album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
fingerstyle guitar
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of guitar picking, playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with ...
ist and composer John Fahey. There are three different versions of the album, and the original self-released edition of fewer than 100 copies is extremely rare.
The recording of steel-string acoustic guitar solos was "incredibly avant-garde" in 1959. It was released on
Takoma Records
Takoma Records was a small but influential record label founded by guitarist John Fahey in the late 1950s.
Its popularity, significance in guitar music, and critical reception have grown over the years. The music historian
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger (born 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.
Life and writing
Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' The Daily P ...
characterized ''Blind Joe Death'' as "a very interesting record from a historical perspective...as few if any other guitarists were attempting to interpret blues and folk idioms in such an idiosyncratic fashion in the late '50s and early '60s." Richard Cook of the '' NewStatesman'' wrote, "Only 100 copies were pressed. Incredibly, it was still enough of a milestone to secure him an almost worldwide reputation."
On April 6, 2011, the album was deemed by the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
Initially released in 1959 in a very limited edition, one side of the record was credited to a mythical bluesman named Blind Joe Death, while the other side was credited to Fahey himself. It was one of the first albums recorded and produced by an independent artist. Self-released on Takoma Records, the label did not formally exist until 1963 when Fahey and ED Denson formed a partnership with record distributor Norman Pierce.Barry Hansen wrote in 1972, "John Fahey is the original underground musician. Dylan was still at Hibbing High School when John Fahey made his first record."
Fahey's earliest recordings were released on custom edition 78-rpm discs released by Fonotone, a record company run by his friend
Joe Bussard
Joseph Edward Bussard Jr. (July 11, 1936 – September 26, 2022) was an American collector of 78-rpm records. He was noted for owning more than 15,000 records, primarily from the 1920s and 1930s, at the time of his death.
Early life
Bussard wa ...
. In 1959 Fahey made his own record, recorded in his hometown of Takoma Park,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
, and pressed by RCA Custom Recorders. He pressed only 100 copies using money he earned pumping gas at a local station and a loan of $300 from an Episcopal minister. Some of the copies were broken on their way from the plant and others given away to friends. Fahey sent copies to folklorists and scholars around the country. He also planted copies in record stores and Goodwill bins for lucky customers to come across. The remainder were slowly sold over a period of four years.
The material Fahey was playing and composing was unique in 1959. As influential musicologist and friend
Dick Spottswood
Richard K. "Dick" Spottswood (born April 17, 1937) is an American musicologist and author from Maryland, United States who has catalogued and been responsible for the reissue of many thousands of recordings of vernacular music in the United Sta ...
related, "He was not someone who was going with what we perceived as the mainstream at that time. Don't forget those were the days when rhythm and blues were all of a sudden being marketed to the white audiences called by a new name, rock 'n' roll, and John certainly wasn't interested in doing any of that...he wasn't doing any of those things that people made a living at on that instrument in those days."
The name for the mythical mentor came at a friend's suggestion. In an interview with
Stefan Grossman
Stefan Grossman (born April 16, 1945) is an American acoustic fingerstyle guitarist and singer, music producer and educator, and co-founder of Kicking Mule records. He is known for his instructional videos and Vestapol line of videos and DVDs.
...
in the 1980s, Fahey stated, "The reason it said "blind" is because a lot of the people I learned from were on old 78 RPM records and a lot of them were blind, and their names were
Blind Willie Johnson
Willie Johnson (January 25, 1897 – September 18, 1945), commonly known as Blind Willie Johnson, was an American gospel blues singer and guitarist. His landmark recordings completed between 1927 and 1930, thirty songs in all, display a combinat ...
,
Blind Boy Fuller
Fulton Allen (July 10, 1904 – February 13, 1941), known as Blind Boy Fuller, was an American blues guitarist and singer. Fuller was one of the most popular of the recorded Piedmont blues artists, along with Blind Blake, Josh White, and Budd ...
,
Blind Joe Taggart
Joel Washington Taggart (August 16, 1892 – January 15, 1961), usually known as Blind Joe Taggart, was an American country blues and gospel singer and guitarist who recorded in the 1920s and 1930s. Though primarily a performer of evangelistic ...
, on and on, a whole bunch of them were blind. Also I was thinking, when ever you print the word 'Death' people look at it and I was thinking of record sales already even though I was only going to have a hundred copies pressed." Years later Fahey related, "The whole point was to use the word 'death'." Blind Joe Death was my death instinct. He was also all the Negroes in the slums who were suffering. He was the incarnation, not only of my death wish, but of all the aggressive instincts in me."
For years Fahey and Takoma continued to treat the imaginary guitarist Blind Joe Death as a real person, including booklets with their LPs containing biographical information about him including the "fact" that he had a guitar made from a baby's coffin and that he had taught Fahey to play. Fahey sometimes incorporated the myth of Blind Joe into his performances, wearing dark glasses and being led by the arm onto the stage.
Reissues
There are three different versions of ''Blind Joe Death''. After moving to
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...
, where he attended college, Fahey's career as guitarist began to take off. Having recorded a somewhat successful second album, '' Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes'' in late 1963, Fahey decided to re-release his original efforts. However, he decided to rerecord much of the material, as he felt he had become a much better player. This second pressing claims that "On Doing an Evil Deed Blues", "In Christ There Is No East or West", "The Transcendental Waterfall", and "
Uncloudy Day
Uncloudy Day, also known as Unclouded Day, is a gospel song. Originally popular in church hymnals, it has come to be recorded many times over the years since, including being an early attention-getter for future star act the Staple Singers. In 1 ...
" are 1964 rerecordings and the rest ("St. Louis Blues", "Poor Boy Long Ways from Home", "John Henry", "Desperate Man Blues", "Sun Gonna Shine in My Back Door Someday Blues", and "Sligo River Blues") are the original 1959 versions. "Uncloudy Day" was actually the same recording, as was "St. Louis Blues" in an edited version. The 1959 album contained a version of Blind Blake's "West Coast Blues", which (despite being rerecorded in 1964) was not included on the album. To fill the gap, the new version of "Transcendental Waterfall" was extended to over 10 minutes long, a glimpse of things to come.
By 1967 Fahey had released a number of albums and was very successful. It was decided that his first two albums be released in
stereo
Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...
; they were both rerecorded, resulting in a third version of ''Blind Joe Death'', with a new, shorter version of "The Transcendental Waterfall" and a new song, "I'm Gonna Do All I Can for My Lord". The 1967 versions of ''Blind Joe Death'' and ''Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes'' were actually recorded in mono and briefly released on mono LP. Later in 1967, these recordings were edited to create a stereo effect and released on stereo LPs with new artwork.
The 1959 album has only been re-issued on vinyl, under the original catalog number, Takoma K80P-4447/4448. The 1996 Fantasy/Takoma CD release, ''The Legend of Blind Joe Death'', contains the 1964 and 1967 versions of the album, with the exception of the later, edited 1964 recording of "The Transcendental Waterfall", as mentioned above; a previously unreleased 1964 recording of "West Coast Blues" is also included.
Reception
The music critic
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger (born 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.
Life and writing
Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' The Daily P ...
wrote liner notes for reissues of two of Fahey's later albums. In his
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
review of the 1964 release of ''Blind Joe Death'' Unterberger wrote, "The album's mystique probably owes more to the 1959 record's rarity (and utter oddity in the context of its era) than the music, in which Fahey's experimental blues-folk acoustic fusion is just beginning to take shape. It remains a very interesting record from a historical perspective, however, as few if any other guitarists were attempting to interpret blues and folk idioms in such an idiosyncratic fashion in the late '50s and early '60s."
The 1967 version received five stars in both editions of the ''
Rolling Stone Record Guide
''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...
''.
In its review of the 1997 reissue, ''
Musician
A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...
'' magazine stated, "nobody had more emotional range or profound melodic gift than John Fahey.... Fahey's taste for the weirdly dissonant when dealing with foul emotions and his fascination with tone to the occasional exclusion of almost everything else is on fuller display here."
'' Q'' magazine gave the reissue three stars, calling Fahey "a superlative acoustic guitar technician capable of blending elements of country, blues and ragtime into a style that in its spare, dark, haunting beauty was uniquely his own."
Legacy
On April 6, 2011, the album was deemed by the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
discussing the influence and legacy of Fahey, Barry Hansen, a longtime friend and collaborator, said of Fahey's early career, "He basically started the whole idea of playing new music on traditional acoustic steel-string guitar. He was the original underground artist." The guitarist
Leo Kottke
Leo Kottke (born September 11, 1945) is an American acoustic guitarist. He is known for a fingerpicking style that draws on blues, jazz, and folk music, and for syncopated, polyphonic melodies. He has overcome a series of personal obstacles, i ...
said of Fahey, "John created living, generative culture. With his guitar and his spellbound witness, he synthesized all the strains in American music and found a new happiness for all of us. With John, we have a voice only he could have given us; without him, no one will sound the same."
Track listing
1959 version
*Original 1959 track listing and composer credits as listed on the label:
Side one: "Selections by Blind Joe Death"
# "West Coast Blues" (
Blind Blake
Arthur Blake (1896 – December 1, 1934), known as Blind Blake, was an American blues and ragtime singer and guitarist. He is known for recordings he made for Paramount Records between 1926 and 1932.
Early life
Little is known of Blake's life. ...
) – 3:13
# "
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...
" (
W. C. Handy
William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. He was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musician ...
Barbecue Bob
Robert Hicks (September 11, 1902 – October 21, 1931), known as Barbecue Bob, was an American Piedmont blues musician who played 12 string guitar which was popular in the Atlanta, Georgia area at the time. A record talent scout gave him his ...
) – 3:12
# "
Uncloudy Day
Uncloudy Day, also known as Unclouded Day, is a gospel song. Originally popular in church hymnals, it has come to be recorded many times over the years since, including being an early attention-getter for future star act the Staple Singers. In 1 ...
" (Josiah Kelley Alwood) – 3:24
# "
John Henry
John Henry most commonly refers to:
*John Henry (folklore)
John Henry may also refer to:
People
Artists and entertainers
* John Henry (actor) (1738–1794), Irish and early American actor
*Seán Ó hEinirí (1915–1998), known in English as John ...
" (Traditional) – 3:21
# "In Christ There Is No East or West" (Episcopal Church Hymn) (
Harry Burleigh
Harry Burleigh (born Henry Thacker Burleigh, December 2, 1866 – September 12, 1949) was an American classical composer, arranger, and professional singer known for his baritone voice. The first black composer who was instrumental in dev ...
,
John Oxenham
John Oxenham ( "John Oxnam", died ) was the first non-Spanish European explorer to cross the Isthmus of Panama in 1575, climbing the coastal cordillera to get to the Pacific Ocean, then referred to by the Spanish as the ''Mar del Sur'' ('Souther ...
) – 2:42
Side two: "Selections by John Fahey"
# "The Transcendental Waterfall" (Fahey) – 6:36
# " Desperate Man Blues" (arranged by Fahey) – 4:06
# "Sun Gonna Shine in My Back Door Someday Blues" (arranged by Fahey) – 3:34
# "Sligo River Blues" (Fahey) – 3:05
# "On Doing an Evil Deed Blues" (Fahey) – 4:40
1964 version
Side one:
# "St. Louis Blues" dited version# "I'm a Poor Boy a Long Ways From Home"
# "Uncloudy Day"
# "John Henry"
# "In Christ There Is No East or West" e-recorded
Side two:
# "The Transcendental Waterfall" e-recorded# "Desperate Man Blues" e-recorded# "Sun Gonna Shine in My Back Door Someday Blues"
# "Sligo River Blues"
# "On Doing an Evil Deed Blues" e-recorded
1967 version
*All tracks re-recorded again, except for "The Transcendental Waterfall" which is an edited m.35sversion of the 1964 0m.35sre-recording.
Side one:
# "On Doing an Evil Deed Blues"
# "St. Louis Blues"
# "Poor Boy Long Ways from Home"
# "Uncloudy Day"
# "John Henry"
# "In Christ There Is No East or West"
Side two:
# "The Transcendental Waterfall"
# "Desperate Man Blues"
# "Sun Gonna Shine in My Back Door Someday Blues "
# "Sligo River Blues"
# "I'm Gonna Do All I Can for My Lord"
Reissue track listing (1996)
# "On Doing an Evil Deed Blues" (Fahey) – 5:07
# "St. Louis Blues" (Handy) – 4:53
# "Poor Boy, Long Ways from Home" (Fahey) – 3:12
# "Uncloudy Day" (Josiah Kelley Alwood) – 3:23
# "John Henry" (Traditional) – 3:20
# "In Christ There Is No East or West" (
Harry Burleigh
Harry Burleigh (born Henry Thacker Burleigh, December 2, 1866 – September 12, 1949) was an American classical composer, arranger, and professional singer known for his baritone voice. The first black composer who was instrumental in dev ...
, John Oxenham) – 2:21
# "Desperate Man Blues" (Fahey) – 4:05
# "Sun Gonna Shine in My Back Door Someday Blues" (Fahey) – 3:32
# "Sligo River Blues" (Fahey) – 3:05
# "On Doing an Evil Deed Blues" (Fahey) – 3:56
# "St. Louis Blues" (Handy) – 3:15
# "Poor Boy, Long Ways from Home" (Fahey) – 2:23
# "Uncloudy Day" (Josiah Kelley Alwood) – 2:22
# "John Henry" (Traditional) – 2:05
# "In Christ There Is No East or West" (Burleigh, Oxenham) – 2:43
# "Desperate Man Blues" (Fahey) – 3:58
# "Sun Gonna Shine in My Back Door Someday Blues" (Fahey) – 4:39
# "Sligo River Blues" (Fahey) – 2:33
# "I'm Gonna Do All I Can for My Lord" (Fahey) – 1:24
# "The Transcendental Waterfall" (Fahey) – 10:36
# "West Coast Blues" (Fahey) – 1:25
*Bill Belmont – compilation producer
* ED Denson – producer, liner notes for 1967 reissue
*
Glenn Jones
Glenn Jones (born September 27, 1962 in Jacksonville, Florida) is an American R&B/soul singer. He is best known for his songs "Show Me", "We've Only Just Begun (The Romance Is Not Over)" and "Here I Go Again", which reached No. 1 on the Billbo ...
– compilation liner notes
*Joe Tarantino – compilation remastering
*Tom Weller – art direction, cover art for 1964 and 1967 reissues