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Davy Graham

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Born 22 November 1940. Died 15 December 2008.

Davy Graham is a performance name for the person David Michael Gordon Graham.

Photo of Davy Graham Shwayze and Cisco Adler at the MTV Video Music Awards held at Paramount Studios in Hollywo

Biography

David Michael Gordon Graham, known as Davey Graham (originally 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, John Renbourn, Martin Carthy, John Martyn, Paul Simon and Jimmy Page, who based his solo "White Summer" on Graham's "She moved thru' the Bizarre/Blue Raga" and "Mustapha". Graham is probably best-known for his acoustic instrumental, "Anji" and for his pioneering use of DADGAD tuning, later widely adopted by acoustic guitarists.

It was not in Graham's nature to pursue fame and fortune and he retired to relative obscurity for many years, when he engaged in charity work and teaching as well as protracted periods of drug use, before beginning to tour again in the years before his death. His childlike, almost obsessive, enthusiasm for music never left him, however, and he would gladly give a free private concert to any chance acquaintance.

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  1. Folk legend Graham dies aged 68

    Wed 17 Dec 2008 11:26

    Guitarist Davy Graham, an influential figure in the 1960s folk music revival in...

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