John Fahey

John Fahey - Christmas Guitar (1986) {Varrick–Rounder CDVR11503}
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© 1986 Varrick / Rounder Records | CD VR 11503
Finger-Picked Guitar / Contemporary Folk / Folk Jazz / Folk-Blues / Progressive Folk

John Fahey is a visionary, an iconoclast, and a plain old American weirdo. He's also a brilliant acoustic guitarist, whose earnestness is matched only by his oblique sense of humor. These performances–ranging from the cheery "Joy to the World" and "We Three Kings" to the thoughtful "Bells of St. Mary's" and "In the Bleak Midwinter"–are pretty straightforward though. Some tend toward the academic, but all are quite beautiful in their own reserved way, making this the perfect unintrusive album for a quiet Christmas gathering or an evening by the hearth. The notoriously squirrely Fahey might be the last guy you'd invite over for eggnog, but you'd be foolish not to let his exquisite music into your home.

John Fahey, Peter Lang, Leo Kottke - John Fahey, Peter Lang, Leo Kottke (1974) {Takoma ‎TAKCD-6502-2 rel 1996}
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© 1974, 1996 Takoma ‎Records / Fantasy | TAKCD-6502-2
Finger-Picked Guitar / Progressive Folk / Jazz Blues / Contemporary Folk / New Acoustic

In the 1950s the young John Fahey discovered the funky, unpretentious, down-home, spontaneous guitar-oriented 78s recorded in the late 1920s and early 1930s by rural Southern black and poor white folks. He changed the music to suit his own image of what art should be and created the concept of the solo steel-string guitarist/composer. Leo Kottke built on Fahey's vision, made it more accessible, and proved how large the market could be. In 1974 these two quitar giants, joined by Peter Lang, who proves on these cuts to be a guitarist of equal ability, put out this excellent and influential LP.

John Fahey - The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death (1965) {Takoma-Fantasy CDTAK 7015 rel 1997}
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© 1965, 1997 Takoma / Fantasy | CDTAK 7015
Folk / Contemporary Folk / Finger-Picked Guitar / Folk Jazz / Folk-Blues / Progressive Folk

A strange man, John Fahey, with an unusual set of guitar styles. This album, originally released on Riverboat Records and later reissued by Fahey's own Takoma label, has a lot of rough edges in terms of the recording but a tremendous amount of power when it comes to the music. Fahey was at the top of his game, alternately playful and dark, so there's never a dull moment. There is always something new to be heard on each playing.

John Fahey - America (1971) {Takoma CDTAK 8903 rel 1998}}
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© 1971, 1998 Takoma / Fantasy | CDTAK 8903
Finger-Picked Guitar / Contemporary Folk / Folk Jazz / Folk-Blues / Progressive Folk

Listen to John Fahey's America and hear an honest-to-goodness pioneer of solo acoustic steel-string guitar. With a truly distinctive approach, Fahey creates dusty, sweetly evocative worlds of American folk and blues that make the soul throb. His fingerpicking on alternating and drone bass lines, coupled with chorded melodies, continues to provide inspiration to acoustic players.

John Fahey - God, Time and Causality (1989) {Shanachie 97006}
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© 1989 Shanachie Records | 97006
Finger-Picked Guitar / Contemporary Folk / Folk Jazz / Folk-Blues / Progressive Folk

John Fahey's technique is highly distinctive – a single steel-strung guitar with a roar of sound, suddenly getting quiet and gentle, then playful, then angry, up and down and around. Where classical guitarists defined themselves by fluidity and technique, Fahey, and Leo Kottke like him, defined himself by the feeling involved in the playing. While there's structure to the music, it can, at any moment, veer off to some other place for a quick visit – "Lion" is very much of that nature.

John Fahey - The Yellow Princess (1968) {Vanguard Records 79795-2 rel 2006}
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© 1968, 2006 Vanguard Records | 79795-2
Finger-Picked Guitar / Contemporary Folk / Folk Jazz / Folk-Blues / Progressive Folk

This particular John Fahey side is a personal favorite of many of his devout fans for several reasons. And although such a judgment is tough, if one were looking to own only one album by this unique guitarist, The Yellow Princess could be the one. The recording sound is among the best of his many releases; at the proper volume, the effect is as if one had taken up residency inside the sound hole of a giant acoustic guitar. The program of pieces is marvelously emotional and varied, with many moments of precisely stated harmonies moving at courageously slow tempos. The second piece on the first side, "View (East from the Top of the Riggs Road/B&O Trestle)," is surely one of his masterpieces, on a par with Charles Ives for musical Americana.

John Fahey - Visits Washington, D.C. (1979) {Takoma CDP 72769 rel 1987}
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© 1979, 1989 Takoma Records | CDP 72769
Finger-Picked Guitar / Contemporary Folk / Folk Jazz / Folk-Blues / Progressive Folk

1979’s last long-lost classic from John Fahey’s Takoma albums sees the master on dazzling form without any concept beyond returning to his roots while paying tribute to music inspiring him both past and present. John Fahey could strike when least expected. After “Old Fashioned Love”, 1974’s third and final John Fahey & His Orchestra outing, there was another Christmas album and 1977’s “Best Of John Fahey [1959-77]” while Fahey sold Takoma Records to Chrysalis because he couldn’t handle the day-to-day running.