John Fahey
John Fahey is the man who introduced the stream of consciousness into folk music, and turned folk music into classical music, and then made it cross the boundaries of western and eastern music. The spiritual father of the "american primitive guitar", Fahey turned the guitar solo into a metaphysical exercise.
John Fahey is the man who introduced the stream of consciousness into folk music, and turned folk music into classical music, and then made it cross the boundaries of western and eastern music. The spiritual father of the "american primitive guitar", Fahey turned the guitar solo into a metaphysical exercise.
1978 Live At Audimax Hamburg
Shot live for TV by the legendary German music show "Rockpalast," this DVD represents the earliest example of a complete John Fahey concert performance, given on March 17, 1978. The multi-camera filming features detailed close-ups of Fahey's playing style, giving Fahey fans a rare insight into what Pete Townshend has called the William Burroughs of the guitar. Fahey's 1978 visit to Europe saw him in fine wild form, performing an 10-track set and, as an incredibly rare bonus, a short interv…
Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You
Subtitled: The Fonotone Years 1958-1965. More than 10 years in the making, this box set features the earliest recordings and the first book ever written about one of the most influential guitarists from the 1960s and '70s, John Fahey. The five CDs feature 115 tracks, most of which are available on CD for the first time. The audio was remastered from Joe Bussard's reel-to-reel tapes to achieve pristine sound quality. As for the accompanying book, the list of scholars who contributed essays includ…
America
Originally released in 1971, this is one of the artistic high points of his career. And yet, for nearly 30 years it was not heard in its entirety, as what was originally intended as a double album was pared down to a single LP. Now, thanks to 4 Men With Beards, the complete double album is available on vinyl for the first time
How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life
2009 reprint, originally published in 2000. John Fahey is feared and revered around the world as a guitar player and composer. His inventions for acoustic and electric strings are the stuff of legend. Since he began recording in Maryland in the late 1950s, Mr. Fahey's access to the unknown tongue has been made manifest on over 30 albums, and his presence has unsettled audiences from here to Tasmania. He has served as a spiritual model for guitarists as disparate as Leo Kottke and Thurston Moore.…
Of Rivers And Religions & After The Ball
This German Warner Bros. reissue is a nice repackaging of the late John Fahey's 1972 album Of Rivers Religion and his wonderfully genteel 1973 release After the Ball from his all too brief sojourn with the label. These recordings represent a shift for Fahey, playing both solo and with an ensemble. On Of Rivers Religion, the ensemble included many of the New Orleans players who performed on Walt Disney's Song of the South film soundtrack. Gorgeous, slow, ringing slide and fingerplucked tones esta…
Best Of Fahey V2 1964-83
this now deleted compilation concentrates on Fahey’s best work from his later years(1964-83) at Takoma, presenting many tracks new to CD. Also included are three tunes from his long-lost and unreleased Takoma album, "Azalea City Memories", as well as a long work, ‘The Fahey Sampler’, rare and unheard for many years
The Best Of John Fahey: 1959-1977
long deleted album by John Fahey, simply one of the most original & expressive guitarists ever, created the "American Primitive Guitar" genre w/his 1st Takoma Records release in 1959. This new comp concentrates on his best work from his later yrs at Takoma, much never available on CD. Also included are 3 tunes from his long-lost & unreleased album "Azalea City Memories," as well as a long work "They Fahey Sampler" rare & unheard for many yrs
Live in Tasmania
The only legally issued live recording by John Fahey came about through an unusual set of circumstances in 1980. Allegedly Fahey was touring Australia and decided on the spur of an inebriated moment that he wanted to play in Tasmania. A hall was booked at Hobart University, an audience rounded up, and the resulting show was recorded. There was no sound check and a large part of the concert was performed for the first time or improvised on the spot. It is quite possible that the audience had prob…
Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes
Opening with the incredible 'Sunflower River Blues' (covered recently by Jack Rose) this is easily one my favourite of Fahey's albums. It's by no means the best, or the most technically accomplished, but as an enjoyable piece of music from beginning to end, this just does it for me. This particular cd collects tracks from both the 1963 session and the 1967 session of the album, and it's interesting to hear the differences between the recordings. In four years Fahey's outlook changed a lot, so ra…
Days Have Gone By
Every decade John Fahey's work creates a wave of followers all trying to fuse acoustic blues with the Indian and Western classical traditions. What most of them miss when studying their hero's albums is his knack for crafting wonderfully infectious tunes. Sure, Fahey is totally avant garde, as he descends into esoteric tunings and maze-like picking. But that never prevents an album like 1967's Days Have Gone By from making listeners hum, clap and whistle along. This is folk music, after all.
The Mill Pond EP & Collected Paintings
The Mill Pond was originally released in 1997 as a double 7' that went immediately out of print. For it's 10th aniversary we're issuing it on compact disc housed in a deluxe letterpressed jacket and including an extensive booklet collecting John Fahey's paintings for the very first time. Limited edition. The Mill Pond is all over the place stylistically, so it should confuse those who try to pigeonhole Fahey into any one category. The Mill Pond further proves that there is only one category into…
Sea Changes & Coelacanths
Subtitled: A Young Person's Guide to John Fahey. This compiles Fahey's earlier releases for TOE: 1997's Womblife and the live followup Georgia Stomps, Atlanta Struts; plus the Hard Time Empty Bottle Blues 12" (all o/p as individual releases at this point). In the 43 years between his first recordings and his death in 2001, John Fahey stomped across the American soundscape, leaving behind footprints of influence so breathtakingly vast that entire genres now huddle within them. Fahey's mesmeric gu…
The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick - Live 1969
Live at the Matrix, SF 1968/69. "One of acoustic music's true innovators and eccentrics drawing from blues, Native American music, Indian ragas, experimental dissonance, and pop, John Fahey was living in Berkeley, California in the late Sixties when this set at San Francisco's legendary Matrix club was recorded. Drawing the best material from his two sets at the club that night, The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick shows the influential fingerpicker at the height of his prodigious technique. Deluxe…