(There is no concert this month - we present here an article of interest)

     Davey Graham - Guitarist's Guitarist

To refer to David Michael Gordon Graham (1940-2008) as simply one of the most talented guitarists on the British music scene in the 60’s would be something of an understatement. He was a Promethean figure who influenced guitarists ranging from John Renbourn, Martin Carthy and Bert Jansch, to Paul Simon, Ralph McTell and Jimmy Page. But to try and pigeon-hole him into a particular genre, such as folk or jazz or classical, was something of an exercise. In fact with the range of his own influences, from traditional folk and classical, to American blues and jazz, to Middle Eastern/North African sounds and Indian Ragas, he may have been one of the first true World musicians (along with American contemporary John Fahey). He was constantly breaking down boundaries, and blending different musical styles into new forms.

Although never trained in music theory, Davey took up the piano and harmonica as a young child, and started learning classical guitar at the age of 12. His focus turned to the steel-string guitar, though, when he heard Steve Benbow, who had traveled widely with the army and played folk music with a Moroccan influence. Later in life, he would return to the classical guitar, but recognized the truth in his teacher’s statement that he’d always have trouble playing fingerstyle steel if he played classical guitar as well.

By far, Graham’s most famous composition was ‘Angi’, which he wrote at age 19 and recorded on his debut EP 3/4 AD in 1962. It soon became a rite of passage for almost every aspiring acoustic fingerstyle guitarist. The spelling of the song often changed depending on who recorded it, but it was best known in the US as ‘Anji’, the way Paul Simon recorded it on the 1966 Sounds of Silence album. After this, he recorded what are considered to be his two most successful and influential albums – 1964’s Folk, Blues and Beyond, and then a rare collaboration in 1965 with British folk singer Shirley Collins, Folk Roots, New Routes.

In the early 60’s Davey traveled to Tangiers in North Africa. It was there he came up with the guitar tuning known as DADGAD, which was developed to be more compatible with the oud (a pear-shaped stringed instrument related to the European lute). Upon returning to England, he experimented with this new tuning in an arrangement of the old Irish air ‘She Moved Through the Fair’. DADGAD soon became the de facto standard for the arrangement of traditional music.

By the 70’s, Davey slipped into obscurity, a period he later attributed to "too much self-indulgence". In 2005, however, Davey was approached by Mark Pavey, a Welsh musician who had started his own record company in 2004. Mark had sought Davey out and talked him into performing with guitarists and old friends such as Bert Jansch, Duck Baker and Martin Carthy. Davey worked under Mark’s management for the next three years, culminating in the release of his final CD in 2007, Broken Biscuits.

Davey passed away in December, 2008 after a battle with lung cancer. As a restless artist and seeker of that which would surprise us, his lifelong philosophy may have been summed up by the old Russian saying, “All prayers may be reduced to one – Oh, Lord, please make it that two plus two do not equal four.”
 

UPCOMING CONCERTS include:

  Trent Wagler & the Steel Wheels - 9/21/10

Alt-Nashville Writers-in-the-Round: Don Henry, Sally Barris & Craig Carothers - 10/12/10

Terry Garland - 11/16/10

TICKETS available: Tuesdays at The Folk Club or by e-mailing Dave Hurd - DAHurdSr@cs.com

Download the full Concert Schedule [PDF] Updated 7-20-2010