John Fahey (Official Thread)

[Garrett]

I wanted to share my admiration for John Fahey....There are probably a few old Hippies here know and remember John and I`m sure there me be a few younger music fans who might like to know about this legendary musician.

In Memory of John Fahey! February 28, 1939 / Feb. 22, 2001

Born John Aloysius Fahey in Takoma Park, Maryland on February 28, 1939.

Ground breaking guitarist who's influence spread from the folk underground to the fringes of avant-garde rock. A true innovator and eccentric. John Fahey was an accomplished guitarist by his teens. He made his first album in 1959, ascribing part of it to "Blind Joe Death." He continued to make music and was a key influence on Leo Kottke, Peter Lang and George Winston along with other musicians. He was a writer (How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life, a memoir), a record label owner, recording artist and performer. He battled chronic fatigue syndrom, alcoholism and diabetes; dropping out of the music business and living homeless in Oregon. He had a short come back in the early 1990's before his death following by-pass surgery.

Discography:

1959 Blind Joe Death
1963 Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes
1964 The Dance of Death & Other Plantation Favorites
1965 The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death
1966 The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party & Other Excursions
1967 Days Have Gone By
1968 The Voice of the Turtle
1968 Requia Vanguard
1968 The Yellow Princess
1968 The New Possibility
1971 America (full version released in 1998)
1972 Of Rivers and Religion Reprise
1973 After the Ball
1973 Fare Forward Voyagers (Soldier's Choice)
1975 Old Fashioned Love
1975 Christmas with John Fahey Vol. II
1979 John Fahey Visits Washington D.C.
1980 Yes! Jesus Loves Me
1982 Christmas Guitar Volume I (A rerecording of The New Possibility)
1983 Railroad
1983 Popular Songs of Christmas & New Year's
1984 Let Go
1985 Rain Forests, Oceans and Other Themes
1986 Christmas Guitar
1987 I Remember Blind Joe Death
1989 God, Time and Causality
1991 The John Fahey Christmas Album
1992 Old Girlfriends and Other Horrible Memories
1996 Double 78
1997 City of Refuge
1997 The Mill Pond (Double EP)
1997 Womblife
1997 The Epiphany of Glenn Jones
2000 Hitomi
2002 John Fahey Trio, Vol. 1
2003 Red Cross


Source: johnfahey home














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[Garrett]

John Fahey / The Legend Of Blind Joe Death

This is John`s 1st album and it was released in 1959. It is a acoustic instrumental album, just John and his guitar.

1. "On Doing an Evil Deed Blues" 5:07
2. "St. Louis Blues" 4:53
3. "Poor Boy, Long Ways from Home" 3:12
4. "Uncloudy Day" 3:23
5. "John Henry" 3:20
6. "In Christ There Is No East or West" 2:21
7. "Desperate Man Blues" 4:05
8. "Sun Gonna Shine in My Back Door Someday Blues" 3:32
9. "Sligo River Blues" 3:05
10. "On Doing an Evil Deed Blues" 3:56

The Legend of Blind Joe Death 1959, '64, '67

A musicologist as well as a musician of singular stripe, John Fahey has been instrumental in the re-discovery of lost bluesmen such as Skip James and Bukka White during the late '50s. In 1959 he financed his own debut album, supposedly sharing billing with a certain Blind Joe Death, though nobody was taken in by such a gentle ruse. Only a handful of pressings were made. With a sweet of irony he was rediscovered himself a few years later and he re-recorded the same set of tunes first in 1964 and then again in 1967, in stereo. All three albums, chart his growth into a superlative acoustic guitar technician capable of blending elements of country, blues and ragtime into a style that in its spare, haunting beauty is uniquely his own.

~ Peter Kane ~

Reissued Track Listing:

1. On Doing an Evil Deed Blues
2. St. Louis Blues
3. Poor Boy, Long Ways from Home
4. Uncloudy Day
5. John Henry
6. In Christ There Is No East or West
7. Desperate Man Blues
8. Sun Gonna Shine in My Back Door Someday Blues
9. Sligo River Blues
10. On Doing an Evil Deed Blues
11. St. Louis Blues
12. Poor Boy, Long Ways from Home
13. Uncloudy Day
14. John Henry
15. In Christ There Is No East or West
16. Desperate Man Blues
17. Sun Gonna Shine in My Back Door Someday Blues
18. Sligo River Blues
19. I'm Gonna Do All I Can for My Lord
20. Transcendental Waterfall, The
21. West Coast Blues - (previously unreleased)





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