Real name: Gary Davis

Effective period / Period of releases: 1935 - 1988

African-American blues, gospel singer and guitarist.
Born: April 30, 1896 - Laurens County, SC, USA.
Died: May 5, 1972 - Hammonton, NJ, USA.

The name Blind Gary Davis was mostly used for his earlier recordings. For his recordings after becoming revered please go to Rev. Gary Davis.

Born partially blind, Davis lost what little was left of his sight at a young age. Self-taught on the guitar, he assumed a unique multi-voice style produced solely with his thumb and index finger, playing ragtime, traditional, blues and original tunes in four-part harmony. He frequently performed on the streets of New York near Harlem, where he also came to be a well-known figure. In the 1930s occasionally accompanied Blind Boy Fuller or Bull City Red on recordings as a 2nd guitarist. It should be noted that as a man of faith in his later year, he rarely recorded blues after becoming a Reverend.