Pure Religion & Bad Company

Rev. Gary Davis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 14, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Smithsonian Folkways
• ASIN: B000001DHR
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,447 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #41 in Music > Indie Music > Blues > Traditional Blues

Editorial Reviews

From Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD

Gary Davis's bass runs and altogether winsome picking were in full blossom by the mid 1930s-and stayed that way for many years. This 1957 session has the ordained minister and father of the Piedmont blues guitar style performing blues, dance songs, and adaptations of Baptist church favorites without erring from his right course. Captivating. -- © Frank John Hadley 1993

Product Description

A stunning mixture of gospel vocals and deftly played blues and ragtime instrumentals from the guitar playing evangelist. Recordings from 1957 demonstrate Davis's amazing ability to both sing and play with a passion and skill unparalleled. They also contain the first recorded performances of the Davis classics Hesitation Blues and Cocaine Blues. Reverend Gary Davis remains one of America's truly great folk artists. "...mandatory listening...the single best source of his passionate singing and playing..." (One of the top five blues releases of 1991) -- Pulse!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is Acoustic Guitar Heaven, July 9, 2001

By 

Bigthumb "bigthumb" (AUSTIN, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pure Religion & Bad Company (Audio CD)

Enough has been written about Gary Davis' unique guitar style, so it's time to do some serious listening, and this is the disc with which to do it.

It was recorded when Davis was about sixty years old, and at that moment he had as much power and imagination in his playing as he'd had as a younger musician, while at the same time having reached a level of control that only comes with decades of experience. His tempos are not as frantic as those on his 1930s sides, and his playing is even better. To boil it down: There is no better acoustic guitar playing to be heard in all of American music than you'll hear on this disc. It's always been a problem to capture the sheer "squeeze power" of a street performer like Davis, and this recording does so better than any of his others. And at exactly the right time in his life, for in all his later recordings except "Harlem Street Singer" - magnificent as they may be - his age shows to a lesser or greater degree.

Track one, "Pure Religion," encapsulates all the high points of Davis the musical preacher, and should be played as loud as possible for maximum impact. The very next one, "Mountain Jack Blues," is a perfect example of Davis the bedrock bluesman: like a jazz player, he uses the form to explore melodic line and feeling, letting the guitar do all the singing. The rest of the album alternates more or less in that fashion: dynamite blues or ragtime numbers interspersed with deeply emotional religious songs. For the most part Davis' vocals here are less intense than those heard on "Harlem Street Singer," but his guitar playing takes up that burden.

Stunning unamplified-guitar pyrotechnics? You've never heard anything to equal these versions of "Hesitation Blues" (truly proto-jazz) or "Twelve Sticks" which here is titled "I Didn't Want to Join the Band." Gentle old-time picking? There's beauty and poetry to spare in "Cocaine [Coco] Blues" - but don't get in between Davis' right thumb and those strings, for there are truly differing degrees of gentle!

And to make it all the sweeter, the disc contains a handful of tunes ("Seven Sisters," "My Heart is Fixed," "Right Now") that are not found on any other Davis album, and the CD issue includes two tracks left off the original LP, which at that was one of the longer LPs to be released in the folk-vinyl days.

One small, minor complaint: The recording overall shows a much higher level of hiss than was present on the long-unavailable British and American LP issues, suggesting some deterioration of the master tapes. The sound suffers a bit as to crispness. ("Cocaine Blues" sounds as if it's transferred from an LP copy.)

But that this recording is available at all is cause enough for joy, for it truly doesn't get better than this. I know it's a cliche, but it's true: If you're a guitarist, or a fan of American folk music, you owe it to yourself to hear this disc.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars classic, November 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Pure Religion & Bad Company (Audio CD)

This is one of the classic albums. Rev Davis plays blues/ragtime picking acoustic guitar. If you don't know him yet then this is a good example of his excellent work. Personal, individual and heartfelt like the best country blues but very free with his guitar arrangements. Proper.

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best., August 28, 2009

By 

History-Eric (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pure Religion & Bad Company (Audio CD)

it is only too bad that Rev. Gary Davis is no longer with us and that we do not have enough recordings of him. This is a fantastic collection of songs and his guitar work at times is pure genius. The perfect way to enjoy this album is to sit back, close your eyes and imagine listening to it on a street corner, which he is known for. His vocals can sometimes be rough, but he sings from the soul, and his playing styles will simply amaze you. Highly recommended.