Pure Pleasure / Vanguard  - SRV-73008 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl - 5060149622322

Pure Analogue Audiophile Mastering - Limited Edition -   

Mastered by Ray Staff at Air Mastering London  - Pressed  at Pallas Germany 

This is one of the few handful of recordings to feature the Rev. Gary Davis in concert. As the name of the project suggests, the proceedings were documented at the Newport Folk Festival in July of 1965. The Reverend's solo vocal is accompanied by his own six- and twelve-string guitar(s) as well as mouth harp.

The repertoire incorporates a wide range of secular blues and sacred gospel. Davis' material is derived from his own writings and notable interpretations of folk and blues standards such as "Lovin' Spoonful" and "I Won't Be Back No More." Also featured are insightful readings of some of his best-known and loved religious sides -- namely "Death Don't Have No Mercy" and "Twelve Gates to the City." It is remarkable that although the Reverend was approaching 70 -- at the time of this recording -- his driving passion and verve are of a man half his age.

The frenetic "Samson & Delilah (If I Had My Way)," the haunting "You've Got to Move," the high-spirited "Buck Dance," and "Twelve Sticks" are among the most passionate and emotionally charged selections available in his canon. This set provides the platform for Davis to raise them to an even greater exceptionally potent level. The clean and nimble fret and fingering that became his signature sound has arguably never been as direct and forceful. The two instrumentals best reveal this facet of his performance.

Unlike a majority of the garden-variety studio renditions of these songs, there is an almost palpable sense of salvation and urgency in the concert recordings -- making them seminal installments of his musical catalog

He cut his first recording in 1935 and was ordained in 1937, thereafter his fiery fingers played in the service of the Lord, though as this set shows he could be persuaded to play some blues. Described by Stefan Grossman as "a folk musician with the instincts of a jazz improviser".

The Reverend Gary Davis was a guitar virtuoso and a teacher of enduring renown. "I have no children," he once said, "but I've got many sons."

Woody Mann was one of the many young guitar players who made their way to Davis' home during the 1960s. Woody's mom would drive her 12 year old son to the Queens, New York, home that Davis occupied after Peter, Paul & Mary's version of 'Samson & Delilah' lifted him from virtual poverty. His $5 lesson would often last most of the day, and Woody would arrive at Davis' house not just with his guitar, but with a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Like one of Davis's earlier students, Stefan Grossman, Mann was quick to recognise that he was in the presence of a true original. 

Lots of musicians were inspired by the fervored artistry of the Reverend Gary Davis, including an unlikely assortment of psychedelic rockers from San Francisco. The Grateful Dead found an early standard in his mournful blues, 'Death Don't Have No Mercy,' while Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassidy of the Jefferson Airplane introduced the ragtime and country blues of their other group, Hot Tuna, with the help of such Davis - associated tunes as 'Hesitation Blues' and 'I Am the Light of This World.' And such finger-style guitarists and Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, and Roy Bookbinder were inspired by the high wire swing and syncopations of Davis instrumentals like 'Buck Dance,' 'Twelve Sticks and 'Cincinnati Flow Rag.'

Davis made his first recordings in 1935, and while the sessions included a pair of blues, he subsequently refused to perform anything but religious tunes. Over the years, he fudged on this pledge in the same way that this God-fearing man would savour a drink of whisky. Still, his refusal to tailor his pastiche of styles to accommodate the blues market resulted in precious few recordings until the beginning of the folk and blues revival in the late 1950s.

Even then, however, Davis was not your typical rediscovered legend. Davis had been ordained as a Baptist preacher in 1937, and his religious devotion informed both his life and music. In that sense, he shared a kinship with Blind Willie Johnson, the scintillating, slide-guitar playing master of the holy blues. Both of these men had fiery fingers that played in the service if the Lord. Davis' evangelical zeal caused some consternation among those who came in contact with him. Welfare caseworkers in Durham were often met with sermons, and one recalled a meeting with Davis during which he lectured while "playing with a very large pocket knife." Another bureaucrat urged Davis to play her a tune on his guitar. "His ability as a guitarist in unbelievable, she noted. "I have never heard better playing." 

Davis relocated to New York City in the 1940s, and the loner took a wife named Annie. He performed on the streets of Harlem, where a pocketknife could come in handy, and preached in storefront churches. Still, all things considered, this was on obscure musical figure who wasn't hiding his talents. Folklorists had to travel to Avalon, Mississippi, to locate Mississippi John Hurt, and to Rochester, New York, to find Son House, and in both cases, these fabled musicians had stopped paying the guitar. By contrast, Greenwich Village musicologists had only to take the A-train to rediscover this street-singing Segovia. And to their delight, the Reverend Gary Davis had not only never stopped playing, but he'd got better.

Stefan Grossman was in high school when he called up Davis to ask him about taking guitar lessons. "Sure," said Davis, "come up and bring your money, honey." Grossman's father drove him to a section of the Bronx that his son recalls as being as "bombed out as Dresden." Grossman found his teacher "in a three-room sharecropper's shack behind a burnt-out tenement." As he studied with Davis, Grossman quickly discovered that this was a folk musician with the instincts of a jazz improviser. "He'd have a sketch of a tune," recalls Grossman, "but every time he'd play the song, it would be different. He used to claim that he could play 'Candyman' for eight hours without repeating himself."

Whether at the Newport Folk Festival or a storefront church in Harlem, his performance would inevitably reflect the singular soul that made him one of the great traditional American artists of the past century. "He thought of himself as the governor," says Grossman, "as the greatest guitar player who ever lived." Claims like that will always start a debate, but this much is clear: Reverend Gary Davis was a man full of pride, but also an artist who played for the glory of God. We are blessed to be part of his congregation. 

Personnel :

Rev. Gary Davis, 6 and 12 string guitar and mouth harp
 
Tracklisting
 
Side 1 :

1. Samson and Delilah (If I Had My Way) 

2. I Won’t Be Back NoMore 

3. Buck Dance

4. Twelve Sticks

5. Death Don’t Have No Mercy
6. You Got To Move
 
Side 2:

1.  Lovin’ Spoonful

2. She Wouldn’t Say Quit

3. I’ve Done All My Singing For The Lord

4. Twelve Gates To The City

5. I Will Do My Last Singing In This Land Somewhere

Pure Pleasure Records
The Restoration of the Art of Sound
180g Vinyl Mastered From The Best Available Sources

There really is nothing quite like it.  It’s the touch, the feel, you have to stop and stare, the cover,  the real thing, even the smell.

Its tangible, you can feel it, see it, study it,   muse/dream over it, it’s real, someone  has spent hours and hours over its construction and presentation. Pure Pleasure Records is just that, Pure Pleasure and that is what it has set out to be.  

The music and the physical record.  Something to keep, treasure, admire and above all enjoy.Of course with vinyl it’s not just a record, it’s the cover,  the sleeve notes, you are  holding a unique package, produced by craftsmen.

Pure Pleasure  Records bring you vinyl albums of quality Jazz - Blues - R+B - Soul - Funk, remastered by some of the best engineers in the world and pressed on 180 gram audiophile vinyl at what is probably the best pressing plant in Europe 

Pure Analogue Audiophile Matering 
Plated and Pressed at Pallas in Germany on 180 Gram Virgin Vnyl 
Released in Limited Quantities

 

"Based upon the diversity of music, quality of product and their extraordinary rate of progress, Pure Pleasure Records is our re-issue record company of the year."  - hi-fi+

 

Audiophile Vinyl - Made in Germany  For over 60 years the family business in the third generation of the special personal service and quality "Made by Pallas" is known worldwide. Our custom PVC formulation produces consistently high pressing quality with the lowest surface noise in the industry. Our PVC complies with 2015 European environmental standards and does not contain toxic materials such as Lead, Cadmium or Toluene. Our vinyl is both audiophile and eco-grade!