Davy Graham RIP

Davy Graham died yesterday (Monday UK time). Here's the Guardian report:
Legendary folk musician Davy Graham passed away on Monday. He was 68. Graham's manager Mark Pavey told the Guardian: "He was diagnosed with lung cancer only weeks ago and suffered a seizure at his home at around 3.30pm yesterday."
The guitarist was noted for his role in the 1960s folk revival, and his impeccable acoustic style influenced everyone from Bert Jansch to Paul Simon. Born to a Guyanese mother and a Scottish father, Graham took up the guitar in his teens and was later discovered by blues musician AlexisKorner. Korner once wrote that Graham was "a genuinely gifted guitarist who, rightly, refuses to let himself be fenced into one field of music."
His debut release in 1962, the EP 3/4 AD, contained his most famous composition, Anji. Inspired by his girlfriend at the time, the song took on a life of its own (hence the varied spellings of its title) as it was covered by many artists, including Simon and Garfunkle on their 1966 album Sound of Silence.
Graham is credited with touching on a wide range of influences in his music, particularly jazz and blues, as well as elements from a wider world of sounds, such as Indian or Arabic, that were not particularly well-known at the time.
Pavey said there would be a private funeral held for Graham this week and a public memorial service is being planned for January. Further details of the service will be posted on Davy Graham's website.
---
As an add, another influential (in NZ anyway) was the Decca album "Folk Routes, New Routes", on which Davy Graham backed trad singer Shirley Collins and played some instrumentals. It came out in the 1960s; in 2008 thearrangements are still fresh (and hard to play).
Alan Young
---
Hi folks,Been asked to pass on this sad news: "Davy Graham has passed away 15 December 2008, London Sad news indeed, one the the very best has left the building. I used to see Davy in a pub called Finch's in Nottinghill I think it was. He was truly a legend and his playing inspired many many great British players. Some say he never reached his full potential as he was plagued with addiction and ill health during his life, but the early work he did was and still is among the most brilliant of an era. Check out his album with Shirley Collins or hissolo masterpiece Folk Blues & Beyond. He was "world" music before the termwas even thought of.

RIP Davy Graham.