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Say No to the Devil - The Life and Musical Genius of Rev. Gary Davis (Paperback)
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Say No to the Devil - The Life and Musical Genius of Rev. Gary Davis (Paperback)
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Who was the greatest of all American guitarists? You probably
didn't name Gary Davis, but many of his musical contemporaries
considered him without peer. Bob Dylan called Davis "one of the
wizards of modern music." Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead--who took
lessons with Davis--claimed his musical ability "transcended any
common notion of a bluesman." And the folklorist Alan Lomax called
him "one of the really great geniuses of American instrumental
music." But you won't find Davis alongside blues legends Robert
Johnson and Muddy Waters in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Despite
almost universal renown among his contemporaries, Davis lives today
not so much in his own work but through covers of his songs by
Dylan, Jackson Browne, and many others, as well as in the untold
number of students whose lives he influenced. The first biography
of Davis, Say No to the Devil restores "the Rev's" remarkable
story. Drawing on extensive research and interviews with many of
Davis's former students, Ian Zack takes readers through Davis's
difficult beginning as the blind son of sharecroppers in the Jim
Crow South to his decision to become an ordained Baptist minister
and his move to New York in the early 1940s, where he scraped out a
living singing and preaching on street corners and in storefront
churches in Harlem. There, he gained entry into a circle of
musicians that included, among many others, Lead Belly, Woody
Guthrie, and Dave Van Ronk. But in spite of his tremendous musical
achievements, Davis never gained broad recognition from an American
public that wasn't sure what to make of his trademark blend of
gospel, ragtime, street preaching, and the blues. His personal life
was also fraught, troubled by struggles with alcohol, women, and
deteriorating health. Zack chronicles this remarkable figure in
American music, helping us to understand how he taught and
influenced a generation of musicians.
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