mind.  His music has always gone right to my heart.  I feel a deep connection with it that I can?t explain.  There was also that feeling of, Wow, I wanna do that, and that is where my mind comes in, because I need to use my mind to figure out what he is doing, and how I can learn his technique.  I am constantly amazed at how he developed a technique and understanding of the guitar that allowed him to express himself musically.  I am also amazed at how well this technique allows me to play other forms of music than his, to express what I hear in my head.

Sure sometimes his performance just charges ahead, but that?s what he was trying to do.  You can hear it.  He starts out slow and chugs along, then all of a sudden something clicks, his playing deepens, the rhythm increases, he connects with the music and off he goes.  I love it.  Two of my favorite tracks are ?There?s a Bright Side Somewhere? and ?I?ll Fly Away? from ?A Little More Faith.

Another aspect of his music that took me a long time to get any kind of understanding is the performance of his repertoire.  It is one thing to connect with Rev. Davis? music, another to make the commitment to learn how to play and sing it, and yet another to perform it.  I love sharing this music with others, but somehow sharing Rev. Davis? stuff takes on another meaning.  I feel like Ernie does in the interview linked above, that in some small way I am continuing his life work, which I see as sharing a message of hope, joy, love, faith and peace (his personal faults aside).  For some reason carrying his message is important to me.  I neither know nor care why, it just is.  I feel grateful to be a small part of his work.

For me, connecting with this wonderful music and learning how to share it has been an important part of my personal journey.  I believe we are all on a journey, and my paths includes Rev. Davis.  The lessons I learn through my love of this music parallels and deepens the lessons I have learned in other areas of my life.  I guess it is all the same anyway.  If nothing more, coming home from a busy day, or with morning coffee, being able to pick up my guitar and play and sing a few notes is a joy.

?Oh Glory how happy I am???..


Mike

[Johnm]

Hi all,
In the deep recesses of the Main Forum I found an old thread on Rev. Davis that touched on some of the topics brought forward by Uncle Bud in the thread he started more recently.  Since there was some information in the old thread not included in the new one, it seemed to make sense to merge the two threads.
All best,
Johnm

[BLOOZMAN]

HEY REV..............

52 DAYS AND COUNTING.....

SEE YA' SOON,

CALVIN

[Parlor Picker]

HEY REV..............

52 DAYS AND COUNTING.....

SEE YA' SOON,

CALVIN

What?? Please explain to a simple Limey.

[GhostRider]

PP:

The Port Townsend CB camp/festival starts July 29, 2007. A truely not-to-be-missed event.

Alex

[Parlor Picker]

Thanks Alex - I was in a Rev. Gary Davis sort of mind, so never made the connection to PT. 

M.

[uncle bud]

Unfortunately, the Rev. won't be at PT, at least not in body, so like Parlor Picker, I'm still confused by the original message.

[Parlor Picker]

Uncle Bud - Nice to know I'm not alone in my confusion. 

[Slack]

HEY REV..............

52 DAYS AND COUNTING.....

SEE YA' SOON,

CALVIN

What?? Please explain to a simple Limey.

C'mon fellars.  52 days and counting refers to the number of days until Port Townsend.  The count down is tracked by a module on the left side menu.  Bloozman and davispicker are both going apparently.

 

[uncle bud]

I got the reference to Port Townsend starting in 52 days, but I had no idea who it was addressed to (Rev in a thread on Rev. Gary Davis when we have no user named Rev is a little confusing) or why it was in this thread...