Over the years I have searched for films and videos of my teacher, Rev. Gary Davis. His playing has influenced many fingerstyle guitarists. His words and warmth were especially important to his handful of dedicated students. In this collection I have put together all the footage that I have found to date. The recording quality ranges from excellent to poor but the music is always superb.

The first two tracks are taken from a short film that played in theatres in the early 1960s. This was shot while Rev. Davis lived in the Bronx. The filmaker was very interested in the ambience but we do get a chance to see Rev. Davis play. Pete Seeger’s Rainbow Quest had one show that featured Rev. Davis along with Donovan and Shawn Phillips. The next two tunes are from this program. In 1969 Rev. Davis travelled to Seattle, Washington to play for the Folkore Society. Tracks 5-12 were filmed by the Anthropology Department of the University of Washington at the home of John Ullman. This is rough footage but shows Rev. Davis relaxed amongst friends and his trusty cigar! During that stay John was able to take Rev. Davis in to a proper television studio and tracks 15-23 are from this session. These are seminal performances. The independent filmmaker Lionel Rogosin brought Rev. Davis together with other musicians for his film Black Roots. Tracks 24-26 are from this film. This collection ends with some very rough footage from the wedding celebration of John Gibbon (one of Rev. Davis’s earliest New York students). This was originally recorded on reel to reel tape and over the years the tape disintegrated. So what we have left is a faint video image with good sound that shows Rev. Davis enjoying himself at a party with friends.

Hopefully you will enjoy this collection as the genius of Rev. Gary Davis will fill your TV screen with inspiration and joy.

– Stefan Grossman

Titles include: 1. Sun Is Goin’ Down • 2. Lord, I Feel Like Goin’ • 3. Children of Zion • 4. Oh Glory How Happy I Am 5. Sally Where’d You Get Your Liquor From • 6. Calling for Irene • 7. Buck Dance • 8. Hard Walkin’ Blues • 9. Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning • 10. Make Believe Stunt 11. Guitar Lesson (Twelve Gates To The City) 12. Twelve Gates To The City (Instrumental) • 13. Advice on Playing Guitar • 14. Twelve Sticks • 15. Twelve Gates To The City 16. Samson and Delilah • 17. Cincinnati Flow Rag (Slow Drag) • 18. Candyman • 19. Sally Where’d You Get Your Liquor From • 20. Buck Dance • 21. Wouldn’t Say Quit • 22. Oh Glory How Happy I Am • 23. (I Heard) The Angels Singing • 24. I Belong To The Band • 25. Talk on Death • 26. Death Don’t Have No Mercy 27. She’s Just Funny That Way • 28. Samson and Delilah • 29. Cincinnati Flow Rag (Slow Drag) • 30. Spoonful • 31. Buck Dance

Review: It has come. Finally. And thankfully. For 109 precious minutes, the Reverend Gary Davis Video Collection flashes back to when the “Harlem street singer” with the house-wrecking holier and the jaw-dropping guitar technique was still spreading the good word. And with a spectrum of influence, extending from Blind Boy Fuller to Bob Dylan, you listen to what he and "Miss Gibson" have to say. Stefan Grossman, a former Davis student and a sleuth when it comes to sniffing out archival roots film for his Vestapol collection, rounded up six different sources from an APB posted for any, and all, available footage of the master at work. Some scenes are real, like on the television set of Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest, when Davis had the Holy Ghost in him for extraordinary marathon versions of "Oh Glory, How Happy I Am" and "Children of Zion." Or the informal home shots where "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning" gets sung with a lit stogy wagging from his mouth. Other scenes, however, are surreal. Like the film noir shots in his Bronx apartment or the ghostly, grainy images of "Samson and Delilah" performed at a wedding. And Lionel Rogosin's 1970 Black Roots provides both a staged peek at Davis with a harp-blowing Larry Johnson and a horrifically-prefaced "Death Don't Have No Mercy'. They're all here: "Buck Dance," "Twelve Gates To The City," "Candyman”, "I Belong To The Band." Definitive visual proof that, indeed, the Reverend pulled off all of that string magic using only two mortal hands.               -Dennis Rozanski, Bluesrag

Review: Stefan Grossman has collected every piece of film footage that he could find of the great Rev. Gary Davis to compile for this remarkable tribute to a remarkable singer and guitarist. Featuring 31 performances - many of them appearing on DVD for the first time, it includes clips from a short film that played in theatres in the early 60s, a mid 60s appearance on Pete Seeger's "Rainbow Quest" TV show, footage from the Anthropology Department of the University Of Washington in 1969 filmed at the home of John Ullman, a concert from the same trip, two clips from the film "Black Roots" made by independent maverick filmmaker Lionel Rogosin in 1970 and very faint footage (with good sound) made at the wedding of John Gibbon (One of Davis's earliest New York students).      -Frank Scott at Roots & Rhythm

vestapol 13111dvd  $24.95