Albums That Deserve Another Listen

Davy Graham - Folk, Blues & Beyond (1965)

Folk, Blues and Beyond is the second studio album by British musician Davy Graham, originally released in 1965. It has been considered Graham's most groundbreaking and consistent work and a defining record of the 20th century. It has also been a primary influence on some of the most popular musicians in Britain ranging from Bert Jansch to Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton.

Tracklist:

01. Leavin' Blues
02. Cocaine
03. Sally Free And Easy
04. Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair
05. Rock Me Baby
06. Seven Gypsies
07. Ballad Of The Sad Young Men
08. Moanin'
09. Skillet Good 'n' Greasy
10. Ain't Nobody's Business What I Do
11. Maajun
12. I Can't Keep From Cryin' Sometimes
13. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright
14. My Babe
15. Goin' Down Slow
16. Better Git It In Your Soul

Personnel:

Davy Graham - vocals, acoustic guitar
Tony Reeves - double bass
Barry Morgan - drums, percussion

Folk, Blues & Beyond was first released on Decca Records in 1965, and is one of the most important recordings from the 1960s folk revival. Davy Graham was the first guitarist to emerge from Britain whose work combined stylistic elements from Julian Bream, Big Bill Broonzy, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Ali Akbar Khan, Leadbelly, Joe Pass, Segovia and others too numerous to name. John Martyn described him as his "absolute hero" in a Guitar Player interview in 1975. Of Scottish and Guyanese parents, he came to personify musical adventure, his adoption of non-standard guitar tunings, most notably D-A-D-G-A-D, arguably his most important legacy. His uniqueness became, directly or indirectly, a model for Martin Carthy, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Wizz Jones and Martin Simpson. Covers of traditional folk standards like 'Black Is the Colour Of My True Love's Hair' and 'Seven Gypsies' combine with interpretations of compositions by Bob Dylan (Don't Think Twice, It's Alright), Willie Dixon (My Babe), Charles Mingus (Better Git In Your Soul), and Reverend Gary Davis (Cocaine) for an eclecticism of repertoire that wasn't matched by many musicians of any sort in the mid-1960s.