Candy Man (RS#36)

There are a number of versions of this song. This particular one comes mainly, I think, from the singing of The Rev. Gary Davis (04/30/1896 — 05/05/1972), one of the great finger style guitar players of all time. Apparently Davis learned it around his home town of Spartanburg, SC around 1905 (he would have been like 9 or 10 years old at the time, so I wonder about that). Over the years, Davis influenced a lot of guitar players — some to the best, including David Bromberg and Yorma Kaukonen, to name a couple. They took lessons from him back in the early 1960’s and sometimes acted as a “roadie” assisting him getting to and from his gigs. Davis had a profound impact on the folk revival of the 1960’s. There is a version of this song by Mississippi John Hurt that is, frankly, a different song altogether. Hurt’s version is a little more racy than this one. Both this versions were songs that a lot of people learning guitar back in the 1960’s attempted to learn — in many cases note for note. I think I started playing this song after hearing Dave Van Ronk’s version in the 1970’s. Its a fun little tune to pick and play! Now, I’ve seen a number of definitions of the word “Candyman.” It usually has to do with a seedy character, like a drug dealer to a pimp. Likewise, I’ve seen a number of different definitions of “salty dog”. Those definitions range from men returning from sea looking for a good time on shore to prostitutes. So, just what is exactly going on in this song is not totally understood by me. But its a snappy little tune that I enjoy playing. I don’t think too much about what all the possible or “dirty” meanings associated with it. Apparently Davis played the song a lot but didn’t sing the lyrics very often because he felt they were sacrilegious. I’ve read that he recorded it 6 times, never playing it the same way twice. Like I stated earlier, I play it because its just a fun little song to play. I hope you enjoy listening to it. Key: C Instrument: Guitar Tuning: EADGBE NOTE This music video, and the above information, is offered for educational purposes only as I do not own the rights to this song.