John Fahey

From what I can gather and what I know about Fahey, he was an american original. His take on traditional folk guitar playing (and especially his finger-picking style) has proved immensely influential. Virtually all of the new psych-folk bands out there have mentioned him as a direct influence on their music, from The Tower Recordings' MV+EE to No Neck Blues Band (who have even released an album on Fahey's own Revenant Records label and were proclaimed his favorite new artists in his later years) via even British artists like Richard Youngs.

I got to hear my first Fahey record after his association with NNCK sparked my interest (that and my favorite record store in Montreal had his LPs plastered on the shelves behind the front desk). I didn't have much information about him (and I still find him to be somewhat of a mystery to me) at the time, all I knew is that the artwork on (most) of his album were quite incredible and if the music would be half as interesting as the art, then I would have a winner. So when I noticed that emusic.com had a bunch of his albums available for download, I took the opportunity to get everything they had.

At first, I didn't really how to react to all this music and understand in what way it influenced all those artists I cherished. Part of it sounded like novelty records (especially the Christmas albums), but after repeated listens, I got to discover a world of small experiments, sound collages added audio weirdness. Slowly but surely, it all started to make sense to me and ever since, I've had only but the biggest of respect for his work. His discography is quite huge and I have a lot left to discover (especially the later, more openly experimental albums), but I have promised myself to get everything he has recorded one day.

Volume 6: Days Have Gone By Label: Takoma Records/Ace Records Release: 1967 Format: CD Cat. no: CDTAK 6509/TAK-1014
Song list:
The Revolt Of The Dyke Brigade (2:38) Impressions Of Susan (5:05) Joe Kirby Blues (3:08) Night Train Of Valhalla (2:14) The Portland Cement Factory At Monolith, California (4:23) A Raga Called Pat - Part One (6:22) A Raga Called Pat - Part Two (8:06) My Shepherd Will Supply My Needs (8:48) My Grandfather's Clock (1:27) Days Have Gone By (2:51) We Would be Building (1:57)

The Yellow Princess Label: Vanguard Records/Ace Records Release: 1968 Format: CD Cat. no: VMD 79293
Song list:
The Yellow Princess (4:49) View (East From The Top Of The Riggs Road: B & O Trestle) (4:53) Lion (5:06) March! For Martin Luther King (3:39) The Singing Bridge Of Memphis, Tennessee (2:49) Dance Of The Inhabitants Of The Invisible City Of Bladensburg (4:06) Charles A. Lee: In Memoriam (3:58) Irish Setter (7:14) Commemorative Transfiguration And Communion At Magruder Park (6:00)