John Fahey occupies a unique place in the history of modern guitar music. He was able to merge country blues with influences like Bela Bartok, Charles Ives, and Indian ragas and somehow make it all work. Later he experimented with tape manipulation, samples, and even played the electric guitar. Apart from his own music, we have to thank Fahey for rediscovering blues musicians Skip James and Bukka White in the 60s and bringing them back into the recording studio. And for starting the careers of Robbie Basho, Leo Kottke, and George Winston on his Takoma label.
While Fahey earned a lot of respect for his music and influenced many other musicians, from Folk and New Age to Sonic Youth and Cul de Sac, he never really fit into any particular genre. And if that didn't already make him an outsider, he dissed the whole folk scene (Quote: "I remember when you'd go into a folk store, there'd always be a big sign up, 'Should Pete Seeger Go To Jail?' I'd always say, 'Absolutely. Because he sings such lousy music.'"), hated hippies, and despised New Age. When he was rediscovered by the indie crowd in the mid-90s, he collaborated with Cul de Sac and Jim O'Rourke and dismissed some of his own earlier work. To quote his old-time friend and collaborator Dr. Demento: "John did not really know the meaning of the word 'tact.' Or at least if he did, it didn't apply to him. He said what he thought, drunk or sober. Even if it hurt his own career and even if he knew it might, he still said what he felt."
His comeback in the mid-90s after a long fight with Epstein-Barr syndrome and heavy drinking was certainly helped by the release of an excellent 2-CD compilation "Return of the Repressed" by Rhino and two articles about Fahey by Byron Coley in Spin Magazine, all in 1994. At the time Fahey was living in a motel room in Salem, Oregon, where he subsequently recorded the Mill Pond Double EP and the full-length album "City of Refuge". The Mill Pond album was released in a very limited vinyl-only edition on Little Brother Records, and it is long out of print. So I offer an MP3 rip of my copy, unfortunately with a bit of surface noise, most notably on the first track. It is amazing lo-fi experimental stuff with some great Fahey vocals.
Disk 1: Ghosts | Garbage
Disk 2: You Can't Cool Off In The Millpond, You Can Only Die | The Mill Pond Drowns Hope
There is an interview and fascinating articles about Fahey by Byron Coley, Dr. Demento, George Winston, and Dean Blackwood over at Perfect Sound Forever. And if you haven't read it already, check out the liner notes by Glenn Jones for the Cul de Sac/Fahey album "The Epiphany of Glenn Jones". Highly recommended!
UPDATE: John Fahey gets interviewed and plays several tunes on the TV show "Guitar, Guitar" in 1969: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4. (YouTube links, thanks to Brian for the pointer.)
Pointless accolades ahead, so feel free to ignore.
But, damn. Am I happy I found this blog. Keep up the good word. No need to even post this. Just thanks all around.
Posted by: Tony B. | July 23, 2007 at 02:44 AM
Incredible. Thanks a lot for posting this.
Posted by: Clayton | July 23, 2007 at 07:15 AM
Where is the archive of him doing a 3-hour WFMU stint on John Allen's show? A perplexing collage, long form, with very creepy vocal improv...
Posted by: Listener Tony | July 23, 2007 at 10:22 AM
Godlike.
John Fahey was the Balder whose only weakness was an unwillingness to stand in front of an electric band with a Marshall amp and a wah-wah pedal. I will refrain from pointing a finger at just one of the many British Lokis.
Posted by: Listener # 109577 | July 23, 2007 at 04:59 PM
There's some great footage from I think 1969 of Fahey on an instructional show called Guitar Guitar, where he squabbles a bit over technique or rather non-technique with the woman who hosts. Mighty entertaining, on You Tube as well I am pretty sure.
Posted by: Brian Turner | July 23, 2007 at 06:22 PM
Thanks Brian, I added the YouTube links to the post.
Posted by: Lukas | July 23, 2007 at 10:32 PM
Tony, do you mean this show? It isn't quite three hours and John Allen doesn't say much about it (apart from "You probably haven't heard this before"), but it seems quite amazing.
Posted by: Lukas | July 24, 2007 at 01:08 AM
I used to have the VHS tape of that GUITAR GUITAR show (I believe it was a PBS show produced in DC)-- Rounder Records/Sebastapol Video released it with another episode of that show featuring Elizabeth Cotten.
The best part is when he ashes his cigarette into the soundhole of the Weissenborn, and the host just stops dead and says "oh, it's not a guitar, it's an ashtray"-- classic Fahey. (Of course at the time the Weissenborns were in every thrift store, so I don't blame Fahey, nowadays they are worth big money).
Posted by: illlich | July 24, 2007 at 09:43 AM
Damn, they removed the Guitar, Guitar interviews from Youtube. I'd love to see those and any other Fahey interviews. Anyone have any audio or video Fahey interviews?
Posted by: Ryan | February 06, 2008 at 02:21 AM