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About Reverend Gary Davis

Album Review

Rev. Gary Davis: At Home and At Church 1962-1967

Read "At Home and At Church 1962-1967" reviewed by David Rickert

by David Rickert
May 25, 2010

The Rev. Gary Davis was, by all accounts, an incredible guitarist--one who influenced everyone from Taj Mahal to the Grateful Dead--who seemingly mastered everything he wanted to do with the instrument. However, over his long career he was recorded only sporadically, and most of his recordings have been released posthumously. Davis was more of a live performer, and never ventured into the studio all that often, which makes the unearthed home recordings of At Home and At Church 1962-1967 a ...

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Album Review

Reverend Gary Davis: The Guitar and Banjo of Reverend Gary Davis

by Derek Taylor
August 1, 2001

Calling Gary Davis a bluesman is something of a misnomer and it's a title he likely would have balked at, particularly in his younger years. The blues were but one facet of his far-reaching folk repertoire. Banjo tunes, string band numbers, Tin Pan Alley, and ragtime and gospel all fall under his fertile jurisdiction. In 1935 his obstinacy in the face of the A&R man's insistence that he play the blues rather than the gospel songs of his own choosing ...