{{Short description|British guitarist (1940–2008)}} {{EngvarB|date=September 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Davey Graham | image = Daveygraham-louiskillen.jpg | caption = Graham performing at The Troubadour with Lou Killen | image_size = | landscape = Yes | birth_name = David Michael Gordon Graham | alias = Davy Graham | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1940|11|26}} | birth_place = Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, England | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2008|12|15|1940|11|22}} | instrument = Guitar, vocals | death_place = London, England | genre = {{hlist|Folk baroque|Jazz|Blues}} | occupation = Musician, songwriter | years_active = 1959–2008 (49 years) | label = {{flatlist| * Topic Records * Decca Records * Outright Records * Les Cousins Records }} | website = {{URL|https://web.archive.org/web/20120118151728/http://www.davygraham.com/|davygraham.com}} }} '''David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham''' (originally spelled '''Davy Graham''') (26 November 1940 – 15 December 2008) was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival. He inspired many famous practitioners of the fingerstyle acoustic guitar such as Bert Jansch, Wizz Jones, John Renbourn, Martin Carthy, John Martyn, Paul Simon and Jimmy Page, who based his solo "White Summer" on Graham's "She Moved Through the Fair". Graham is probably best known for his acoustic instrumental "Anji" and for popularizing DADGAD tuning, later widely adopted by acoustic guitarists.<ref>The DADGAD article, for example, lists users of this tuning, including Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, Dáithí Sproule, Russian Circles, Stan Rogers, Jimmy Page, Artie Traum, Pierre Bensusan, Eric Roche, Laurence Juber, Tony McManus, Bert Jansch, Richard Thompson, Dick Gaughan, Imaad Wasif, Jeff Tweedy, Paul McSherry, DEPAPEPE, Ben Chasny and Trey Anastasio.</ref>
==Biography==
===Early life=== Graham was born in Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, England,<ref name="Colin Harper: Dazzling Stranger"> {{cite book |last=Harper |first=Colin |title=Dazzling Stranger: Bert Jansch and the British Folk and Blues Revival |date=August 2006 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-0-7475-8725-5 |edition=2nd |location=London}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=June 2023}}<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=2016-11-26 |title=Folk musician Davy Graham honoured with birthplace plaque |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-38082496 |access-date=2023-06-06}}</ref> to a Guyanese mother, Winifred (known as Amanda) and a Scottish father, Hamish, a teacher from the Isle of Skye.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hughes |first1=Rob |title=Midnight Man |journal=Uncut |date=December 2022 |page=60}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> He grew up in Westbourne Grove, in the Notting Hill Gate area of London.<ref name=":0" /> Although he never had any music theory lessons, he learnt to play the piano and harmonica as a child and then took up the classical guitar at the age of 12.<ref name=":1" /> As a teenager he was strongly influenced by the folk guitar player Steve Benbow, who had travelled widely with the army and played a guitar style influenced by Moroccan music.<ref name=guardian>{{cite news | last=Hodgkinson | first=Will | newspaper=The Guardian | title =Davey Graham | date=15 July 2005 }}</ref>
==="Anji"/"Angi"=== At the age of 19, Graham wrote what is probably his most famous composition, the acoustic guitar solo "Angi" (sometimes spelled "Anji": see below). Colin Harper credits Graham with single-handedly inventing the concept of the folk guitar instrumental.<ref name="Colin Harper: Dazzling Stranger"/>{{Page needed|date=June 2023}} "Angi", named after his then girlfriend, appeared on his debut EP, ''3/4 AD'', in April 1962. The tune spread through a generation of aspiring guitarists, changing its spelling as it went. Before the record was released, Bert Jansch had learnt it from a 1961 tape borrowed from Len Partridge. Jansch included it on his 1965 debut album as "Angie". The spelling ''Anji'' became the more widely used after it appeared on Simon & Garfunkel's 1966 album ''Sounds of Silence''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sounds Of Silence|url=https://www.simonandgarfunkel.com/music/sounds-silence/|access-date=2020-08-05|website=The Official Simon & Garfunkel Site|language=en-US}}</ref> In 1969, the same name for Chicken Shack's ''100 Ton Chicken'' was used.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}
"Anji" soon became a rite of passage for many acoustic finger-style guitarists. Arlen Roth has recorded "Anji" on two of his albums.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}
Some other musicians of note who have covered "Anji" are John Renbourn, Lillebjørn Nilsen, Gordon Giltrap, Clive Carroll and the anarchist group Chumbawamba, who used the guitar piece as a basis for their anti-war song "Jacob's Ladder (Not in My Name)".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gill|first=Andy|date=2002-08-02|title=Album: Chumbawamba - Readymades, Republic/Universal|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-chumbawamba-171681.html|access-date=2020-08-05|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref>
"Angi" is the second track on the first CD of the Topic Records 70th anniversary box set ''Three Score and Ten''.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}
===Folk fame=== Graham came to the attention of guitarists through his appearance in a 1959 broadcast of the BBC TV arts series ''Monitor'', produced by Ken Russell and titled ''Hound Dogs and Bach Addicts: The Guitar Craze'', in which he played an acoustic instrumental version of "Cry Me a River".<ref name="timesobit"> {{cite news |date=22 December 2008 |title=Obituary of Davey Graham |page=50 |newspaper=The Times}}</ref> During the 1960s, Graham released a string of albums of music from all around the world in many genres. 1964's ''Folk, Blues and Beyond'' and the following year's collaboration with the folk singer Shirley Collins, ''Folk Roots, New Routes'', are frequently cited{{By whom|date=May 2013}} among his most influential albums. ''Large as Life and Twice as Natural'' includes his cover of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides, Now" alongside explorations of Eastern modes.
Graham appears (uncredited) playing guitar in a pub in Joseph Losey's 1963 film ''The Servant''.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}
===Retirement=== Graham married the American singer Holly Gwinn in the late 1960s and recorded the albums ''The Holly Kaleidosope'' and ''Godington Boundary'' with her in 1970, shortly before Gwinn had to return to the US and he was unable to follow her, because of his visa problem due to a marijuana conviction.<ref name=":0" /> He later described himself as having been "a casualty of too much self-indulgence",<ref name=timesobit/> becoming a heroin addict in imitation of his jazz heroes.<ref name=":1">{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3834429/Davy-Graham.html | location=London | work=The Telegraph | title=Obituary: Davy Graham | date=18 December 2008}}</ref> During this period, he taught acoustic guitar and also undertook charity work, particularly for various mental health charities. For several years he was on the executive council of Mind<ref name=timesobit/> and he was involved for some time with the mystic Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh).{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}
In 1976, Graham recorded ''All That Moody'', essentially a private pressing. He recorded two further groundbreaking albums for Kicking Mule, 1978's ''The Complete Guitarist'' and 1980's ''Dance For Two People''.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}
He continued to play concerts, but dedicated the main thrust of his life to studying languages; he was fluent in Gaelic (taught by his native-speaking father),<ref name=":0" /> French, and Greek and could hold his own in Turkish. He collected poems and folk songs and would regale his neighbours. After some time, he became increasingly disinhibited.
===Rediscovery and death=== Graham was the subject of a 2005 BBC Radio documentary, ''Whatever Happened to Davy Graham?'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 6 Music - Whatever Happened to Davy Graham? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05p9wyq |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> and in 2006 featured in the BBC Four documentary ''Folk Britannia''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Folk Britannia - Episode guide |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0088yvp/episodes/guide |access-date=2015-02-28 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>
Many people sought out Graham over the years and tried to encourage him to return to the stage to play live; the last of this long line of seekers was Mark Pavey,<ref> https://jazz-jazz.com/2025/01/01/davy-graham-he-moved-through-the-fair-the-complete-1960s-recordings-2024.html</ref> who arranged some outings with guitarists and old friends including Bert Jansch, Duck Baker and Martin Carthy, and helped Graham pursue some outstanding royalties. These concerts were typically eclectic, with Graham playing a mix of acoustic blues, Romanian dance tunes, Irish pipe tunes, songs from South Africa and pieces by Bach.<ref name=:0/> His final album, ''Broken Biscuits'', consisted of originals and new arrangements of traditional songs from around the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.davygraham.com |title=Davy Graham |publisher=Davy Graham |access-date=28 February 2015}}</ref>
Graham was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008 and died on 15 December of that year,<ref name=":0" /> at his home in London.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pareles |first=Jon |date=2008-12-19 |title=Davy Graham, Influential Guitarist, Dies at 68 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/arts/music/19graham.html |access-date=2023-06-06 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
In November 2016, a blue plaque was installed at his birthplace, the former Bosworth Park Infirmary building.<ref name=":2" />
==Influence== Graham did not seek or achieve great commercial success,<ref name="timesobit" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.terrascope.co.uk/MyBackPages/Davey_Graham_interview.htm|title=Davey Graham interview|quote=I never wanted to have a following. I was never interested in the big time, just to be good at what I was doing.}}</ref> though his music received positive critical feedback and influenced folk revival artists and fellow players such as Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Martin Carthy, Ralph McTell, Dick Gaughan, Wizz Jones, John Martyn, Nick Drake, Ritchie Blackmore, and Paul Simon, as well as folk rock bands such as Fairport Convention and Pentangle.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}
Though Graham is commonly referred to as a folk musician, the diversity of his music shows strong influences from many genres. Elements of blues, jazz, and Middle Eastern music are evident throughout his work.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}
Martin Carthy described Graham as "...an extraordinary, dedicated player, the one everyone followed and watched – I couldn't believe anyone could play like that," while Bert Jansch claimed that he was "courageous and controversial – he never followed the rules." Ray Davies maintained that the guitarist was "the greatest blues player I ever saw, apart from Big Bill Broonzy".<ref name=":0">{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/dec/17/folk-blues-music | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Robin | last=Denselow | title=Obituary: Davey Graham | date=17 December 2008|page=32}}</ref>
According to George Chkiantz, "What impressed me with Davy Graham...was he played the guitar fretboard somehow as if it was a keyboard. There was a kind of freedom. You weren't conscious of him using chord shapes at all: his fingers just seemed to run around with complete freedom on the fretboard."<ref>Sean Egan, ''Not Necessarily Stoned But Beautiful'', Unanimous Ltd, 2002, p. 137.</ref>
===DADGAD=== One of Graham's lasting legacies is the DADGAD (open D<sup>sus4</sup>) guitar tuning, which he popularised in the early 1960s.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/16/davey-graham-invents-dagdad | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Colin | last=Irwin | title=Davey Graham invents DAGDAD | date=16 June 2011}}</ref> While travelling in Morocco, he developed the tuning so he could better play along with and translate the traditional oud music he heard to guitar. Graham then went on to experiment playing traditional folk pieces in DADGAD tuning, often incorporating Indian and Middle Eastern scales and melodies. A good example is his arrangement of the traditional air "She Moved Through the Fair", which he recorded live at the Troubadour in Earl's Court in 1964. The tuning provides freedom to improvise in the treble, while maintaining a solid underlying harmony and rhythm in the bass—though it restricts the number of readily playable keys. While guitarists used "non-standard" or "non-classical" tunings before this (e.g., open E and open G in common use by blues and slide guitar players) DADGAD introduced a new "standard" tuning.<ref name=timesobit/> Many guitarists now use the tuning, especially in folk and world music.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}
== Discography == ===Studio albums===
* ''The Guitar Player'' (1963) * ''Folk, Blues and Beyond'' (1965) * ''Midnight Man'' (1966) * ''Large as Life and Twice as Natural'' (1968) * ''Hat'' (1969) * ''Holly Kaleidoscope'' (1970) * ''Godington Boundary'' (1970) (with Holly Gwinn) * ''All That Moody'' (1976) * ''The Complete Guitarist'' (1978) * ''Playing in Traffic'' (1991) * ''Broken Biscuits'' (2007)
===EPs=== * ''3/4 AD'' (1962)<ref>With Alexis Korner, guitar, on one track.</ref> * ''From a London Hootenanny'' (1963)<ref>As The Thameside Four and Davy Graham.</ref>
===Live albums=== * ''After Hours'' (1997)<ref>Recorded at Hull University in 1967.</ref>
===Compilations=== * ''Dance for Two People'' (1979) * ''Folk Blues and All Points in Between'' (1985) * ''Fire in the Soul'' (1999) * ''The Best of Davy Graham (A Scholar & A Gentleman)'' (2009) * ''Anthology-Lost Tapes 1961–2007'' (2012)
===Collaborations=== * ''Folk Roots, New Routes'' (1964) with Shirley Collins * ''Irish Reels, Jigs, Hornpipes & Airs'' (1979) with Dale Evans, Dan Ar Braz, and Duck Baker
==Bibliography== * Harper, Colin (2005), ''Irish Folk, Trad and Blues: a Secret History'' * Harper, Colin (2006), ''Dazzling Stranger: Bert Jansch and the British Folk and Blues Revival''. Bloomsbury. {{ISBN|0-7475-8725-6}} * Hodgkinson, Will (2005). Article in ''The Guardian''; Friday, 15 July 2005. * ''The Times'' (2008). Obituary published in ''The Times'', 22 December 2008, p. 50.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5379618.ece |title=Obituary |publisher=Timesonline.com |access-date=28 February 2015}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> * Young, Rob (2010), "Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain's visionary music"
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20120118151728/http://www.davygraham.com/}} * [http://www.folkblues.co.uk/artistsgraham.htm Article] by John Renbourn and [http://www.folkblues.co.uk/discographygraham.html discography] at Folk Blues & Beyond * [http://www.terrascope.co.uk/MyBackPages/Davey_Graham_interview.htm Interview given to www.terrascope.co.uk]
{{Davey Graham}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Davey}} Category:1940 births Category:2008 deaths Category:20th-century British guitarists Category:20th-century British male musicians Category:21st-century British guitarists Category:Acoustic guitarists Category:Blues Incorporated members Category:Deaths from lung cancer in England Category:English blues guitarists Category:English folk guitarists Category:English jazz guitarists Category:English people of Guyanese descent Category:English people of Scottish descent Category:British fingerstyle guitarists Category:Musicians from Leicestershire Category:People from Market Bosworth Category:21st-century English male musicians