Rev. Gary Davis plays "Slow Drag / Cincinnati Flow Rag"

[MajorBluntz]

That was pretty nice.

[crustyceant]

well hotdamn boy thats how u pick a number

[thmpick]

The Rev has some magic in his hands Hands.

[TheAnav]

People,from now on when you come online,stop by first thing to listen to this song :) It sets the mood for the whole day ;)

I LOVE THIS TUNE <3 GOD bless you Rev.Gary ,sir <3

[FonkyLynx]

Met the Rev in Montreal at the Backdoor Coffeehouse in the 70's. Took him for a ride in my car. An incredible memory...His legacy lives on...

[Thorak95]

What is this for a music style?????

[cturner3rd]

I saw Ernie Hawkins play this song Thursday night in Chapel Hill. Hawkins studied with Rev. Davis, and he keeps the spirit of the music alive.

[ericcongdon]

I just love it. He has such bounce to his playing, hard to replicate that!

[kaynek00l]

the gauge of those strings must be like 100

[biggerbigd]

@kaynek00l He's playin' the telephone wires!

[MrTriolian]

Hi everybody! To me it's not the question who was better: Blake or Davis? Both of them were unique and no one will ever be able to copy these two masters and should not try it! What I like so much on these old artists is that everyone was playing with his own soul and personality! That's why they sound so different! Listen to radio material of today you can not find something like this! Everyone sounds like the other! It's only fast money that counts! In the older days it was so different!

[CharmedQuarkZ99]

o my......

[steveshowse]

lord have mercy!

[RealRockandRoll]

Some of the most nimble fingers you'll ever see on a blues record! Rev Gary Davis is something to behold!

[rbb9753]

IIRC correctly, that was an unrecorded Bilnd WIllie Walker song. Davis, who was not know to praise other musicians, said Walker was the best he'd ever heard.

[TheColdBeerReport]

is he blind?

[keo774]

@TheColdBeerReport of course he is

[TheYungGraff]

Respect.

[hugemangus]

Dig that wound G string !!! I still tend to play heavy strings, but to get a good bend you have to slack tune it 1/2 step ... or build your fingers up to it. Jimi Hendrix used to play Fender Regulars which were .013 - .063 ... something like that ... I used to think that was what good strings should be, and then Ernie Ball came out with Slinkies. I could never get a good tone out of Slinkies. Keith Richards says that he plays a lot of Ernie Ball strings because he gets them for free !!! OK

[GuitarsAreMagic]

i love guitar

[hollywoodloverugs]

I think this song is in normal tuning in C. Gary Davis was very prolific in the key of C, it suited the Piedmont style, which commonly runs ascending melody with descending bass. He once said he could play Candyman so many different ways he could play it for eight hours. He probably never played anything exactly the same way twice but if you want to learn more about it, there is a lot online about Piedmont style ragtime blues, different style than Delta. Thumb and index

finger only.

[12barsexperiens]

@hollywoodloverugs

Thanks for your advice. I´ll try to do it in standard C but try the open C position aswell. I´ve tryed to work it out in standard tuning in the key of G but it´s hard to get the kind og groves that Mr Davis get when he´s playing.

[hollywoodloverugs]

@12barsexperiens

The "C" form is used a lot in this kind of playing. Remember Gary Davis only uses a big thumb pick and a pick on his index finger, so he can carry that form up and down the neck, timing his lift offs, etc., and keep that syncopation going between the melody and bass lines. That's why it's a lot harder than it looks because he is using a lot of partial chords within chord forms, and moving from fret to fret in syncopation.

[12barsexperiens]

@hollywoodloverugs

I´ve got started with this tune on a rather simple tab. Now I´ve noticed a exellent video from ErnieHawkins. he´s realy good and have the right attitude according to my references of the Gary Davis style. Thanks for your comment. You are surely a better rag time guitarist than me, but I´m working on it.

[hollywoodloverugs]

@12barsexperiens

Hawkins I think actually studied personally with Davis, that's the only way to really

learn this is from somebody like that. Not just one song, but there are tricks to the

style in general. People that learn this can then play any song in that style, it sound

great.

[jkuebler89]

@hollywoodloverugs wow man you explained it very well. thats exactly what was going through my head. i have been studying this piece all day. i know all the chords, the changes, i know it through pretty well at this point. But with this guys level of playing, it dont mean a damn thing. I can play it but it doesnt sound a thing like the masters. My timing is way off, and in this song the timing/style/feel means everything.

[hollywoodloverugs]

@jkuebler89 I have the same experience. I try and play John Hurt songs and I swear I am hitting all the same notes, granted it sounds cool to most people, but it does not sound the same. Remember these guys made their living at this, first and foremost on the street, that's why Davis played that Gibson J-200 with medium strings and a huge thumb pick. They did not like to be copied, it was their bread and butter. It is a "style" more than just one song that has to be mastered.

[hollywoodloverugs]

Great opportunity to see a master in a live performance. This ragtime guitar is very difficult to learn to play well. There is a lot going on and the syncopation is the key. These songs look simple but the timing of the lift-offs, picking, alternating bass are very complex. Most people who play this well have learned it from another good player, and it takes too much time to attract the interest of most modern players.

[12barsexperiens]

@hollywoodloverugs

I´m trying to put this song to my repetoare but after listening to this video I´m not sure!

I do it in a bit different and ind in the key of G.

Do you know what tuning he have in this song?

[hollywoodloverugs]

I might have posted my reply to you in the wrong place, but in addition, if you can reproduce the sound a different way, all power to you. The magic of the Piedmont style though is in this syncopation between opposing bass and melody lines. When Gary Davis was in Greenwich Village, all the guitar players soaked up as much as they could, and he was happy to give lessons for five dollars. But pretty difficult to re-invent.

[barbrastreyesand]

Haha people really think this is easy to play! I guarantee that hardly any modern guitar player could play like Gary Davis, especially with two fingers. Maybe John Fahey or Alan Wilson could get close.

[Fruscianteistheman]

@barbrastreyesand except john fahey is dead and old.

[mondodave]

absolutely monster!!

[ArrJayEss]

You can't judge music on how hard it is to play! The emotion that he puts in his music, that's what this is about.

[ceasarvanstorm]

jimmy page is way better

[robalid]

@ceasarvanstorm jimmy page better than rev gary davis? no. not even on the same page.

[muhrvis]

@ceasarvanstorm Ask Jimmy Page -- he'd probably insulted by your statement. On the other hand, he stole blues players licks for years without giving them due credit.

[georgeworthmore]

wonderful. Thanks

[Brutuss33]

ole el arte!! 

[cookmoore]

Great stuff.

[sheilapatrick1]

not even talkin about sound dont really like this guys music but the way he holds and plays the guitar is undescribable with words smooth man

[Tinterlaken]

Awesome!

[pastorkyes]

Weekly Guitar Genius

[aNdYmAtTeR]

haha what a guy! I've only seen his name mentiioned all over the place since I started to play gutar 30 years ago but I had no face to connect it to so this is my first impression! That's some serious guitarpicking, no prisoners taken! And he looks much cooler than I could ever imagine!

[campb450]

Wow...this fretboard view at the end is awesome. What a player.

[skydogz1]

Rev Gary Davis cooks. Love his 12-string work as well, and awesome singing.

[R2Guitar]

Awesome!

[JWL000420]

Great clip...the Rev. with Miss Gibson...

[BenRamble]

all with 2 fingers! awesome

[jhgoi7ztpoh]

reverends got plenty of time to practice back then, don't they?! this guy definitely had known his stuff!

*5 stars*

[javonblue]

Blues Hall Of Fame inductee 2009

[GEORGEFANTUNES]

That's the guy that Keb' Mo' mentions as being his favorite. the style is indeed very similar. Good video.

[sonnydevaney]

like to get my hands on that guitar

[romienomie]

Now that's guitar pickin

[fiddlerfart]

whew! killer

[DROTTOHARRIS]

I luv this guy but I think that Blind Blake is the best of these guys, Rev Gary Davis says "he had never heard a player as good as Blind Blake ...yet"

[TheFirecogicuk]

No this is Rev Gary Davis

[idaltuguy]

Davis was just awesome. He was as great as Blind Willie Mctell.

[ronkelly52]

Listen to the version by Ralph McTell - brilliant playing.

[Bjovolf]

Actually Ron Kelly is right ;-)

[ronkelly52]

Thanks Bjovolf. I'm glad that you agree. I wonder if the people who gave my comment a negative rating have actually listened to the McTell version? Hmmm...

[Bjovolf]

You are welcome ;-)

Yes, true - many people have some very

prejudicial ideas about Ralph because of Streets of London, and believe that is only

great song, he has ever written.

Oh, how wrong they are, and they have obv. never heard him play this country blues and ragtime stuff with great virtuousity either.

He is one of my big idols, and I have learnt a lot from listening to him, and through that I have been become aquainted with great guitar guys like this fellow.

[leftyjcw]

Before Tiger Woods, Rev. Davis was "the man". Great. Just so great. Thanks.

[Bjovolf]

So he was a great golfer too ?!?!

What an amazing talent by a blind man :-p

[jimihendrix1967]

Is Rev. Gary Davis covering old piano rags according to his own style?

[acblues1]

This one is derived from a Scot Joplin piece.

[jimihendrix1967]

Oh great. Chord passages are very relaxing.

[7jack7]

Move over Segovia

[harryit]

Nope.

[rastamillion]

this is a classic. brings back memories of my father who played this and was a big fan of the rev

[MADGUITAR2008]

very good!!!

[ADURG1]

this man's music is some of the finest solo guitar work in the world (according to mine ears)...i just got my first Rev. Gary Davis cd: Blues And Ragtime on Shanachie...EXCELLENT!

[micscottjr]

i agree

[Mark9309]

This song should be every fingerpickers repetoire. I play it all the time at open mics.

[saullouis]

Wish I could. But I cant.

[masondixon1981]

when i think of ragtime I automatically think of davis.

[knobcreek2021]

LOVE IT

[evelau]

That's great. And he had great followers too, Merle Travis, and then Chet Atkins...

[ray8up]

The lord Giveth!!!!

[Squarerig]

Saullouis.Yes,after a closer look I see exactly what you mean.Thank you for the tip.Whether with 2,five or 7 the music is still astonishing.

[Squarerig]

How can one produce such music with only two digits?Simply amazing.Great music in the old style.

[saullouis]

7

2 on the right, 5 on the left. And his left is a knockout punch.

[DouggMacKenzie]

King of the Ragtime pickers!

God bless you Reverend Davis.

[jessupar]

blind blake was a better ragtime picker, but the reverend was definetly up there.

[DouggMacKenzie]

Blake may have been more "sporty", as the Reverend used to say, but better? THat's a hard call.

I've been playing both for years. DAvis' work is harder to master. I think it's because Blake's is so clean, it's easier to reproduce the same tones. -Doing Gary Davis, especially with 2 fingers, is definitely harder.

[jessupar]

after hearing Blind Arthurs Breakdown.. i just cant call Gary Davis a better picker. maybe a more original one however.

[DouggMacKenzie]

Frankly, I don't give a flip who's "better".

They were both great, in their own way.

And both are a challenge to play with any accuracy, dexterity, and panache.

[jessupar]

fair enough, and agreed.

[colorod0]

@DouggMacKenzie Gary Davis does a bunch of real blues. I would say Blake is a ragpicker but not a blues player. Gary Davis may be less fast or talented, but his music goes WAY deeper, and I would say he is a rag style bluesman.

[Bassist10288]

@colorod0 Yeah you know speed don't mean shit. I'd take this over Steve Vai everyday of the week and twice on sundays.

[psalmblues]

I must learn to proof read- how does he get so much NOISE out of that J-200?

[psalmblues]

Rev Gary Davis is one of my favourites. I'm glad I could find this song and watch his right hand technique. How does he get so much noice out that G-200?

[xcvwaef]

Very cool. Seems like it has some similarity with Maple Leaf Rag (the very opening part). Is that sequence of chords common in ragtime?

[ferretgimp]

lovely piece of music!!!!

[taylor355]

Sweet.

[g2og2og2o]

The best guitar playing ever recrded.

[villeelliv]

Haven't you heard about Michael Angelo Batio? ;)

[5caudillos]

The worst guitar playing ever recorded

[grazer770]

do you play guitar? cause it sounds like you dont have a clue. its not about finess its about soul! thats the problem today, its all substance and no style.

[longjam2001]

whopps!Grazer!!

we have the SAME idea! hope other too

;-)

[acidcasual07]

Everyone has there own interpretation of the blues. some feelings are not to everyones taste. listen to the music not just hear it,

[jeeperforlife]

Man thats pretty... and id just like to say thank God for Stefan Grossman, because if it wasnt for him these videos would be very hard to find!

[RoneyBalogna]

Why would they let a reverend play the Devil's music?

[nickkalisz]

because he was smarter and wasn't going to be persuaded by simple minds and did what he felt. if this is the devil's music then i am a satanist

[Khalilullah]

Well, I doubt that he was smarter because he chose to play a kind of music. Ragtime music was nice, but to say that people are stupid because they see and want to avoid the darker influences that music can have(where there is music there is generally alcohol, drugs, murder, fornication, adultery, etc), is a kind of bigotry. There are ways to say things that don't also make you looks stupid. Great video, by the way; he was a genius.

[cgf2851]

Mavis Staples said, "There ain't no Devil's music, all music is God's music."

[RoneyBalogna]

what about emo music?

[o0whitestripes0o]

He was really right handed wasn't he?

The Reverend is awesome, great man, and great player.

[creedyguldunjka]

does anyone know where his guitar is now?

[UncleCaptainMidnight]

out!

[yeti219]

the reverand is the greatest.

[RaggedTime]

One of my favorite players. He has a really peculiar way of holding the guitar. I've heard it's due to an injury in his left hand - it's almost perpendicular to the ground (as opposed to parallel to it)

[lobizoon1]

King of fingerpicking. The reverend rules!!!!!!

[boundtohave]

One of the truly astonishing technical achievements on ragtime guitar. Check out the walking bass in spots, too.

[maurieer]

Really like that style of guitar.