Ron.M -> RE: R.I.P Davey Graham (Dec. 23 2008 12:02:26)
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Great links Estevan! I love the kiwi interview, especially this bit... "Davy's always been too wayward for commercial success," says Jansch. "A lot of people in the folk world don't rate him because of that lack of professional discipline. He said to me once, 'As long as you have a good start and a good ending to a concert, the middle doesn't really matter.' I remember thinking, 'But it does help if you turn up in the first place, Davy.'" When I saw him at the Glasgow Folk Centre, (which was basically the top flat of a bombed out and crumbling tenament and held about 100 people max), it was certainly an interesting introduction. It used meet at the weekends featuring local talent, but every now and then they would be able to lure a major name from London or whatever, who would do a half hour or threequarters of an hour at the end. The door fee would go up a bit on these occasions. On the Davey Graham night, the lady running the venue came out after the first hour to say that they were having difficulty getting in contact with Davey and didn't know where he was, or would even be appearing, so they had called in a couple of emergency acts to fill in. Towards the end of the night when the place was winding up, he eventually showed up and went straight on. I remember thinking he was a tough-looking guy, with the cropped, no-nonsense hairstyle, (everybody had long hair in 1968), pock-marked face and Mexican moustache. He was chewing gum and looked like he carried a knuckleduster and a flick-knife and knew how to use them. The bit of "oddballness" about it all though was, although he was wearing a black Brando-esque leather jacket, underneath it he was wearing a white shirt and a smart tie, like he was going for a job interview with the Civil Service. (??) Also he would play some raunchy blues number, full of sexual inuendo, in a pretty convincing black delta blues voice and a really groovy down home style of guitar playing, yet when he spoke afterwards, his voice was very quiet and polite, like he was addressing a meeting of the East Anglia Model Railway Enthusiast's club. He never had any kind of contiguous set, but just flitted from one thing to another as the mood took him with no pre-prepared audience chat up lines or anything. He was indeed a true eccentric and a helluva guitar player when it suited him. cheers, Ron
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