Blind Gary Davis Let Us Get Together (2-CD)

(Sunset Boulevard Records) 19 tracks, digisleeve.

Ordained Baptist minister Gary Davis hailed from Piedmont South Carolina and grew up playing the distinctive style of Piedmont blues. With the decline of the Southern blues scene, Rev. Gary moved to New York City. Initially, he made his living as a street musician and preacher.

But with the emergence of the Greenwich Village folk scene, Rev. Gary quickly became a mentor to a long list of well-known musicians from Dave Van Ronk to Bob Dylan. Over the next two decades, a number of guitarists found their way to him to study blues blues and occasionally hear a little preaching. Davis' compositions were picked up by the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, Peter Paul and Dylan, among others.