The songs on this collection, recorded in 1968 and 1970 at the Pittsburgh apartment of Ernie Hawkins find Reverend Gary Davis in a relaxed mood. The playing is light and loose at times as he reaches back into his vast musical memory to pull one surprise after another from his “bag of tricks” (his nonchalant term for guitar playing). Fingerpicked on the Rev’s Gibson J-200 and a borrowed Martin D12-35, these performances were not for the stage or the recording studio; rather, they chance upon Davis playing reflectively to himself and Ernie, you the listener privy to the intimate musical camaraderie caught on tape. So while not every note is perfectly played, it is perfectly Davis, who wows us with marvelous additions to his songbook and performances that stretch out in masterly ways: a “Blow, Gabriel” that swells in fiery exhortation over twelve minutes; an emotionally wrenching “Crucifixion” just under twenty minutes with neither note nor word wasted. As the title says, these are rare and previously unissued recordings, ones of historic and musical value. It’s uncommon for an artist to bemuse us anew nearly fifty years after his death, but Davis does so here. “That suits me,” he sings joyfully on the opening track, and I guarantee it will suit you, too.

Song Samples:

1. Come On Brother, Let’s Go Round the Wall

2. I Belong to The Band

3. The Old Ship of Zion

4. Save Up Your Money, John D. Rockefeller Put the Panic On

5. Blow Gabriel

6. ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

7. Don’t Move My Bed ‘Till the Holy Ghost Come

8. Great Change Since I Been Born

Disc Two:

1. Home (When Shadows Fall)

2. Penitentiary Blues

3. Let’s Go Down to Betty’s

4. Hard Walking Blues

5. Chicken You Can’t Roost Too High

6. Pray For The Lights To Go Out

7. Florida Blues

8. Little Boy, Little Boy, Who Made Your Britches

9. Walkin’ The Dog

10. St James Infirmary

11. Tie Me to Your Apron Strings Again

12. Yes Sir, That’s My Baby Now

13. Old Fashioned Love

14. God’s Gonna Separate

15. See What the Lord Has Done For Me

Disc Three:

1. Down Home Rag

2. Dill Pickles Rag

3. That’ll Never Happen No More

4. Piece Without Words

5. You Want A Good Man, Treat a Good Man Right

6. Don’t Let My Baby Catch You Here

7. I Wonder What’s Become of Sally

8. Crucifixion

9. Hesitation Blues

10. Cincinnati Flow Rag

11. Joy to Know

12. St. James Infirmary

Review: Oh glory, hallelujah. As a-fly-on-the-wall moments go, “See What the Lord Has Done For Me” is one that superstars from Taj Mahal to Jerry Garcia to Bob Dylan would have gladly emptied their pockets to experience. Here are three hours of one-on-one time with guitar ace Reverend Gary Davis, the blind Baptist preacher with the legendary devil of a picking hand. (Legendary left-hand technique, too.) By any account, Davis serves as bedrock of East Coast fingerstyle fretsmanship: Intricate detail based upon complex patterns set crisply, briskly into perpetual motion. Gentlemanly pyrotechnics, if you will. Shellac 78s first captured that thrill in 1935; the 2020 New York Guitar Festival just emphasized the undying staying power of that thrill as Larkin Poe, Bill Frisell, Warren Haynes and others honored Davis, his music and his approach to guitar.

Oh yeah, and the great Blind Boy Fuller was a huge fan—and disciple. Enough said.

What sets these rare, previously unissued recordings apart is having not stemmed from a studio. Nor from a formal onstage recital. But, better yet, from a series of candid, living-room sessions instead. The setting was a familiar one for Davis, starting in the 1950s and expanding during the 1960s: Inside a home with a student devoutly soaking up his every move along the frets. Most often than not, pilgrims came to Davis’ home; his hideaway in the Bronx became the place to be.

Here, though, he’s at a home-away-from-home. Whenever making the rounds at concerts and festivals around Pittsburgh, Davis would stay at the apartment of Ernie Hawkins, a faithful student of his who remains a practicing string-dazzler to this day. And whenever Davis had at his Gibson J-200 or a borrowed Martin D12-35 during those visits in 1968 and 1970 (two years before his death, at age 76), Hawkins’ tape recorder rolled. Rolled so much so that the boxload of resulting tapes needs three CDs to take in its 35 songs and instrumentals. (The same goes for some of Stefan Grossman’s own personal collection, whose “At Home and Church” likewise encompasses three discs.) What accumulated was a mother lode of material for Hawkins to decipher, practice, practice, practice still more, and then ultimately strive to recreate in some manner. Consider it a sourcebook of enlightenment and method.

This is, after all, Gary Davis who sits before you. The miraculous fingerpicker who spellbound Grossman, Roy Book Binder, Larry Johnson, Bob Weir, Jorma Kaukonen, Rory Block, David Bromberg, Blind Boy Paxton, Eric Bibb and on and on. At one point or another, Carnegie Hall, Rolling Stone magazine, and the Newport Folk Festival have all been hip to the Harlem street singer from South Carolina. The Reverend infiltrated rock repertoires from the Dead to the Airplane. And here he was, relaxed and loose (for Davis) and airing out the strings in a major way—in a living room. It’s akin to receiving in-home painting lessons from Picasso or having Longfellow roll rhymes from off your couch.

Oh, the things the old man’s fingers could do with a set of strings. Simple 1920s ditties like “Tie Me To Your Apron Strings Again,” “Old Fashioned Love,” or “Chicken You Can’t Roost Too High” turned into nimble showpieces. “Cincinnati Flow Rag” is a ride on a carousel. “Hard Walking Blues” swings to and fro on its fishtailing licks. “Penitentiary Blues” breezes along. So does “Down Home Rag.” Each pass made around the great singalong “Come On Brother, Let’s Go Round the Wall” gathers steam from resounding handiwork. Not even is the bloodthirsty “Don’t Let My Baby Catch You Here” immune from the same rich, full-bodied resonance that marked Davis’ playing. The kindest of melodies? That would have to be “’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus.” And, yes, “Hesitation Blues” is here—in stunning instrumental form.

Some songs, such as quick shots of “Dill Pickles Rag” or “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby Now,” barely last more than a sparkling minute. “Crucifixion” sprawls, in excelsis, for 19 minutes. Although “Great Change Since I Been Born” grows past the 10-minute mark with over two dozen stanzas, “Crucifixion” is where the preacher’s instincts maximally kick in, letting verse after verse after storyline verse geyser out. It’s a one-man passion play delivered in 1,600 words, wreathed in a thorny crown of ringing notes making rhythmic loops.

Whether in the depths of gloom (“Don’t Move My Bed ’Til the Holy Ghost Come,” in minor key) or at the peak of joy (“I Belong To the Band,” a beaming holdover from his 1935 sessions, built out past 11 minutes here), it’s like hearing a watch work. A really fine watch, whose series of complex gears mesh, engaging multiple moving parts in synchronous beauty. Wordless and watch-like, “Piece Without Words” gets picked and plucked for eight minutes by what would take mortal men four hands to accomplish. But no less devastating was Davis’ brimstone voice that still can shake walls or melt hearts at will, all dependent on how he dialed his force.

Then, one day, something unknown came spilling out in G major. Over top its gentle grace, Davis softly sang of wholehearted thankfulness, snatching light from out of darkness. The mood was bittersweet. The titanium fortitude that braces “Blow Gabriel” or the playful teasing of “Let’s Go Down to Betty’s” was not there, instead replaced by humility. Davis’ guard was fully down.

Hawkins had run across unfamiliar pieces before; it was inevitable, given the impressively deep sack of songs from which Davis could draw. For instance, “Pray for the Lights To Go Out” danced on an ancient melody Hawkins hadn’t run across before. Plus, to complicate matters, Davis was always tinkering. So, depending on how the wind was blowing, a song could take on a new and different life. Two contrasting instrumental versions of “St. James Infirmary,” played only a day apart, are prime examples of these shifting sands. This one was different, though. Because when inquiring minds asked, Davis dated the piece as a mere three weeks old. The Piedmont picker from the era of Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Willie McTell and Blind Blake was still actively inventing, still “receiving” songs. Meet “See What the Lord Has Done for Me,” in all its unguarded glory.

So, let admirers like Dylan have his “Basement Tapes” and Garcia his “Pizza Tapes”; Rev. Gary Davis now has his “Apartment Tapes.” And they’re expectedly divine. – Blues Rag/Dennis Rozanski

Review: The influence of Rev. Gary Davis on contemporary music has been far-reaching. The likes of Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, The Grateful Dead and Keb Mo, can be counted amongst his fans. Sadly Davis died in the early 70s, but we are blessed by the musical legacy which he left behind. And this latest collection of Rev. Gary's work in particular, focuses on a suite of previously unreleased, rare and unissued recordings from between 1968 and 1970. Each of the tracks on this bumper compilation was recorded at the Pittsburgh apartment of Ernie Hawkins.

Playing loose in these intimate performances, Rev. Gary sings with conviction and belief throughout this remarkable collection of spiritually tonged blues, gospel, and folk composltlons. Hlghlights from this bumper body of work include a ten-minute rendition of Don't Move My Bed 'Til the Holy Ghost Come, two different versions of the traditional number St James infirmary and the title track itself See What The Lord Has Done For Me. As one of the great purveyors of acoustic gospel-tinged blues, these recordings form an incredible historical reference as well as giving a remarkable insight into the artist himself almost fifty years after his passing in 1972.

See What The Lord Has Done For Me will be of interest to the purists. The release is wonderfully packaged, spread over 3 disks and features 34 songs and over 3 hours of material. If you are a fan or interested in the works of Rev. Gary Davis, you are certainly getting a lot of bang for your buck here. - Adam Kennedy/Blues Matters!

Review: The Reverend Gary Davis, born in 1896, is a giant in fingerpicking blues guitar and folk blues. Born partially blind, he completely lost his eyesight in his teens. Self-taught on guitar starting at age 6, his distinctive style influenced countless artists and students who followed him, including Bob Weir, Jorma Kaukonen, David Bromberg, Dave Van Ronk, Ernie Hawkins, Eric Von Schmidt, Larry Campbell, Bob Dylan, Blind Boy Fuller, Stefan Grossman, Roy Book Binder, Ry Cooder, and many, many others. This three-CD collection is a musical snapshot that reveals recordings that Davis made shortly before his death in a series of informal 1968-70 sessions on a tape recorder that bluesman Ernie Hawkins borrowed to preserve the work of his friend, spiritual advisor and mentor. The recordings, 35 tracks in all, are essentially solo with Davis' inimitable raspy vocals, strong and powerful, and of course his big sounding guitar and sure-fingered picking. Davis performs on his own Gibson J-200 and on a borrowed Martin D 12-35. While admittedly low-fi, the fine production by Stefan Grossman brings an immediacy and intimacy to the work. It is fascinating to hear Davis get into a groove and just live in it, just rolling with it, fully engaged and sounding like he could busk on for hours and hours on a street corner. His guitar work is like a living, breathing textbook. And while this collection is probably not the best entree into Davis' work - as there are many stellar albums in his catalog - as a historical document, it's just remarkable. We are treated to a touching version of "See What The Lord Has Done For Me," which the liner notes say that Davis only began composing three weeks prior - so we see that he was still actively writing new music in 1970. Traditional songs such as "Blow, Gabriel," at 12 minutes, and Crucifixion, at 20 minutes, stretch out and soar along. Davis originals such as "Penitentiary Blues," "Let's Go Down To Betty's" and "Walking Blues" serve as travelogues into Davis' hardscrabble early life. Throughout, it's as if Davis performing in the same room, playing his heart out - as he always did. Perhaps what would have made this set even more stunning would have been the inclusion of what must have been a wealth of asides, discussions, observations and general life thoughts, which one would think may have been captured over the two years of recording this brilliant and insightful artist. Davis, who was ordained as a minister in 1933, turned more toward inspirational gospel music at that time and continued to record. However, his career was elevated in the 1960s as America turned its attention to the folk revival. He performed at the Newport Folk Festival, and Peter, Paul and Mary recorded his "Samson and Delilah," and the Grateful Dead later covered his "Death Don't Have No Mercy." He truly is an American treasure. The set also includes an extensive PDF booklet located on Disc 1 with detailed notes on the songs by William Ellis and memories from Ernie Hawkins of his time and lessons with the Rev. Davis. - Fred Kraus/Minor 7th