Level: 2
Tuning: Standard

This was the tune that Rev. Gary Davis would use for his first lesson. He heard it in 1905 from a traveling musician named Porter Irving. This version of "Candyman" has been played and recorded by countless artists, i.e. Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal, Grateful Dead, Hot Tuna, David Bromberg, Roy Book Binder and more. It's a tricky arrangement played in the key of C with an alternating bass and a moving bass figure. Rev. Davis referred to this style as "old fashion picking" but it sounds as modern today as it did in 1905.