Merlin in Rags: Davy Graham (22 November 1940

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Davy Graham (22 November 1940–15 December 2008)

“He is my absolute Hero, always will be” (Bert Jansch)
“I wanted to be Davy Graham” (John Martyn
“A travelling man who had made the fabled journey to Tangiers when the rest of us still had our sights set on Brighton Pier” (John Renbourn)
“Davy was and is The MAN” (Martin Carthy)
“Probably England’s greatest guitarist” (Paul Simon)

Graham was born in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England, to a Guyanaese mother and a Scottish father and he took up the guitar at the age of 12. As a teenager, he was strongly influenced by a guitar player called Steve Benbow, who had travelled widely with the army and played a guitar style influenced by Moroccan music.

At the age of 19, Graham wrote what was probably his most famous piece, at least for aspiring guitarists: the acoustic solo tune "Anji" (see below). Colin Harper credits Graham with single-handledly inventing the concept of the folk guitar instrumental (whilst acknowledging that John Fahey was making a similar invention, simultaneously, in the U.S.).

One way that he came to the attention of guitarists was through his appearance in a 1959 TV film produced by Ken Russell, entitled Hound Dogs and Bach Addicts: The Guitar Craze. This was broadcast as part of the BBC TV arts series Monitor.

With Alexis Korner (1970)

Graham introduced the DADGAD guitar tuning to British guitarists, though it is not clear if it originated with him. Its main attraction was that it allowed the guitarist more freedom to improvise in the treble while maintaining a solid underlying harmony and rhythm in the bass. While 'non-standard', or 'non-classical' tunings were widely practiced by guitarists before this (Open E and Open G tunings were in common use by blues and slide guitar players) his use of DADGAD introduced a second standard tuning to guitarists.

During the 1960s he released a string of eclectic albums with music from all around the world in all kinds of genres. His continuous touring of the world, picking up and then recording different styles of music for the guitar, has resulted in many musicians crediting him with founding world music.
In the years prior to his death he had been working closely and consistently with singer-songwriter Mark Pavey, returning to the stage to play live, and also working once again with guitarists and friends including Bert Jansch, Duck Baker and Martin Carthy. His final album, Broken Biscuits consisted of originals and new arrangements of traditional songs from around the world.

Graham's music has often received positive critical feedback, and has proved to be quite influential. Credited for sparking the 1960s folk revival in England, he has inspired artists and fellow players such as Bert Jansch, John Renbourn and Paul Simon. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin have cited Graham as an influence to their music. Folk Rock bands such as Fairport Convention and Pentangle also show large Graham influence.
Though Graham is commonly referred to as a folk musician, the diversity of his music ranges in many different directions. Strong influence of genres such as Blues, Jazz, and Middle Eastern music is often constant throughout his works.

Graham's acoustic guitar solo "Angi", named after his then girlfriend, appeared on his debut EP 3/4 AD in April 1962. The tune spread like wildfire through a generation of aspiring guitarists, changing its spelling as it went. Before the record was released, Bert Jansch had learnt it from a tape which Graham had lent to his half-sister, Jill Doyle, who was a friend of Jansch. Jansch included it on his 1965 debut album as "Angie". But the spelling Anji became the most popular after it appeared in this way on Simon & Garfunkel's 1966 album Sounds of Silence, and it was as "Anji" that Chicken Shack recorded it for their 1969 100 Ton Chicken album.

This is his second and most infuential album.

His first album, The Guitar Player, was almost exclusively jazz based. He was also known for his collaborations with folksinger Shirely Collins, which had established his name in the purist folk communities in Britain.

Most of the tracks on the album are a fusion traditional western folk/blues and Middle-Eastern music. This synthesis of world sounds was inspired by Grahams frequent traveling across the Asian continent from the early 1950's onward.

Graham also utilizes jazz progressions to re-innovate and contemporize traditional sounds, especially on the blues tracks of the album. For example, the opening track is a cover of "Leavin' Blues", written by Leadbelly, which is a straightforward blues in C. Graham's version uses the DADGAD guitar tuning, and he speeds up the tempo to give it a more 'rocking' sound. His cover is also infused with an exotic, middle eastern sound, accredited to both the tuning and the exotic musical scales he uses throughout the song.

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Posted by Joski at 11:17 AM |
Labels: Davey Graham