There may be at least one more John Fahey on Amazon, who writes about Indians and Australian outlaws---but could be our guy, who had a lot of interests, especially ornery ones.
― dow, Thursday, 24 June 2021 21:39 (two years ago) link
He didn't "write" that guitar anthology per se, the transcriptions are by someone else (but very accurate as far as I could determine).
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 24 June 2021 21:46 (two years ago) link
Well, it does say (Artist) here, (Author) on previous. Glad to know they're accurate, esp. in case I ever venture into such gtr. pursuits (yeah, right, but still)
― dow, Thursday, 24 June 2021 21:50 (two years ago) link
gene rosenthal of adelphi records in a fahey FB group sez he licensed only some footage from that mississippi blues fest to fat possum and there is much more to come. at least that's what i think he's saying, he's a v weird dude
The ONLY film footage that we/I (Adelphi) transferred to Fat Possum for production/release was STRICTLY and ONLY a "one time deal" for the Memphis Country Blues Festival Film Footage period. Still wholly owned in the Adelphi Film Vaults is over 60,000 feet (roughly 40 hours) of 16mm color/sound sync Blues Footage of everyone from and including Big Joe Wms, Johnny Shines, Honeyboy Edwards, Henry Townsend, BukkaWhite, Furry Lewis, RL Burnside, Hacksaw Harney, Henry Brown, George& Ethyl McCoy, Blind Arvella Grey, and dozens of others too numerous to mention here. Our (on-going, almost completed) John Fahey Adelphi project is (Still) comprised of and scheduled for release as a 1 DVD plus 4 CD Box set package w/a simultaneous release package of 1 DVD plus 8 Vinyl LPs package Both with fully illustrated Book/Booklets. That's as far as I'm allowing you to draw me out at this time old friend. In exchange for this scoop won't you please lean on Lulu or advise me of a definite alternative source? What say? -- GR
― global tetrahedron, Thursday, 7 April 2022 14:10 (two years ago) link
People you didn’t know were still alive. Rerelease your jazz records Gene!!
― Otto Insurance (Boring, Maryland), Thursday, 7 April 2022 15:31 (two years ago) link
Speaking of books:How Bluegrass Destroyed My Life also available in print editions here:https://www.amazon.com/How-Bluegrass-Music-Destroyed-Life-ebook/dp/B07H5L4GXR/ref=pd_sbs_sccl_1/134-5000920-6048904?pd_rd_w=ITBWO&pf_rd_p=dfec2022-428d-4b18-a6d4-8f791333a139&pf_rd_r=1BQN6WYZ0A9JEX2RRTND&pd_rd_r=8a7efa42-e1ca-468b-98e4-73e022107e74&pd_rd_wg=rxHBT&pd_rd_i=B07H5L4GXR&psc=1
― dow, Thursday, 7 April 2022 17:41 (two years ago) link
People you didn’t know were still alive.Rerelease your jazz records Gene!!― Otto Insurance (Boring, Maryland), Thursday, April 7, 2022 10:31 AM (seven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
always worth recounting the incredible display this guy unleashed at the fahey fest that UMS and i got to witness in 2018
Gene Rosenthal of Adelphi Records got kicked out of the panel discussion, Glenn Jones told him to shut the fuck up― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, April 14, 2018 12:27 PM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, April 14, 2018 12:27 PM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink
So Rosenthal had placards written that said "Contemporary Guitar" which he held up when any one said American Primitive, then "Bullshit" and "Opinion" when ppl said something he didn't agree withWas warned several times from stage, Glenn said Gene you're a pain in the ass and I wish you weren't here. Peter Lang stepped in to explain that Gene was a friend but was asking him to stop, then he wouldn't and got escorted out and held up a sign that said MORONIC on his way out― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, April 14, 2018 1:18 PM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink
Was warned several times from stage, Glenn said Gene you're a pain in the ass and I wish you weren't here. Peter Lang stepped in to explain that Gene was a friend but was asking him to stop, then he wouldn't and got escorted out and held up a sign that said MORONIC on his way out
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, April 14, 2018 1:18 PM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink
I think the dude was mad he wasn't in the panel. It was pretty clear Glenn and the other organizers were expecting it― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, April 14, 2018 2:08 PM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, April 14, 2018 2:08 PM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink
― global tetrahedron, Thursday, 7 April 2022 23:25 (two years ago) link
To be fair the term “American Primitive“ sucks so bad. It’s a total 00s the Wire thing like ”Fire Music” and “New Weird America”. Joe Bussard and Gene Rosenthal should do a double act. Maryland weirdos are the only true weirdos.
― Otto Insurance (Boring, Maryland), Friday, 8 April 2022 01:04 (two years ago) link
With Glenn now!
― Evan, Friday, 8 April 2022 01:22 (two years ago) link
"Acid Folk" still sounds right, no lie---in that I can still see thee guy with curtains of hair being closed by beard---because even fewer teeth now---hunched over his guitar and looking at me---he's---still---fingerpicking
― dow, Friday, 8 April 2022 01:50 (two years ago) link
You know?
really digging Hitomi right now, the way he uses delay and echo
― Perverted By Linguiça (sleeve), Thursday, 20 April 2023 03:43 (one year ago) link
Hitomi & Red Cross are the best of the later material IMO. Hitomi might have a slight edge but I love both a lot.
― ian, Thursday, 20 April 2023 14:48 (one year ago) link
is Fahey even playing on that noisy side 4 track, the first one?
― Perverted By Linguiça (sleeve), Thursday, 20 April 2023 14:51 (one year ago) link
"A History Of Tokyo Rail TractionFeaturing – Rob Scrivener*, Tim Knight"
― Perverted By Linguiça (sleeve), Thursday, 20 April 2023 14:52 (one year ago) link
I don't remember where I read it, but I remember an anecdote that John was very enthusiastic about his 1997 collaboration with Jim O'Rourke ("Womblife") until John heard "Bad Timing", released the same month, and John called Jim up, upset, saying it was unfair that Jim would make and release a "better record" than the one they'd just made together. I don't remember where I read that! I think it must've been in that very-long MOJO obit article about John's final tour
― the banshees of ed sheeran (flamboyant goon tie included), Thursday, 20 April 2023 15:43 (one year ago) link
Oh wow, that is an interesting tidbit. I mean, so many people could lob that at O'Rourke hah hah. "Why is the record you helped me with not as good as the one under your own name?" A fairly long list there.
― grandavis, Thursday, 20 April 2023 16:59 (one year ago) link
haha, i imagine that if O'Rourke had presented Fahey with the concept for Bad Timing, John would've been like "ehhh that sucks."
― tylerw, Thursday, 20 April 2023 17:11 (one year ago) link
I'm pretty sure it was the MOJO article, I think the verb used was "John whined". That article was working to portray Fahey's final years/months as rather pathetic, I remember crying in the CD store as I read the article from the issue off the shelf. I wish the article was online. As I recall, a Texas lawyer-slash-fingerpicker decided to set up a tour for himself and John Fahey, tracked John down, John was living in his car, there were half-eaten rotten hamburgers in the back seat, the tour was booked, the lawyer was not-a-great-guitarist but Fahey was worse at that time. I read it not knowing that Fahey had died and so the information that he had done so came as a twist and I started crying at age 21 in the store. I'd been learning guitar for three years at that point and everything I'd taught myself was either John Fahey or Nick Drake. I'd had tickets to see him in Toronto but the gig was cancelled and I didn't know why.
― the banshees of ed sheeran (flamboyant goon tie included), Thursday, 20 April 2023 17:23 (one year ago) link
I always wondered how much of his late period experimentalism was masking an inability to play like he used to
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 20 April 2023 17:25 (one year ago) link
I always heard it as him using his obvious limitations as a springboard for new ideas, which sounds prettier than "his skill had declined considerably so this was the best he could do," but yeah. I really love Red Cross. There's no other record that sounds anything remotely like it.
― Paul Ponzi, Thursday, 20 April 2023 17:39 (one year ago) link
using his obvious limitations as a springboard for new ideas
100% agree w/this
― Perverted By Linguiça (sleeve), Thursday, 20 April 2023 18:51 (one year ago) link
in 1998, Fahey opened for John Hammond at tramps in Chelsea, my only time seeing him. Fahey's indie cred as you guys all know was then and has been since off the charts, whereas Hammond's was then and is now nil. And yet there were not that many guys like me there…thurston was there, unsurprisingly, but overwhelmingly it was blues bores who went to tramps for Walter Wolfman Washington and otherwise were more likely to go to the Bottom line to see Hammond on a double bill with Kenny Rankin or some shit…
Fahey shambled onstage with a Strat, sat down next to an amp, plugged in, and thenceforth seemed to be completely unfamiliar with not only how to play an electric guitar but, more importantly, the basics of how you manage playing an electric guitar through an amplifier. He plinked away feebly, while the amp fed back, and not in any way that you would say "that's such a fucking great noise, goddamn!" It was pitiful. He kemp complaining that it was the soundman's fault, "doesn't anybody know what they're doing here," and a tech came onstage to help him, but there was no question exactly who in that room didn't know what they were doing.
Has anybody ever encountered steve Weitzman, the guy who booked and ran Tramps and later the Village Underground? A true new york character…
― veronica moser, Friday, 21 April 2023 14:55 (one year ago) link
― veronica moser, Friday, April 21, 2023 10:55 AM (sixteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
I must say that very late period Fahey always had me wondering whether it was the perfect example of someone whose brand is so strong in the experimental scene that they can get away with almost anything. "Has he totally lost it or is he exploring a new approach" can be applied to almost all avant-garde art out of context. An artist's credentials both support and contradict either side of the debate so there's never an easy answer.
― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Friday, 21 April 2023 16:03 (one year ago) link
what are the chances this will be good?
https://www.strandedrecords.com/collections/drag-city/products/john-fahey-proofs-refutations-lp
― Paul Ponzi, Sunday, 4 June 2023 00:54 (eleven months ago) link
maybe like 83%, more if you like his late work?
― ian, Sunday, 4 June 2023 01:01 (eleven months ago) link
I like the album with Cul de Sac from 1997, but suspect this could be rather dire.
― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 4 June 2023 09:48 (eleven months ago) link
Fahey shambled onstage with a Strat, sat down next to an amp, plugged in, and thenceforth seemed to be completely unfamiliar with not only how to play an electric guitar but, more importantly, the basics of how you manage playing an electric guitar through an amplifier. He plinked away feebly, while the amp fed back, and not in any way that you would say "that's such a fucking great noise, goddamn!" It was pitiful. He kemp complaining that it was the soundman's fault, "doesn't anybody know what they're doing here," and a tech came onstage to help him, but there was no question exactly who in that room didn't know what they were doing.― veronica moser, Friday, April 21, 2023 10:55 AM (sixteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglinkI must say that very late period Fahey always had me wondering whether it was the perfect example of someone whose brand is so strong in the experimental scene that they can get away with almost anything. "Has he totally lost it or is he exploring a new approach" can be applied to almost all avant-garde art out of context. An artist's credentials both support and contradict either side of the debate so there's never an easy answer.
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 14 June 2023 12:30 (eleven months ago) link
*clearing*
― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 15 June 2023 03:34 (eleven months ago) link
That would be hilarious if that were true, but it's too silly to seriously consider...
(O'Rourke pushes Fahey onto stage)
Jim: "Now do it the way like we talked about, m'kay?"
John: "But I still don't fully understand... are you sure today's serious music fan prefers it? I mean I can play all of my classic piec-"
Jim: "NO! ...sorry, no, John - I explained this already. When you play like this 'intentionally' it's actually good and challenging and forward thinking, ok? They will stroke their chins and respect you again for your fresh perspective on ~what music is~ so late in your career. This will cement your legacy. This type of audience is offended by "greatest hits" pandering, do you understand? Give me the acoustic."
John: "But..."
Jim: "Now. Hand it to me. ...thank you. See, not so hard right? You got this buddy!"
John: "You know, someone told me you were making an acoustic album that apparently sounded a lot like mi-"
Jim: "SSSSHHH JohnJohnJohnJohn go on stage now we can talk about this later. Everyone's waiting"
(John walks on stage and Jim runs around into the back of the audience. John starts playing)
Jim (whispering to random audience members one by one): "Boy, I thought this guy was supposed to be a 'seminal' guitar player... what happened, right? Hey I heard this other guy is about to put out an album that blows this washed up hack out of the water, you should check it out. Here's my- I mean his flyer about it. It's got the release date and everything. Boy am I excited to hear THAT, right?"
Audience member: "It says right here: 'Way better than legend John Fahey?'"
Jim: "Wow that's bold right? Man, that sounds great. Wow."
(Jim then makes eye contact and gives a thumbs up to John as he hesitantly un-tunes an electric on stage)
― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Thursday, 15 June 2023 14:05 (eleven months ago) link
lololol A+
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Thursday, 15 June 2023 15:18 (eleven months ago) link
hahahaha
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 15 June 2023 15:19 (eleven months ago) link
lol it only took 17 years, but we finally cracked the case of why john fahey is so boring ... it was jim o'rourke's fault!
― tylerw, Thursday, 15 June 2023 15:53 (eleven months ago) link
Ha, that’s brilliant. Yeah, as I said, it wasn’t a fair assessment on my part. Jim O may have been guilty of many sins—including luring a lot of his heroes out of retirement in the mid-90s to make boring, kind of similar sounding records—but tanking those releases to make his own music sound better isn’t one of them.
― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 15 June 2023 20:00 (eleven months ago) link
I believe in Dance of Death it was intimated that Fahey, due to health issues, wasn't capable of playing his old material very well at that point.
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 15 June 2023 21:35 (eleven months ago) link
More on xpost Proofs and Refutations---from Drag City, so adjust your shades and brains accordingly---at least they start with a track (hearable via several links, but I'll go w this)https://thejohnfahey.bandcamp.com/track/evening-not-night-pt-2
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3766545716_10.jpg
Recorded in 1995 and 1996, mostly in John Fahey’s room at a Salem, Oregon boardinghouse, the performances on Proofs and Refutations prefigure the ornery turn of the page that marked Fahey’s final years, drawing another enigmatic rabbit from his seemingly bottomless musical hat.Right out of the gate, Fahey re-materializes before us, somewhere between Oracle of Delphi and Clown Prince at Olympus. Portions of this material appeared on obscure late ‘90s vinyl in the 7” or double-78 rpm format, but as a “session” it has lain dormant more than a quarter century now. Taken together, we can now see these tracks as secret blueprints to latter-day Fahey provocations, several years prior to records like 1997’s City of Refuge and Womblife. Proofs and Refutations is cloaked in the language of dogma -– what is he proving? refuting? –- this is Fahey dancing a jig in the Duchampian gap, jester cap bells a-jingling. True believers? He’s got something for you: an uncompromising vision that you can sneer at or embrace as evidence of his genius. Skeptics? He’s there with you, too: sending up the fallacy of certitudes altogether. Institutions, systems, accepted wisdom. Heroes. Alternative facts, indeed.Atop lost and found plucks and pickings from the final decade of Fahey’s legendary career sits "Evening, Not Night (Pt. 2)"– sounding as ruthlessly iconoclastic as ever. Here, he wrestles the ghost of Skip James, perhaps to finally force the “bitter, hateful old creep” (his words) back into the grave. He plays with a sense of freedom, aiming for the formative mists beyond the piece at hand, and finding them with ease, in an expansive, unhurried performance.Proofs and Refutations will be available on LP/digitally on September 8th.John Fahey Online: Drag City -https://www.dragcity.com/artists/john-faheyPre Order -https://www.dragcity.com/products/proofs-refutationsStream "Evening, Not Night (Pt. 2)”-http://lnk.to/proofsandrefutations
Right out of the gate, Fahey re-materializes before us, somewhere between Oracle of Delphi and Clown Prince at Olympus. Portions of this material appeared on obscure late ‘90s vinyl in the 7” or double-78 rpm format, but as a “session” it has lain dormant more than a quarter century now. Taken together, we can now see these tracks as secret blueprints to latter-day Fahey provocations, several years prior to records like 1997’s City of Refuge and Womblife. Proofs and Refutations is cloaked in the language of dogma -– what is he proving? refuting? –- this is Fahey dancing a jig in the Duchampian gap, jester cap bells a-jingling. True believers? He’s got something for you: an uncompromising vision that you can sneer at or embrace as evidence of his genius. Skeptics? He’s there with you, too: sending up the fallacy of certitudes altogether. Institutions, systems, accepted wisdom. Heroes. Alternative facts, indeed.
Atop lost and found plucks and pickings from the final decade of Fahey’s legendary career sits "Evening, Not Night (Pt. 2)"– sounding as ruthlessly iconoclastic as ever. Here, he wrestles the ghost of Skip James, perhaps to finally force the “bitter, hateful old creep” (his words) back into the grave. He plays with a sense of freedom, aiming for the formative mists beyond the piece at hand, and finding them with ease, in an expansive, unhurried performance.
Proofs and Refutations will be available on LP/digitally on September 8th.
John Fahey Online:
Drag City -https://www.dragcity.com/artists/john-fahey
Pre Order -https://www.dragcity.com/products/proofs-refutations
Stream "Evening, Not Night (Pt. 2)”-http://lnk.to/proofsandrefutations
― dow, Friday, 30 June 2023 18:18 (ten months ago) link
ah so it's basically a reissue of The Mill Pond 2x7", I actually like his noise pieces esp those on City Of Refuge
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Friday, 30 June 2023 18:29 (ten months ago) link
When do the lost ‘77 sessions get their proper release? I can’t remember what the story was with them but at least one track was issued on Red Cross.
― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 11 July 2023 12:43 (ten months ago) link
https://freshairarchive.org/guests/john-fahey
???
whoa, weird
― global tetrahedron, Monday, 13 November 2023 16:29 (six months ago) link
👀👀
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Monday, 13 November 2023 20:10 (six months ago) link
Ok, he is so wrong about the SF Symphony. At time of this interview the new symphony hall was less than one month from opening (due to the $5M gift from Louise Davies), but the symphony itself absolutely existed, sharing space with the opera/ballet at War Memorial. But with John I suspect facts are more of an illusion.
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Monday, 13 November 2023 23:59 (six months ago) link
the transfiguration of terry gross
― tylerw, Tuesday, 14 November 2023 19:36 (six months ago) link
I Remember Blind Daniel Schur
― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 21 November 2023 01:18 (six months ago) link
wow, anyone heard this Finland-only release from 1968?
https://www.discogs.com/release/12204209-John-Fahey-Finlandia
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Sunday, 26 November 2023 22:00 (five months ago) link