Davey Graham

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Davey Graham bigraphy, stories - Fingerstyle guitarist

Davey Graham : biography

26 November 1940 – 15 December 2008

David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham (originally spelled Davy Graham) (26 November 1940 – 15 December 2008) was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival. He inspired many famous practitioners of the fingerstyle acoustic guitar such as Bert Jansch, Wizz Jones, John Renbourn, Martin Carthy, John Martyn, Paul Simon and Jimmy Page. Graham is probably best known for his acoustic instrumental, "Anji" and for pioneering the DADGAD tuning, later widely adopted by acoustic guitarists.The DADGAD article, for example, lists users of this tuning, including Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, Dáithí Sproule, Russian Circles, Stan Rogers, Jimmy Page, Artie Traum, Pierre Bensusan, Eric Roche, Laurence Juber, Tony McManus, Bert Jansch, Richard Thompson, Dick Gaughan, Imaad Wasif, Jeff Tweedy, Paul McSherry, DEPAPEPE, Ben Chasny and Trey Anastasio.

It was not in Graham’s nature to pursue fame and fortune and he retired to relative obscurity for many years, when he engaged in charity work and teaching before beginning to tour again in the years before his death. His obsessive enthusiasm for music never left him, however, and he would gladly give a free private concert to young musicians and old friends.

Discography

  • 3/4 AD (EP) (*) (1962)with Alexis Korner, guitar, on one track
  • From a London Hootenanny (EP)(1963)as The Thameside Four and Davy Graham
  • The Guitar Player (1963)
  • Folk, Blues and Beyond (1964)
  • Midnight Man (1966)
  • Large as Life and Twice as Natural (1968)
  • Hat (1969)
  • Holly Kaleidoscope (1970)
  • Godington Boundary (1970) (with Holly Gwinn)
  • All That Moody (1976)
  • The Complete Guitarist (1978)
  • Dance for Two People (1979)
  • Folk Blues and All Points in Between (1985)
  • Playing in Traffic (1991)
  • The Guitar Player … Plus (1996)
  • After Hours (1997)recorded at Hull University in 1967
  • Broken Biscuits (2007)
  • The Best Of Davy Graham (A Scholar & A Gentleman) (2009)
  • Anthology-Lost Tapes 1961-2007 (2012)

Collaborations

  • Folk Roots, New Routes (1965) with Shirley Collins

An extraordinary and classic album originally released by Decca in 1964. A landmark recording bringing together Shirley Collins’ haunting vocals and Davy Graham’s innovative guitar style. Folk Roots, New Routes was more than just a record when it first came out: it opened many minds and the door for Fairport Convention and Pentangle. A gem."

Biography

Early life

Graham was born in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England,

to a Guyanese mother and a Scottish father. Although he never had any music theory lessons, he learnt to play the piano and harmonica as a child and then took up the classical guitar at the age of 12. 
As a teenager he was strongly influenced by the folk guitar player Steve Benbow, who had travelled widely with the army and played a guitar style influenced by Moroccan music. 

"Anji"/"Angi"

At the age of 19, Graham wrote what is probably his most famous composition, the acoustic guitar solo "Angi" (sometimes spelled "Anji": see below). Colin Harper credits Graham with single-handedly inventing the concept of the folk guitar instrument. "Angi", named after his then girlfriend, appeared on his debut EP 3/4 AD in April 1962. The tune spread through a generation of aspiring guitarists, changing its spelling as it went. Before the record was released, Bert Jansch had learnt it from a 1961 tape borrowed from Len Partridge. Jansch included it on his 1965 debut album as "Angie". The spelling Anji became the more widely used 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.