David Rea

David Rea first established his reputation through extensive work as a studio musician and composer. After relocating to Toronto at age 17, he performed and cut tracks alongside such Canadian figures as Gordon Lightfoot, Jesse Winchester, and Ian & Sylvia, the latter of whom recorded his compositions “Pilgrimage to Paradise” and “The Minstrel.” He also lent his distinctive fingerstyle guitar to sessions for Buffy Sainte-Marie, Tom Rush, Judy Collins, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and Doug Kershaw. Prompted by Joni Mitchell and Neil Young to focus on his own material, Rea reached a career high point when Mountain, the hard-rock outfit fronted by Leslie West and Felix Pappalardi, included three of his co-writes with Pappalardi—“Mississippi Queen,” “For Yasgur’s Farm,” and “Flowers of Evil”—on its recordings.

His first solo outing, the Pappalardi-produced Maverick Child, appeared in 1969 and positioned Rea as an emerging folk-pop artist. After completing his follow-up, By the Grace of God, he accepted an invitation to take Richard Thompson’s place in the British folk-rock group Fairport Convention, yet the stint lasted only two months before he returned to Canada.

Subsequent projects proved equally varied. Rea assisted Mike Seeger on the 1975 album The Second Annual Farewell Reunion and, the next year, staged the opera Emperor Norton with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Although he stepped back from the spotlight in the early 1980s to raise his children, he re-emerged in 1988 with a three-part Canadian Broadcasting Company series titled David Rea’s Robert Johnson, drawn from the bluesman’s life and songs, as well as the program Music Don’t Mind, which explored European and African influences on American music. The work earned him a Gabriel Award for broadcasting excellence.

Now based in Washington state, Rea has frequently collaborated in recent years with Native American flutist Sky Walkinstik-Man-Alone. His latest release, Shorty’s Ghost, came out on his own Gistu label in 1996.