Davy Graham - The Guitar Player (1963)
The Guitar Player was Davy Graham's first full-length LP, recorded in 1962 and issued on Pye Records Golden Guinea label in 1963.
This unique album combines his interesting and virtuoso guitar play with some excellent arrangements. With his guitar style he contributed to the musical changes in the early 1960s, where blues, rock and folk started to play a more prominent role in the music scene. The man crosses into blues, jazz, folk, Arabic music and more, often in the same song. It's an essential album and one of the greatest instrumental acoustic guitar records released in the 1960s. British guitar virtuoso Davy Graham inspired a multitude of artists such as Paul Simon, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. Combining different music genres, Graham proved to be one of the 20th century's most versatile guitarists and songwriters.
Tracklist:
01. Don't Stop The Carnival
02. Sermonette
03. Take Five
04. How Long, How Long Blues
05. Sunset Eyes
06. Cry Me A River
07. The Ruby And The Pearl
08. Buffalo
09. Exodus
10. Yellow Bird
11. Blues For Betty
12. Hallelujah, I Love Her So
Personnel:
Davy Graham – guitar
Bobby Graham - drums
Note: Bobby Graham was an English session drummer and not related to Davy Graham.
Tracklist With Original Artists/Writers:
Don't Stop the Carnival - Written/recorded by Sonny Rollins (featured on his 1962 album What's New).
Sermonette - Written by Cannonball Adderley/Nat Adderley.
Take Five - Written by Paul Desmond (made famous by The Dave Brubeck Quartet).
How Long, How Long Blues - Traditional blues, written/popularized by Leroy Carr.
Sunset Eyes - Written by Teddy Edwards.
Cry Me a River - Written by Arthur Hamilton (popularized by Julie London).
The Ruby & the Pearl - Written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans (popularized by Nat King Cole).
Buffalo - Traditional/attributed jazz-blues tune or original arrangement.
Exodus - Written by Ernest Gold (main theme from the film Exodus).
Yellow Bird - Based on the Haitian song "Choucoune".
Blues for Betty - Original composition by Davy Graham.
Hallelujah I Love Her So - Written by Ray Charles.
"I started to play the guitar about seven years ago, while I was still at school. Homework always gave in to music, so I was no genius. As soon as I got home, I would put on a blues record: Big Bill Broonzy, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Memphis Slim, Champion Jack Dupree and Muddy Waters and many others as well as modern jazz greats like Charlie Parker, Charlie Mingus and Thelonious Monk, who are still my favourites.
When I got tired of the city and a job suffocating in an office, I went to Paris and sang and played in the streets to cinema queues and up and down the French Riviera. I must admit I was very glad when I was invited to play in night clubs where I could put down the plectrum and play finger style as I still do. Every summer for three years I would break the chains of a job and leave for the continent, taking £5, the fare to Paris, freedom and the sun of the Cote d'Azur. When I came back to England in the winter of 1961, I started to get more regular work playing in folk song clubs, and got my first break playing as accompanist along with Alexis Korner for Shirley Abicair, the Australian folk singer on broadcasts for radio, a TV series and a concert at the Royal Festival Hall.
When people ask me what type of guitar I play, I usually say “Blues, bits and pieces”. The numbers on this album are a mixture of jazz and folk influences. I think that every number has its own particular mood. Before I play I don't know exactly what notes will come out, but I know the mood the number conjures up in me, so that on the framework of, say, a 12-bar blues with a slow tempo and a minor key, I can make the guitar cry by whining the strings.
On the other hand, for a calypso or fast rocking blues, I can use running single-line phrases with clipped notes to convey movement and excitement, filling in with block chords to keep the pulse of the number. For me, the richness of the guitar as a solo instrument, or an accompaniment to a singer lies in its many voices and moods.
For the last two years, I have been playing in Nick's diner near Earl's Court where I eat excellent steaks and am acquiring a taste for good wine and cigars. Over the past year I have made half a dozen solo TV appearances, though I love to play with a band. I have recently joined Alexis' “Blues Incorporated” and have a ball both playing, and watching the dancers. All is said now except that I sincerely hope you enjoy this record either to listen to, or as a background to good conversation." (Davy Graham 1963)
