[1] Graham was born in Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, England,[2][page needed][3] to a Guyanese mother, Winifred (known as Amanda) and a Scottish father, Hamish, a teacher from the Isle of Skye.

[citation needed] Some other musicians of note who have covered "Anji" are John Renbourn, Lillebjørn Nilsen, Gordon Giltrap, Clive Carroll and the anarchist group Chumbawamba, who used the guitar piece as a basis for their anti-war song "Jacob's Ladder (Not in My Name)".

[citation needed] Graham came to the attention of guitarists through his appearance in a 1959 broadcast of the BBC TV arts series Monitor, produced by Ken Russell and titled Hound Dogs and Bach Addicts: The Guitar Craze, in which he played an acoustic instrumental version of "Cry Me a River".

Large as Life and Twice as Natural includes his cover of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides, Now" alongside explorations of Eastern modes.

For several years he was on the executive council of Mind[10] and he was involved for some time with the mystic Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh).

[citation needed] He continued to play concerts, but dedicated the main thrust of his life to studying languages; he was fluent in Gaelic (taught by his native-speaking father),[5] French, and Greek and could hold his own in Turkish.

[12] Many people sought out Graham over the years and tried to encourage him to return to the stage to play live; the last of this long line of seekers was Mark Pavey,[citation needed] who arranged some outings with guitarists and old friends including Bert Jansch, Duck Baker and Martin Carthy.

[3] Graham did not seek or achieve great commercial success,[10][15] though his music received positive critical feedback and influenced folk revival artists and fellow players such as Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Martin Carthy, Ralph McTell, Wizz Jones, John Martyn, Nick Drake, Ritchie Blackmore, and Paul Simon, as well as folk rock bands such as Fairport Convention and Pentangle.

[citation needed] Though Graham is commonly referred to as a folk musician, the diversity of his music shows strong influences from many genres.

Graham then went on to experiment playing traditional folk pieces in DADGAD tuning, often incorporating Indian and Middle Eastern scales and melodies.

The tuning provides freedom to improvise in the treble, while maintaining a solid underlying harmony and rhythm in the bass—though it restricts the number of readily playable keys.