Unheard music from Rev. Gary Davis 'The Avant Garde Recordings' coming from Omnivore Recordings on March 23rd

REVEREND GARY DAVIS: THE AVANT GARDE RECORDINGS:  RECORDED LIVE — OCTOBER 1966 FROM OMNIVORE RECORDINGS PORTRAYS BLUES LEGEND CAPTURED LIVE AT THE PEAK OF THE LATE ’60s BLUES REVIVAL  Two-CD and digital set, the first of many Avant Garde Coffeehouse offerings,  features 22 previously unreleased tracks, plus liner notes by Bill Dahl and an unheard interview with Rev. Davis in the digital version. Street date March 23, 2018. MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Rev. Gary Davis, born in 1896 in the Piedmont region of Laurens, S.C., was a blues and gospel singer who played guitar, banjo, and harmonica and influenced a generation of blues revivalists in the ’60s and beyond — ranging from Dave Van Ronk to Keb’ Mo’. Following decades of playing the Carolinas and mentoring fellow musician Blind Boy Fuller, Davis was introduced to the American Recording Company, where he recorded the bulk of his pre-World War II work. In 1937, he became an ordained minister and released mainly gospel music. The late ’60s proved a career renaissance for the Reverend; he played to a new, largely white audience at the Newport Folk Festival. He died in 1972. In late October of 1966, Davis was captured on a single microphone in the small Milwaukee coffeehouse called Avant Garde. Only open from 1962-1968, the Avant Garde featured everything from experimental film and poetry to some of the best blues and folk performers of the era. Rev. Davis rolled out his classics “Samson and Delilah,” “Jesus Met the Woman at the Well,” “You Got To Move,” “Twelve Gates to the City” and others in an intimate setting. Omnivore Recordings will release this previously unavailable material as Reverend Gary Davis: The Avant Garde Recordings: Recorded Live — October 1966, a 2-CD set and Digital, on March 23, 2018. Musicologist Bill Dahl wrote the biographical liner notes along with memories of the venue by John Stropes of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Included as a bonus download is an interview with Rev. Davis after one of the shows. Produced by native Milwaukeean and Grammy Award-winning producer, Cheryl Pawelski with restoration and mastering by Grammy Award-winning engineer, Michael Graves, these spellbinding, never-before-heard recordings are a revealing addition to his recorded legacy.  In his notes, Stropes wrote: “The Avant Garde Coffeehouse, founded by Harold Strohmeier in 1962, was the locus of the folk/blues revival in Wisconsin. There were places like this in other geographic areas, but, in Wisconsin, none as important as the Avant Garde…The proximity to the Chicago electric blues scene provided a distinctive mix of performers. Patrons regarded the music with the same seriousness and respect given to classical music. It was a classroom. You went there to learn. You could actually sit down and have a conversation with these performers. Without the Avant Garde, there would have been no centrality for these older traditions or the recasting of these traditions by revivalists.”       Track listing: DISC ONE: 1. Samson And Delilah 2. Jesus Met The Woman At The Well 3. Twelve Gates To The City 4. Buck Dance 5. The Sun Is Goin’ Down 6. Oh Glory, How Happy I Am 7. You Got To Move 8. One More River To Cross 9. I Feel Like My Time Ain’t Long 10. Might Well Get Ready, You Got To Die 11. Soon My Work Will All Be Done   DISC TWO: 1. Children Of Zion 2. Sally, Where’d You Get Your Liquor From? 3. She’s Funny That Way 4. Maple Leaf Rag 5. You Got To Reap Just What You Sow 6. Lo, I’ll Be With You Always 7. Before This Time Another Year 8. Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning 9. Marine Band 10. I Am The Light Of This World 11. A Long Way To Tipperary   # # #

Keyesland Music artists: Harlem Street Singer - Empire Roots Band - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, Music from the film, Harlem Street Singer, Music by Empire Roots Band it's it's quite well done. This film and consequently this cd celebrates the music of Rev. Gary Davis. Opening with Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning, this band features the robust voice of Bill Sims Jr. guitar work by Woody Mann, piano by Dave Keyes and bass by Brian Glassman. Each of the performers shows their individual virtuosity on this track. On Search My Heart, Sims Jr. holds a strong line vocally but it's Keyes that shines on through on piano on this track. Opening with really clean piano riffs by Keyes, Mean Old World gets a super rework by Sims jr. and may be my favorite track on the release. Both Keyes and Mann lay down some exceptional riffs. There's A Destruction In This Land has a particularly strong spiritual overtone with it's gospel feel. Genre specific piano riffs and warm harmonies accentuate Sims jr.s lead vocals. I particularly like Mann's lead guitar take off on this track. Opening with some cool slide riffs by Mann, Soon My Work Will All Be Done, is a quiet contemplative track with subtle overtones. Nice finger picking by Mann opens Trying To Get Home and Sims Jr. lays down some of my favorite vocals on the release. A nice blend of Mann's guitar, Keyes on piano and a cool solo by Glassman makes this one of my favorites on the release. An extremely precise chord intro by Mann gives Sunday Church Medley a certain sophistication before breaking into a simple revival feel with blended male vocals and Keyes, Glassman and Mann sharing in the resulting musical bounty. A great intro by Mann and Keyes and a nice bass line by Glassman gives on Hesitation Blues a terrific posture. Excellent! Twelve Gates To The City has a nice almost New Orleans strut thanks to Keyes. Glassman lays out a solid bass solo on this track, lightly punctuated by Keyes and Mann plays close to Sims Jr. really capturing the feel of RGD. On I Am The Light Of This World/I Belong To The Band, Sims Jr.s vocals are more neatly tucked into the basci feel of the music with solid piano throughout. Mann has a few hot riffs but this track is about it's swing. Wrapping the release is Orangitang Rag. This is a really crisp guitar lead guitar track with tight bass riffs and a quick piano solo from Keys. An excellent track to conclude an uplifting release.

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

 

Rev. Gary Davis - Sally Where'd You Get Your Liquor From

Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis, (April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972) was an American blues and gospel singer and guitarist, who was also proficient on the banjo and harmonica. His finger-picking guitar style influenced many other artists and his students in New York included Stefan Grossman, David Bromberg, Roy Book Binder, Larry Johnson, Woody Mann, Nick Katzman, Dave Van Ronk, Tom Winslow, and Ernie Hawkins. He has influenced the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Townes van Zandt, Wizz Jones, Jorma Kaukonen, Keb' Mo', Ollabelle, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, and Resurrection Band.
Gary Davis was born in Laurens, South Carolina, and was the only one of eight children his mother bore who survived to adulthood. He became blind as an infant. Davis reported that his father was killed in Birmingham, Alabama, when Davis was ten, and Davis later said that he had been told that his father had been shot by the Birmingham High Sheriff. He recalled being poorly treated by his mother and that before his death his father had given him into the care of his paternal grandmother.

He took to the guitar and assumed a unique multi-voice style produced solely with his thumb and index finger, playing not only ragtime and blues tunes, but also traditional and original tunes in four-part harmony.
Bull City Blues, Durham, North Carolina

In the mid-1920s, Davis migrated to Durham, North Carolina, a major center for black culture at the time. There he collaborated with a number of other artists in the Piedmont blues scene including Blind Boy Fuller and Bull City Red. In 1935, J. B. Long, a store manager with a reputation for supporting local artists, introduced Davis, Fuller and Red to the American Record Company. The subsequent recording sessions marked the real beginning of Davis' career. During his time in Durham, Davis converted to Christianity; he would later become ordained as a Baptist minister. Following his conversion and especially his ordination, Davis began to express a preference for inspirational gospel music.

In the 1940s, the blues scene in Durham began to decline and Davis migrated to New York. In 1951, well before his 'rediscovery', Davis's oral history was recorded by Elizabeth Lyttleton Harold (the wife of Alan Lomax) who transcribed their conversations into a 300+-page typescript.

The folk revival of the 1960s re-invigorated Davis' career, culminating in a performance at the Newport Folk Festival and the recording by Peter, Paul and Mary of "Samson and Delilah", also known as "If I Had My Way", originally a Blind Willie Johnson recording that Davis had popularized.

Davis died in May 1972, from a heart attack in Hammonton, New Jersey. He is buried in plot 68 of Rockville Cemetery in Lynwood, Long Island, New York.
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

Rev. Gary Davis, Bozo Padunavac and American Primitivism - An Exclusive Interview with Peter Lang

I caught up the other day with legendary American Primitive guitar player Peter Lang. American Primitivism, also known as American Primitive Guitar, is the music genre started by John Fahey in the late 1950s. Fahey composed and recorded avant-garde/neo-classical compositions using traditional country blues fingerpicking techniques, which had previously been used primarily to accompany vocals. Other famous early proponents were Leo Kottke and Robbie Basho who all played at one time or another on Fahey's Takoma Records label. The style is derived from the country blues and string band music of the '20s and '30s.

Fahey referred to it as 'American Primitive' after the 'French Primitive' painters, meaning untutored.

Bman: Hi Peter. I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk with me. First I want to mention that I have posted a number of your performances with your biography which have been some of my most read articles. You definitely have a lot of fans.

I remember first hearing you when I was in college. Your finger playing technique is incredible. How did you get started playing guitar?

Peter: As a child I came from a dysfunctional family. My father was a WWII/Korea veteran. Music was an important escape from my world. I started playing trumpet in grade school and I loved to practice. My father had boilermakers ears (essentially everything bothered his hearing and it sounded to him like noise in a can). He suggested that I stop playing trumpet and possibly play a guitar instead. It ended up being a Ukulele but ultimately I got a Kay student model and by 14 had worked my way up to a good Gibson J45 at 14. I was actually starting to progress and get rid of some of my bad habits and a friend of my brothers smashed it for fun. Fortunately dad was an insurance man and with the proceeds I got a ’63 Gibson Hummingbird. Most of my early recordings were made on this guitar. Guitar builder Ren Fergusen who was building banjo’s and doing guitar repairs (later in charge of Gibson’s custom shop) did some great custom inlays on that guitar. 

Bman: So how did you get hooked up with John Fahey and Leo Kottke?

Peter: I moved to LA in 1967 to get work. A number of players would work at the Troubadour and the Ash Grove. I ended up playing with Dave Van Ronk, Elizabeth Cotten and Brownie McGhee. The Ash Grove was only open about 15 years but the owner was involved in “radical politics’ and it was burned down a number of times. It was there and Mc Cabe’s that I met John Fahey as well as Bukka White and Robert Wilkins among others and as a result ended up atTakoma Records.

Bman: So it was a chance meeting?

Peter: I was playing a party and basically playing in the American Primitive style (self taught) and writing my own materials. I had trouble learning others music by ear so I developed my own style. I tried to learn “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”. I could never really get it. It took my son to tell me “Dad. It’s 2 people playing guitar!”

I started recording in 1966 and someone dropped a tape to Takoma at Santa Monica College. I hear Leo’s (Kottke) first album and said, “Hey, That’s what I’m doing”. John’s (Fahey) wife was at UCLA staying with one of my roommates. She was always talking about her husband the nutcase guitar player. John and his wife owned Takoma Records. I signed in 1972. All of the Takoma guys had a spiritual leader. Robbie Basho had Majher Baba, Fahey had Satchadinanda, "The Woodstock Guru" ........ I mean Timothy Leary and Christopher Isherwood were there. I had Reverend Ike “The Cynic” Ikenhorder wearing a crown . They all had their little shrines and I would eat the candy left in the shrines. 

Bman: Quite the joker Peter!

Peter: I had never really heard Fahey before meeting him and then signing. Growing up in Minnesota I listened to what they had at Midwest Records. There was only one store where you could listen before you bought. They were the only store to carry any outsider music. Takoma was the first. I got compared to Leo a lot when I first recorded because he and I and Fahey came from the collective pool. Fahey and I both self taught and Leo learned through Fahey and Dick Rosenwiner, Davey Graham (Father of Modern Fingerstyle), Bert Jansch, John Reborn and Rev. Gary Davis. 

Bman: You, Leo and Rev. Gary Davis have more than just music style in common. Did you meet Davis.

Peter: Yes. I was at Ash Grove and Rev. Gary Davis walked in. 

Bman: I’ll bet that was cool. What was he like?

Peter: Very approachable. At the time I was playing a Guild F212 and I started to talk to him and then ended up playing for him. He then pulled out this outrageous 12 string made by Bozo Podunavac (pronounced: bo-zho pod oo nav ack). I had never heard anything like it. We chatted for a few hours. We had a few meetings after that. He was very gracious and funny. He inspired a lot of great players. He was one of the very best with that Piedmont Style in the company of Blind Blake, Lonnie Johnson and Billy Broonzy. He only used his thumb and one finger, (Leo and John Reborn use two fingers and a thumb). 

Bman: Most people don’t likely know it but Jeff Beck is a finger player too.

Peter: Yeah. Jeff uses mostly the thumb and index occasionally. He’s incredible!

Bman: Sorry, back to Gary Davis. So I know you ended up with a few Bozo’s. Did Gary have a part in that? 

Peter: Gary Davis died shortly after I met him in late 71-72. I found out that Bozo was in Chicago. I was in town and Leo wanted me to come by and say hi. Leo had a Bozo!
As life improved (business got better) I knew I was going to have one. Fahey had a ton of great guitars and he had one. Bozo was at Wooden Music in Chicago. I bought 2 there, a 6 string and a 12 string. The 6 string was really decked out and was used in a lot of advertisements. It was stolen in Duluth, Minnesota in 1979. I thought that I had forgotten it at home but then realized that my briefcase with a bunch of mic’s was gone as well. That guitar never turned back up. I used the 12 string a lot on the Lycurgus recording. Times were tough and I needed to sell that 12 string to a serviceman who was in the army. He was stationed in the Philippines and it was stolen while he was overseas. 

Bman: What do you think makes these guitars so special? I have a special love for them but I want an expert’s opinion.

Peter: Bozo has a really unique bracing pattern and as he trained building Cello’s and Contrabasses. They have a pretty thick top that is made of German Spruce with heavy bear claw from the lower part of the tree. It forces the sound to the corners of the face making the sound even richer. He used wood purfling and binding and preferred Indian Rosewood because it was more stable. His wood selections are great. His inlay work can be over the top beautiful. 

Bman: So was that it for your Bozo’s?

Peter: Oh no! I had one of the first Western Bell design (dreadnaught) 6 strings as well as a Western Bell 12. The 6 was stolen and I had to sell the 12 but I purchased a 2nd less ornate 12 in 1986 or 87 custom built for a friend. He bought matching 6 and 12 stringers and then sold me the 12 after a while. And then there was the “Owl Face” in ‘79! Bozo was always experimenting with new ideas and he came up with this concept for a double cut acoustic with two sound holes. He made 2 prototypes and Leo got one and I got one. He wanted our feedback. That was an incredible instrument.

It was stolen once and I got it back but I sold that one to a friend a few years back. 

Bman: Lucky Guy!!

Peter: Bozo also tried a plastic back on a guitar but it wasn’t my bag. Fahey and Denny Bruce each had them.

Twelve strings in general have a very unique sound. A 6 string has a purr. A 12 string can growl. A Bozo 12 string roars!! Not the deep thumping sound of a typical 12 string. And with slide they scream! The sixes have a lot more finesse. 

The Bozo 6 string is like a Lotus… his 12 string is a Mack Truck… but power in your face!! 

Bman: How’s Bozo to work with?

Peter: He’s a very nice guy really and gracious. He looks at building guitars very much as a craft and doesn’t much look for input from the buyer/artist. 

Bman: Well, he seems to know what he’s doing! So what’s going on with you now? 

Peter: Well, in 2008, 2 weeks after I released Testament, I had an auto accident. Injuries to my neck, back and right hand had made it difficult to perform for a year. I was playing about once a month. I still don’t have an insurance settlement.

Bman: That has to be tough. I know you were working in broadcast animation for a while.

Peter: Yes. I quit to work on my music again. I am fortunate to have a pretty good computer background and now do quite a bit of computer implementation and support. I keep up concerts regionally to enjoy the business but choose my gigs to suit my schedule. Right now I’m looking forward to playing “Camino Santiago”, a pilgrimage in Spain , playing religious blues and then off to Petaluma for the running of the bulls. A nice 2-3 weeks in Spain.

Bman: I have a few friends that have done that numerous times. They have had a blast.

I really appreciate you taking the time out from your schedule to bring us up to date with you and to share your stories about Bozo and Rev. Gary Davis. Is there anything else that you’d like to share with your fans?

Peter: On my first pass through, my perceptions were all wrong. I think that I was using music as an escape.It’s a way to deal with things that are different. It provides a start point and an end point. In music you can process your issues. There is something magical in music. I went to see Shakti with John McLaughlin and the experience made my hair stand up. 

Bman: John is an incredible player! 

Peter: Dogs howl and people play music or do art. They are the people who start the howl. When the artist and the others participate, that’s nerve central. As a younger artist I never really understood that. It’s a blessing to connect with some people and it makes you feel you’re contributing something important. There is a big difference between artists and performers. There’s a small difference between performers and the WWF. Too many people only enjoy the performance.

 If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”