Masters of the Country Blues - Rev. Gary Davis and Sonny Terry

Purchase This Album:

The Rev. Gary Davis and Sonny Terry both went from the streets of Durham, North Carolina, to worldwide acclaim, so it's appropriate that two blind musicians share a tape. Davis was a single-note fingerpicker par excellence, with a strong ragtime base. Though he repudiated blues and would sing only gospel music, he could be talked into numbers like "Candy Man" as long as he only played them. So three of the eight selections are blues-rag instrumentals, two are vaudeville-flavored pieces, "She Wouldn't Say Quit" and "Where You Get Your Liquor From," and the rest is pure gospel. Davis's sprightly picking contrasts with his rather foreboding appearance. (Guitarists will appreciate that all tapes feature lingering closeups of hand work, but they'll probably want to rewind some  here - Davis often used false fingering positions so others couldn't steal his style.)

Sonny Terry is the virtuoso harp player who was teamed - and often at odds - with guitarist, singer, and songwriter Brownie McGhee for some 30 years. Terry played with the best, including Leadbelly, Blind boy Fuller, and Woody Guthrie, but he's a standout on his own. This set features him on five solo numbers, with quite gregarious, slightly off-the-wall introductions. His single-note playing with accompanying hand flutters for tone altering is captured nicely, especially on his showcase "Hooting the Blues." He alternates between harp notes and sung falsetto tones so rapidly it's mind-boggling; he was one of a kind.