AMG Review of Complete Early Recordings

Bruce Eder
All Music Guide

One can't possibly own too much of the Reverend Gary Davis's music from any era, but he made so few recordings in the 1930s that the material is represented on several overlapping CDs. The Yazoo collection of his sides cut for the American Record Company is good as far as it goes -- which is a long way -- giving as complete a picture as one will ever find of Davis's output during that decade, with good sound and a superb set of sleeve notes on his life and work. It is not, unfortunately, as full an account of Davis's pre-'50s career as other discs that are available (especially from Document Records), and purchasers should be aware of one thing that they can be sure of concerning Davis -- they will want more of his music.