Anji, by Dave Graham

[NilsG]

One of the first "folk" guitar solos from the 60s would have been 'Anji' - referring to the composer's then girl friend. I frist heard it as palyed by Paul Simon on the "Sounds of Silence" album c. 1969; later I learned it from a now lost and defunct tutorial book on finger picking (it also contained a version of "I'm a going fishing" with a amazing walking bass). Since then life has passed (kids, house, dog, mortgages) and when today I sit down to try to re-learn it, I find that Graham played it rather differently, and, in fact, almost more simple, than Paul Simon.

Pray continue, I was merely wasting oxygen.

[jseth]

Such an ICONIC song!!!

I beat my head against the wall for years to learn that tune, back in the 60's... like you, I first heard Paul Simon's version of it (and he does a lovely job), then I heard Bert Jansch's take on Angie and loved that as well!

Never heard Davey Graham's version until I bought one of his early records a few years ago, and yes, I agree... his version on "Folk, Blues and Beyond" IS more simple and straightforward, albeit at a breakneck pace!

Davey Graham was a wizard with the acoustic guitar!!! Good lord, the sounds he gets from that old D-18 are amazing... fortunately, no one told him that you can't play fingerstyle on a dreadnought...

Davey is also considered to be the guy who "invented" the DADGAD tuning mode, and is rightfully spoken of as the "Father of the British Folk Scene", starting back in the late 50's and early 60's...

[NilsG]

The big difference comes really in the first (full) bar - on the second beat, Simon (and Jansch) plays a BCBA figure (hammer/pull) which Graham in no way does but rather slurs over a BC-A. According to Martin Carthy, Jansch "played it wrong and he still does" (this was in 2000) but I doubt Graham would say something as categorical as that. It's a great piece of picking even if you cannot manage 170 bpm.

[stanron]

Like many people, including perhaps a Mr P Simon, I first heard the Bert Jansch version. When I eventually heard the original what struck me strongest was that Davey Graham's rendition was far more sophisticated rhythmically and also a lot more difficult to replicate.

I certainly don't want to knock Jansch's version, if I ever play it at all today I play a lot closer to Jansch than Graham, but I think his version is kind of staid and pretty compared to the 'red meat' of the original.

[Notguildy]

One of the reason why I started playing the guitar. Simon's version. Paul even played few measures on my guitar when he signed it.

Live versions are worth listening to. In the 70's concerts, he played Day Tripper riff during The Work Wong part. See for example Paris concert 1970 on YouTube.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by stanron

Like many people, including perhaps a Mr P Simon, I first heard the Bert Jansch version. When I eventually heard the original what struck me strongest was that Davey Graham's rendition was far more sophisticated rhythmically and also a lot more difficult to replicate.

Actually I disagree. Jansch's was also the first I heard - and still the classic IMO - but I hear DG's as more "safe" and straightforward rhythmically. BJ puts in extra beats or leaves one out here and there; DG's is 4/4 all the way. BJ's also swings a lot more than the original, it's more bluesy/aggressive.
Mind you, DG's final chord is more sophisticated than anything in BJ's!

[Kerbie]

Wonderful tune, whichever version you choose to play.

[stanron]

Originally Posted by JonPR

Actually I disagree. Jansch's was also the first I heard - and still the classic IMO - but I hear DG's as more "safe" and straightforward rhythmically. BJ puts in extra beats or leaves one out here and there; DG's is 4/4 all the way. BJ's also swings a lot more than the original, it's more bluesy/aggressive.
Mind you, DG's final chord is more sophisticated than anything in BJ's!

If people want to decide for themselves here is the original

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n8cxvzol3E

and here is a late Bert Jansch version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOIt7fOgeFk

I found it possible, if not exactly easy, to get a version from Bert Jansch's rendition. I still find the original far more elusive. Bert Jansch's playing represents a kind of English folk fingerpicking orthodoxy but D G is somewhere else. He always was. To me he was a leader and others followed as best they could.

[difalkner]

Paul Simon said in this video he learned the song from Davey Graham -



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw1lz9jKtmE

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by difalkner

Paul Simon said in this video he learned the song from Davey Graham -



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw1lz9jKtmE

I remember playing Paul Simon's version right about the time this video was recorded. I don't remember even
hearing Dave Graham's version. I thinking that at that time Paul Simon's version was what was the best known
and most played.

[NilsG]

I also think the Paul Simon version was the most played and listened to - remember, it was on the "Sounds of Silence" album, which was required listening for cool kids of the late 60s!
Oddly, I discussed (well, I say discussed) the fignering with me friend Glen and claimed, not long ago, that it was impossible to play it without pressing the F on the E string with the thumb - stupid stupid rat creatures, don't they know you finger the A on the g-string with you ring finger, the G on the E-string with your pinky, and then you are free to press the F with the index. On a classical guitar this is much more comfy.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by stanron

If people want to decide for themselves here is the original

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n8cxvzol3E

and here is a late Bert Jansch version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOIt7fOgeFk

Ah, but I was talking about his first recording of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akyyT3gmUXc
That sounds much looser, less "upright" and stiff than DG's. More ragged maybe, but also bluesier, and with odd metrical irregulaties (not to mention the "Work Song" addition).

Originally Posted by stanron

I found it possible, if not exactly easy, to get a version from Bert Jansch's rendition. I still find the original far more elusive.

I learned it first from Jansch's debut, and never heard the Graham original until many years later.
I couldn't play it with quite the same insouciance of Jansch, but didn't find it difficult either. (I can actually play it a lot faster if required, but I try not to.)
When I finally got round to transcribing Davy Graham's (only a few years ago), I found it more straightforward, more "polite"; jazzy of course but in a more restrained way than Jansch's.
In comparison, it was like Jansch grabbed it, loosened its tie a little and messed its hair up; and maybe gave it a drink...

Originally Posted by stanron

Bert Jansch's playing represents a kind of English folk fingerpicking orthodoxy but D G is somewhere else. He always was. To me he was a leader and others followed as best they could.

I agree DG was a leader, the origin of them all (in the UK at least), but BJ was his own man. He didn't sound like anyone else. He could play that sweet alternating bass as well as anyone (borrowed from folk like Martin Carthy, Dylan, Baez, Jackson C Frank, Doc Watson, Mississippi John Hurt etc), but added his own mix of classical and hard blues influences. I didn't always appreciate his aggressive twanging at the time (slapping the strings against the frets), and still find it a little OT sometimes. But it certainly made him stand out from the others, and contributed to his image of the sensitive but uncompromising outsider, the kind of unique persona that made him much more of an influence than his contemporaries. (That word "insouciant" sums up his image perfectly. Just the thing to appeal to adolescent boys everywhere. And girls too, apparently... DG did regard BJ as "playing to the crowd" in that sense, capitalising on a "cool" image, while he himself was a more conscientious "musician"...)

As for Paul Simon, that would have to have been the version best known in the US, and I'd say it's clearly based on Graham's original, not Jansch's version. Here in the UK, in my experience, it was Jansch's version that fired up the young guns in 60s folk clubs more than Graham's. (Few people took any notice of Simon's version, although we were aware of the nice playing and songs on his Songbook album of the time.) I remember DG as a somewhat aloof figure in those days, behind the scenes, while Jansch was a lot more visible, selling more records - largely thanks to being name-checked by folk pop star Donovan ('65/66).

[JonPR]

Here's Davy Graham's beautiful final chord (ignored by Jansch):

-4-
-5-
-5-
-4-
-0-
---

Am(maj13)?