SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - 'I Belong to the Band, Hallelujah' by The Rev. Gary Davis

One of the most influential guitarists in American music, the Rev. Gary Davis, was born blind in desperate poverty in South Carolina in 1896. By the time of his passing in 1972, his finger-picking style on guitar and banjo had influenced hundreds of blues and folk artists, from Blind Boy Fuller, Sonny Terry and Lonnie Jordan to Stefan Grossman, Keb’ Mo’ and Ry Cooder. His songs, including “Samson and Delilah,” “Devil Don’t Have No Mercy,” “You Gotta Move” and “Baby Let Me Follow You Down” have been covered by everybody from Peter, Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan, and the Grateful Dead.

In 1935, he recorded 14 gospel-oriented tracks in a New York City studio on his famed steel-bodied National Resonator guitar – including this eerily fascinating number, “I Belong to the Band, Hallelujah.”

I’m Robert Darden … “Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments” is produced by KWBU and the Black Gospel Music Preservation Program at Baylor University Libraries.

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