Not many people can say they played a song that invented a genre of music. Chuck berry did that. We would not have rock n roll without chuck berry. When i first heard chuck berry, i fell in love with that music and when i first saw him, i changed my career trajectory. I was going to be a computer programmer. Back then, computers were of course twice as big as this room. Or an espionage agent. Each one was pulling at me with equal force. I was immobilized and i was trying to figure out how to do both. Back then there was no way. Today you can through cyber espionage. Berry somewhere along the pathway as a kid and said, that is what i want to do. It was chuck berry and another fellow, and is presently, i saw him, too. Elvis presley. They had made millions upon millions of people happy with their music. They touched them without even knowing them. That fascinated me. I thought, i want to be able to bring joy to people whether i meet them or not. Brian what was the story of your first meeting with him . Daryl he came to the university of maryland. It was going to be chuck berry and Jerry Lee Lewis. I got there early, hoping i would be able to sneak in and meet him during rehearsal. Because i knew the promoter had to supply the backing band for him. The concert would not begin until 8 00 and i got a ride down there around noon. You know, like eight hours before showtime. The doors were open, people were bringing in equipment and speakers. Lights and things like that. I just walked on in. Nobody stopped me. There was no security there at that time. So i just hung out and stayed out of everybodys way. The band came and i moved over toward the stage, thinking that when he came for the sound check, i would be able to meet my idol. The band was very nervous. They had never worked with chuck berry before. They were down from new jersey to play with him. The sound check was at 2 00. They assumed he would be there around 2 00. 2 00 came and there was no chuck berry and they got more nervous. So they did the sound check and ran through some songs and sounded fantastic. The hours went by, still no chuck berry. They went on at the beginning of the show and did a short set. Then Jerry Lee Lewis came and i got to meet him. They came on the stage, still no chuck berry. 15 minutes before jerry lee finished, in walked chuck berry. He came in by himself. He walked right by me. I froze. It was a total shock. He went right by me and there was somebody standing down the hallway. He stopped and spoke with that person. That person pointed further down the hallway to a door. Chuck went inside the door. A few minutes later he came back out, walked by me again, back outside the backstage door and then returned with his guitar. In retrospect, what happened was , he went down to the promoters office to get paid up front, then he went and got his car. Guitar. He did not bring his guitar until he had money. He came over, the bandleader walked up to him. He is like taking his guitar out of the case. He said hi, my name is Bruce Springsteen, we are your backup band, we thought you were going to be here this afternoon. He said, no. You know, just totally oblivious. We ran through some of your songs, which ones are you going to play tonight . And chuck berry said, i think i will play some chuck berry. He went on stage and went right into it. No key, count off, nothing. And the band was right with them. This was 1972 or 1973. I was 15yearsold. April. Brian had anybody heard of Bruce Springsteen . Daryl no. Nobody outside of new jersey. Asbury park, new jersey. So the name did not mean , anything to me. Year or so later, he is on the cover of time magazine. It was like, wow. That is the same guy. Brian i want to show some video from 1997. If people look closely, they will see you at the piano. Lets watch this clip. Brian how did you end up on the stage . Daryl that is a funny story. Late night with David Letterman and i knew chuck was going to be on there. I called him and said, can i come up to new york and hang out with you . He said, all right. They let me in and said chuck berry was not there yet, but i could go to his dressing room or his waiting room. I went to his waiting room. Tony randall was in there and Roseanne Barr and a couple other people. Who were going to be on the show. David does like to separate tapings per night. So i went to checks dressing room and eventually he came. Chuck berrys dressing room and eventually, he came. We were just sitting there and then this producer walks in. He said, i have you slated to do rollr beethoven] over beethoven with Paul Schaefer on the piano. He said, this is my piano player. This is my piano player, darrell davis. Give him your Social Security number so you can get paid. I had not even planned on playing, i had just come to hang out. So i gave her my social and she was all flustered. I am a member of sagged and all sag andim a member of all that. She said, ok, i will talk with Paul Schaefer. Chuck berry said, i am going to play let it rock. She said, we have been rehearsing another song. Chuck said, i am going to do let it rock. So i went down there and there was Paul Schaefer. And, Paul Schaefer is not only one of the most talented musicians in this country, he is totally underrated. The guys a genius, just a topnotch musician. Not only is he one of the most talented musicians in this country, he is also one of the most nice. He had no problem with it whatsoever. I rehearsed the band on let it rock. He invited me to play with the band for the show. I said, thank you for the invitation. Around this time, they are probably saying, what in the world are they talking about. Do not normally talk music on the show. But there is more to the story. I want to go back to, how did you develop a relationship with chuck berry . Daryl people like chuck berry and buddy holly and Elvis Presley, bo diddly, these people were the pioneers of rock n roll. Back in the day, prior to rock n roll, musicals and concert venues were segregated, if they allowed black people in at all. There were signs hanging that would say, seating for white patrons only. Coloredwould say, seating only. The jim crow law was still in effect in the 1950s. If you and i are going to go see sinatra in the 1940s, we could not sit together. We would have to sit in designated seating sections according to the color of our skins. But two things happen. Of first was the invention rock n roll by people like chuck berry, little richard, bo diddly. The popularization of it. When white kids and black kids heard the new rhythm, they could not it still. The twiki with a backbeat to it. Woogie with the backbeat to it. They bounced out of their chairs and the next thing you know a were dancing together for the first time in the history of this country. So rock n roll brought white and black youth together through music. The same thing the great civil rights activist like Martin Luther king and many others, blackandwhite, would try to achieve through their marches, demonstrations, saidends, boycotts in efforts to bring white and black adults together. Check berry and Elvis Presley were achieving this through music. And that attracted me as well. Been ahow long had you musician . Daryl professionally . I graduated from howard university. I was playing slightly before that, during college. During my formative learning years, was kind of a late bloomer when it came to music. I started when i was 17 in high school, a junior. Brian i want to jump way out of context. There is a new documentary about you on netflix. It is called accidental it is called accidental courtesy. [begin video clip] this is an imperial wizard costume. If you look along the white cross, the black line and the two diagonal lines for a k form a k. So you see four of them essentially. And, it stands for knights of the ku klux klan. They say, burn it. But, no. As shameful as it is, this is a part of american history. Do not burn our history, regardless. The kkk is as american as apple pie and the chevrolet. Daryl a book came out in 1997 called klandestine relationships. I went around the country interviewing leaders and klan members. Based on an experience i had when i was a child. When i was a kid i had a racist incident. People threw rocks and bottles at me. I did not understand why i was a target. Then when racism was explained to me, i could not accept it. I had never heard of it. I could not accept racism. I could not get my head around the idea that someone who had never spoken to me and knew nothing about me would want to hurt me for no other reason than the color of my skin. I formed the question at the age of 10 in 1968, which was, how can you hate me when you do not even know me . I have been seeking that answer for the next 49 years. I have bought books on white and black supremacy. I have been looking for the answer in the books and i could not find it. So, and my adult life i figured, someoneo better than who would join an organization that is reputed to believe that somebody elses inferior who does not look like them or believe as they believe based on the color of their skin. Out decided i would seek klan members and ask them to answer the question and then i would get my answer. So the book came out. But this was the first book by a black author on the ku klux klan. With face to face interviews. Andhat produced interest different producers of documentaries began contacting me, wanting to do a documentary on the book. So we decided on these particular producers and this was the product of which you just showed a clip. Brian who was the first member of the kkk that you met and how did you do it . Daryl the first one i met was a pretty negative and counter. It ended up in violence. But the first one i sat down to interview was the leader of the kkk in maryland. The state leader is known as a grand dragon. He oversaw the entire state. The national guy who oversees all of the states is known as the empirial wizard. The grand dragons name was roger kelly. He went from grand dragon to an imperial wizard. That is who i met. His name was roger kelly. I acquired his phone number. Brian how did you meet . Daryl the person who gave the phone number to me warned me not to fall with roger kelly. I wanted to sit down with him and talk with him. So that was not going to deter me. But i wanted to make it so i did not jinx myself. I had my secretary call him. I figured if i called him he might tell for my voice that i am black. The process would have ended before it started. So i knew that if she called him, he would automatically know in her voice that it was a white lady. You would not automatically assume that this white lady was working for a black man, especially a black man who was writing a book on the ku klux klan. So, she called him. I had told her, do not tell him that i am black unless he asks. If he asks, do not lie to him. When he sees me he can make up his mind whether he wants to talk to me or not. If i am going to meet him i wanted it to be spontaneous. If he agreed knowing i was black, i did not want him to have different answers for a white interviewer than for a black interviewer. She called and spoke with him and he agreed to meet with me and did not ask what color i was. Brian what was his reaction . Daryl we had it set up for a hotel room. When he showed up we were already in the room. I had a bucket of ice with soda there and i offered him a beverage. He showed up with his bodyguard. A nighthawk. A bodyguard for the imperial dragon. So the bodyguard walked in first and was wearing military camouflage. And the initials kkk on his chest. Imported across his beret on his head was knights of the ku klux klan. He had a semi automatic handgun in a holster. He came in and was followed right behind by roger kelly, the grand dragon and a dark blue suit and tie. When i walked into the room and turned the corner, he just froze. Bumped into his back because the guy stopped short. They regain their balance, looking all around the room. What they were thinking. Either the desk clerk gave them the wrong number were this was a for this was a setup. Displayt like this to that there was nothing in my hand. I stood up and approached them and said come on in. He looked at me and shook my hand. I thought, so far so good. I asked him to have a seat. He sat down and asked me for i. D. And i gave it to him. Then we proceeded with the interview. Now, i had a bag beside me, i had a copy of the bible because the ku klux klan claim to to be a Christian Organization and they also claim that the eyeball preaches racial separation. Now, and my reading of the bible i have never seen that in there. So i wanted to be able to pull up my bible and say, please show me chapter and verse where it says and whites should be separated. Blacks and whites should be separated. I also had a cassette player to record my interview. We began talking. He let me know that i was inferior because i was black. He said black people have smaller brains and we are basically inclined to be lazy and uneducated. Things like that, you know, all of the stereotypes. Brian what was the physical reaction to that . Having him sitting across from you. Daryl it was interesting, he was wearing a suit and tie. I know who i am and i am confident in who i am. So that was not going to throw me. I was expecting stuff like that. Because, you know, i had read klanf these books on the already. And i thought, how can he hate it when he does not know me and has not even given me a chance to express myself and know my earrings. Brian what happened to that relationship . Daryl we became the best of friends eventually. . Rian what does that mean daryl it means we hung out and went to dinner. Eventually. Over time. There was an incident that happened in the room that was a teaching moment. I will not say it was a learning moment. Every time i would reach down to pull out a fresh cassette or pull out the bible or something, the nighthawk would reach up. Because he did not know what was in my bag. Eventually he realized there was no threat in the bag and he relaxed. A little later on in the interview there was a strange noise in the room and we all jump. And i just knew that mr. Kelly had made the noise. Because i did not make it. Andrceived it to be ominous threatening and i could hear a voice in my head. I was ready to attack. You know, my eyes locked with his eyes. What did youe, just do . I did not say that but his have locked with mine. I could read the expression in his eyes which was saying, what did you just do . And, the nighthawk was looking back and forth between us like, what did one of the two of you just do . And my secretary was to my left sitting on top of the dresser. She realized what had happened. The ice in the bucket had melted and the cans of soda had shifted and that is what had made the noise. We all began laughing at how ignorant we had been. The teaching moment was this all because some foreign entity foreignght the word of which we were ignorant, the bucket of ice, entered into our comfort zone via the noise it made. Was, ignorance breeds fear. If you do not keep the fear in check, it will breed hatred. If you do not keep hatred in check, hatred will breed destruction. Brian documentary accidental , can we buy it if we do not have netflix . Daryl yes. You can buy it on itunes. Brian here is somebody who kicked back at you from your own race. Lets watch. [begin video clip] you believe nobody can change . No, i believe you believe the wrong people can change. You are going to their houses. White supremacists cannot change. You aint doing nothing but collecting something. You are nothing but a you are nothing but ignorant. [end video clip] brian who was that and where was it done . Daryl that guy is my friend now and he is an activist with black lives matter. That was about a year ago. Another gentleman was there. We had dinner together about a month ago and all of those differences have been resolved. He was not fully aware of what i do and how i do it. He had received Bad Information. Prior to that scene, i had met him outside the bar where that interview took place. The first thing he said to be was, i understand you are the first black member of the kkk. So that right there was his mindset. Of course, if there were black members of the kkk, it would not be the kkk. He had Bad Information and was acting upon that without getting the back story. Now that we have gotten together and talked, we are friends and we have agreed to Work Together to fight the disease of racism. Brian what kind of family did you grow up in . I spent aily lot of time overseas in various countries, my parents were foreign service. I was an American Embassy brat. I have been in 53 Different Countries on six continents. Brian what difference do you think it made for you that you saw other worlds . Daryl it made a world of difference. Because i was exposed early on to many different cultures, ethnicities, nationalities, traditions. All of that shaped who i became. I saw people from all over the world getting along with each other. When i was in grade school overseas, i would be there for two years or two months, another country. When i was a kid in the 1960s, my classes were filled with kids from all over. Nigeria, italy, russia, germany. The embassy of those countries, the kids went to the same school. That is how i grew up. If you were to peek into my classroom door, you would say it looked like a United Nations of little kids. Here in myio was not own country, and the united states. When i returned, i would either be in a newly integrated or a segregated school. I would be surrounded by all black people or black and white people. Today, when you walk into a school classroom, you see what i saw. Livingk then, i was 1215 years ahead of my time. More from accidental courtesy, this is a discussion you have with a man named robert white. [video clip] he went on to become a good friend of mine. Why would you go to his wedding if you do not believe in the mixing of races . I will attend his wedding if he wants me there because it is daryl. As a result of our friendship, he left the ku klux klan. Is his jacket. Baltimore city Police Officer. Brian where is he today . Daryl he passed away in 2007. Brian how did he come your friend . Lion he was in prison when i first contacted him. I wanted to interview him for my book. We had a correspondence, he did not know i was black. He was vehemently racist. A very vicious and violent man. Shortly before he got out of prison, he found out i was black. He had some of his people check me out. He was all