Why is John Fahey So Boring?

it is about the "wrong" notes.

Count yourself lucky JF didn't fall asleep himself

this sounds like something fahey might have written in his own liner notes.

and OK, I know Elizabeth Cotten's name from that Moaners CD that came out last year, but apart from that I know nothing about her.

-- cancer prone fat guy (wt...), January 10th, 2006

what is?

Elizabeth Cotton was adorable - check out the audience participation on her live CD on Arhoolie.

And I personally know of no remedy for falling out of love with the music of Fahey, or any other musician, for that matter. Sorry. (Why'd you like him in the first place?)

Because he was hip for a while perhaps?

When I liked him I was a stupid young person who didn't know shit about music, like many of you. Now I am slightly less stupid and know three things about music, one of them being that John Fahey, like Minimalism, is boring. What's so interesting and hip about a guy who plays repetitious music like he's got no soul? He's a defanged, emasculated, sterile copycat of MS John Hurt. John Fahey Is Boring.

Oh, and thanks for posting Fahey's own words. What a bag of hot air. Thank god he's dead!

Fahey produced an impressive variety of stuff and my feelings about it vary. If I'm not in the mood for Hitomi maybe I want to hear his dixieland stuff, or A Raga Called Pat, or The Oregon Capital Inn blah blah - he did a lot of different stuff! Seriously! And yet, maybe this is all my imaginings and projections, but I can sense the same determination behind it, the clear-headed, straight up emotionality and that killer sense of humour. Even (especially) with his writing. More than any one of his styles, or his status as an innovator or whatever, I'm mostly in love with the wonderful personality I feel behind it all. And when I listen to Sun Gonna Shine In My Backdoor Someday Blues I'm not listening to, as he describes it, a bitonal piece played in a John Hurt, ragtime finger-picking pattern style, I'm listening to... I don't know, something much trickier to word. More than any other music I feel this with Fahey. When I first heard him just after I turned 18 I was blown away by how ridiculously intuitive it seemed - it was so obvious, I couldn't believe I ever bothered with other music.

A lot of what's written about Fahey to convince you of his IMPORTANCE talks about how he was the first to do X or an exciting blend of country blues, 20th century classical, indian classical... blah blah. To me at least, it doesn't sound like that and it wouldn't be nearly as interesting if it did. All that seems incidental. The way I hear it (and I appreciate the subjectivity of all this), Fahey is trying to get to SOMETHING and all the technical details are just his way of getting to it. I guess that's it anyway, it's why I feel the same sorts of things listening to such a diverse range of music. It's not the language he's developed, but what he's saying with it.

I'm so fucking proud of throwing that rock into the pond.

Those little waves just marched around in their own order, but in no way that anyone could have predicted.

Even though the pond got back to equilibrium in about 10 seconds, I have to say that, for a small while, I was fucking make waves in that pond. I threw the rock, the waves happened, they ended, and it was because of me.

Fuck you, pond. I would never hesitate to throw another rock in you.

And Leo Kotke rules so watch it, pals.

-- Dom iNut (do...), January 10th, 2006.

By the way, that's really beautiful.

I'm no one to define soul, and I'm not defending John Fahey, but isn't repetitious music (chanting, drone, prayers, etc.) used all around the world in order for an individual to get in touch with their soul, subconcious, self, inner state, etc.?

Only if you like it it's good

Does this help?

http://www.furious.com/perfect/fahey/fahey-byron.html
http://www.furious.com/perfect/fahey/fahey-byron2.html

This says 11/94:
http://www.folklib.net/index/discog/f/fahey2_john.shtml

I'm not as keen on Reprise era Fahey as there's a lot of not particularly inspired trad jazz tunes and what not, although Of Rivers And Religion has plenty of admirers and one or two great tracks (the version of Funeral Song For Mississippi John Hurt is so jerky in parts I worry about whiplash). It makes sense that Christgau would disagree though and if you are aligned with his more populist approach (?) you might too. The Yellow Princess and Of Rivers And Religion are well worth getting though, and The Yellow Princess is being reissued soon with 3 bonus never-before-heard demo tapes including some sort of early version of Fare Forward Voyagers, I believe.

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

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.

haha, i imagine that if O'Rourke had presented Fahey with the concept for Bad Timing, John would've been like "ehhh that sucks."

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.

I always wondered how much of his late period experimentalism was masking an inability to play like he used to

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.

using his obvious limitations as a springboard for new ideas

100% agree w/this

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…

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) 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.

what are the chances this will be good?

https://www.strandedrecords.com/collections/drag-city/products/john-fahey-proofs-refutations-lp

maybe like 83%, more if you like his late work?

I like the album with Cul de Sac from 1997, but suspect this could be rather dire.

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) 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.

*clearing*

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)

lololol A+

hahahaha

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!

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.

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.

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-fahey

Pre Order -https://www.dragcity.com/products/proofs-refutations

Stream "Evening, Not Night (Pt. 2)”-http://lnk.to/proofsandrefutations

ah so it's basically a reissue of The Mill Pond 2x7", I actually like his noise pieces esp those on City Of Refuge

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.

https://freshairarchive.org/guests/john-fahey

???

whoa, weird

👀👀

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.

the transfiguration of terry gross

I Remember Blind Daniel Schur

wow, anyone heard this Finland-only release from 1968?

https://www.discogs.com/release/12204209-John-Fahey-Finlandia