The Rev. Gary Davis, his 115th anniversary today

Today in 1896 the legendary Rev. Blind Gary Davis was born. Davis was a guitar player of great dexterity, although he favoured the 6 & 12 string acoustic guitar over the electric guitar.

In the 1930s Davis both influenced and  played with Blind Boy Fuller. No one is quite sure whether or not Davis was blind from birth or he became blind later, Davis would never confirm the details of his blindness when asked. By the late 1920s Davis had moved to Durham and was working the streets for change. Sometime in the early 1930s he found God and was ordained a Baptist minister in 1933, although he did not use the title in his pre war recordings. Davis made 15 solo sides in July 1935, almost all of which were religious songs, of which none sold in any quantity. He found no difficulty in combining the secular and spiritual sides of music, recording as Fuller’s second guitarist on his 1935 Blues records. 

Davis moved to New York in the latter years of the 30s where met up with, and worked with, Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry. From the 1940s onwards he recorded, sang and preached on the streets of Harlem, and like McGhee, Terry and many others Davis found new found fame in the 1960s when the folk revival was in full swing. . He became a regular performer in New York City's coffeehouses and folk clubs, like Gerdes Folk City continuing to record, cutting albums for larger labels including Folkways, Vanguard, Prestige, & Bluesville. He played many festivals, including Newport and died while on his way to perform in New Jersey in1972