Reverend Gary Davis ("Blind Gary Davis", April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972) was an African American blues and gospel singer and guitarist. His fingerpicking style was extremely influential; his students in New York City in the 1960s included Jorma Kaukonen, Stefan Grossman, Roy Book Binder, Woody Mann, and Ernie Hawkins. April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in leap years), with 245 days remaining, as the last day in April. ... 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... The blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on a pentatonic scale and a characteristic twelve-bar chord progression. ... Gospel music may refer either to the religious music that first came out of African-American churches in the 1930s or, more loosely, to both black gospel music and to the religious music composed and sung by white southern Christian artists. ... Nickname The Big Apple, The Capital of the World [1], Gotham Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area  - Total  - Land  - Water 1,214. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1961 to 1970, inclusive. ... Jorma Kaukonen (born December 23, 1940 in Washington, D.C.) is an American blues, folk and rock guitarist. ...

He was born in Clinton, South Carolina and became blind soon after birth. He took to the guitar and assumed a unique multivoice style, playing not only ragtime and blues tunes, but traditional and original tunes in four part harmony. Following his ordination as a Christian minister, his preference was clearly for inspirational gospel. He migrated to New York City in the 1940s and by the 1960s he had become known as the Harlem Street Singer, and the person to see if you wanted to learn how to play guitar. He achieved serious recognition during the folk revival of the 1960s, with an appearance at the Newport Folk Festival and the recording by Peter, Paul and Mary of "Samson & Delilah", also known as "If I Had My Way," a song he had popularized to some extent after learning it from the Blind Willie Johnson recording. His musical influence extends throughout modern American music from the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan to Keb Mo, Olabelle and Resurrection Band. Clinton is a city located in Laurens County, South Carolina. ... Second edition cover of Maple Leaf Rag, perhaps the most famous rag of all Ragtime is an American musical genre, enjoying its peak popularity around the years 1900–1918. ... A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ. ... Nickname The Big Apple, The Capital of the World [1], Gotham Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area  - Total  - Land  - Water 1,214. ... Harlem is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, long known as a major African-American cultural and business center. ... The Newport Folk Festival is an annual folk-oriented music festival founded in 1959 by George Wein, founder of the already-well-established Newport Jazz Festival, and his partner, Albert Grossman. ... The trio Peter, Paul and Mary (often PP&M) is an American musical group that was one of the most successful folk-singing groups of the 1960s. ... Blind Willie Johnson Blind Willie Johnson (c. ... The Grateful Dead was an American psychedelia-influenced rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco. ... Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and poet whose enduring contributions to American song are often compared, in fame and influence, to those of Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, Woody Guthrie, and Hank Williams. ... Keb Mo is a noted blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. ... Resurrection Band, also known as Rez Band or REZ, are a hard rock/blues band. ...

The principal biographer of Gary Davis is Robert Tilling, author of "Oh, What a Beautiful City! A Tribute To Rev. Gary Davis," Paul Mill Press, 1992. Other resources include "Ragtime and Gospel", Woody Mann, Oak Publications, 2003.

Discography

Many of the records were published posthumously.

• Little More Faith, Bluesville, Dec. 1961
• Blind Reverend Gary Davis, Bluesville, Oct. 1962
• Pure Religion, Command, July 1964, (re-released in 1970s by Prestige)
• Blind Reverend Gary Davis, (different album of same name), Prestige, May 1964
• Singing Reverend, Stimson, (with Sonny Terry)
• Guitar & Banjo, Prestige, 1970s
• Ragtime Guitar, Kicking Mule
• Lo I Be with You Always, Kicking Mule
• Children of Zion, Kicking Mule
• Let Us Get Together, Kicking Mule
• Lord I Wish I Could See, Biograph
• Reverend Gary Davis, Biograph
• Compilation CD in 1991: Pure Religion and Bad Company

Saunders Terrell, better known as Sonny Terry, was born in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1911 and died on March 11, 1986 in Mineola, New York. ...

External links

• RevGaryDavis.com, a site devoted to Gary Davis.
• RoyBookBinder.com, Roy Book Binder's official site.
• Davis biography on AllMusic.com

References

• Irwin and Lyndon Stambler, Folk and Blues, The Encyclopedia, New York, St. Martin's Press, 2001