The Best of John Fahey 1959-1977
Studio album by John Fahey
Released 1977
Recorded 1967-1977
Genre Folk
Length 43:23
Label Takoma
Producers ED Denson, John Fahey, Henry Kaiser
The Best of John Fahey 1959Ð1977 is a compilation album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1977. The songs are collected from five of Fahey's dozen or so releases up to that point. Although some of the tracks are from prior to 1967, the recordings represented here were recorded after that year.
The original album consisted of tracks picked out by Fahey for the release, with two tracks "Spanish Two-Step" and "Dance of the Inhabitants of the Palace of King Philip XIV of Spain" re-recorded for the album. The Best of John Fahey was reissued on CD in 2002 by Takoma and included three bonus tracks taken from three later albums. It includes liner notes and commentary by such guitarists as Leo Kottke, Peter Lang, Jim O'Rourke, and George Winston, some of whom had recorded numerous Fahey compositions on their own albums or who were once signed to his Takoma label.
For the original release Guitar Player Magazine released a matching music folio of tablature for guitar. It also contained essays by Fahey, continuation of the tale of Blind Joe Death, and an on-going story which meandered across the pages and the page margins throughout the book. In the introduction Fahey wrote:
"While technique is important, it is only part of the story. Music is a language Ñ a language of emotions. The worst possible way to play these songs Ñ and I am not only talking about my own compositions Ñ is in metronome time at a uniform volume. Another terrible thing would be to play any composition the same way every time, or to feel that you have to play it exactly the way someone else, such as myself, played it or said to play it. A good technician must also be creative. Even if a person is not a composer, he can interpret and arrange, and these skills are as important as technique in making a performance interesting. I rely heavily on both technique and interpretation, and I think of myself as a very good composer, arranger, and plagiarist for the solo acoustic guitar".
Professional Ratings:
allmusic 4.5/5 stars
Rolling Stone 5 stars
Review by Richie Unterberger of allmusic:
The title of this compilation is a little misleading. Although it is indeed an anthology, and the most recent two tracks were recorded in 1977, nothing was recorded as early as 1959. In fact, nothing was recorded before the mid-'60s. If you believe the track notes, nothing was recorded before 1967, though it should be pointed out that the two tracks from The Dance of Death & Other Plantation Favorites, given a recording date of 1967 on this CD, are given a recording date of 1964 on Takoma's reissue of that very album. Anyway, although this is fine music, as a survey it's not exactly balanced, with the 15 tracks on the original LP coming from just five albums, though John Fahey had released more than a dozen LPs by the time of this collection. So it's essentially the best, as determined and selected by Fahey himself, from these albums: Death Chants, Breakdowns and Military Waltzes, The Legend of Blind Joe Death, The Dance of Death & Other Plantation Favorites, and John Fahey/Peter Lang/Leo Kottke. That is, with the addition of two pieces ("Spanish Two-Step" and a re-recording of "Dance of the Inhabitants of the Palace of King Philip XIV of Spain," originally cut for the 1963 version of Death Chants, Breakdowns and Military Waltzes) that Fahey cut specifically for this best-of compilation. Rhino's two-CD Return of the Repressed: The John Fahey Anthology is a wider-spanning, lengthier chronological overview that's preferable for those wanting a fuller appreciation of his work. But what's here is good, important acoustic guitar music combining folk, blues, Americana, and unclassifiably weird originality, although it gives short shrift to some of his odder, more experimental 1960s and 1970s work (some of which, admittedly, was done for other labels than Takoma, from whose vaults all of the tracks were accessed). The 2002 CD reissue does have its nice extras: three bonus tracks (including two from the early 1970s, "America" and the 23-minute "Fare Forward Voyagers," taken from albums not sampled in the original track listing) and appreciations in the liner notes from Leo Kottke, Henry Kaiser, Peter Lang, Jim O'Rourke, and (yes!) George Winston.
Review on examiner.com:
If youÕre not up on your music history, John Aloysius Fahey, born on February 28, 1939, was an American composer and self-taught fingerstyle guitarist who specialized in playing a steel-string acoustic guitar as a solo instrument. Fahey became an influential artist and is considered by many to have founded American Primitivism as his music was both self-taught and minimalistic. The music on this 15-track Òbest ofÓ compilation was recorded between 1967 and its release in 1977 and focused on little more than Fahey and his guitar.
The album opens on ÒSunflower River BluesÓ. This is an apt intro to his original works. The second selection is a cover of W.C. ÓFather of the BluesÓ HandyÕs ÒSt. Louis BluesÓ. Then he returns to one of his original pieces ÒPoor Boy Long Ways from HomeÓ effectively demonstrating his early signature sound which borrows from different genres.
The first example of his collaborations can be found in "When the Springtime Comes Again". This is a Fahey-Sullivan cut that fits into the collection quite well. The next number is "Some Summer Day" which is yet another one of his original compositions.
Fahey re-recorded a couple of tracks specifically for this release. The first of which was the slightly ethnic "Spanish Dance". ItÕs quickly followed by the two shortest selections on the platter - "Take a Look at That Baby" and "I'm Going to Do All I Can for My Lord" - both of which are less than a minute and a half in length but somehow retain their own little aural identities.
"The Last Steam Engine Train", a fan favorite, and the spiritual "In Christ There Is No East or West" comes next. The seemingly simplistic example of his early Americana - "Give Me Cornbread When I'm Hungry" follows before his second re-recorded cut "Dance of the Inhabitants of the Palace of King Philip XIV of Spain". Fahey selected all the tracks himself including the noteworthy number ÒRevolt of the Dyke Brigade" and the pleasant piece "On the Sunny Side of the Ocean".
The albumÕs end-note is "Spanish Two-Step". This is the last of the songs gathered from his five earlier releases. This 1977 recording released on the Takoma label contains cuts that cleverly combine Americana, blues and folk aspects of roots music. Critics often praised him for his originality and simplistic but still effective approach to music.
FaheyÕs material exemplifies his encyclopedic knowledge of the above-mentioned genres garnered from his field excursions and studies in the Library of Congress. The earliest work is obviously inspired by the likes of Blind Willie Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Charley Patton and perhaps even Elizabeth Cotton. While some would think that by the new millennium FaheyÕs music would perhaps be forgotten--despite the fact that it inspired later acts such as the late sixties band Canned Heat, this was not to be.
Although Fahey died in 2001 (due to complications from heart surgery), this collection was reissued on CD the next year with three bonus tracks: the wandering, somehow patriotic "America", the prolific piece "Fare Forward Voyagers" (which runs nearly 24 minutes) and the near classic cut "Desperate Man Blues". These additions upped the running time to almost 79 minutes. Two years later Fahey was ranked 35th in Rolling StoneÕs "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" list due in large part to John FaheyÕs substantial release The Best of John Fahey 1959Ð1977.
LP track listing
All songs written by John Fahey except as noted.
Side One
1. "Sunflower River Blues" Ð 3:21
2. "St. Louis Blues" (W.C. Handy) Ð 3:18
3. "Poor Boy Long Ways from Home" Ð 2:27
4. "When the Springtime Comes Again" (John Fahey, Pat Sullivan) Ð 4:55
5. "Some Summer Day" Ð 3:27
6. "Spanish Dance" Ð 2:07
7. "Take a Look at That Baby" Ð 1:27
Side Two
8. "I'm Going to Do All I Can for My Lord" Ð 1:27
9. "The Last Steam Engine Train" Ð 2:19
10. "In Christ There Is No East or West" Ð 2:46
11. "Give Me Cornbread When I'm Hungry" Ð 3:12
12. "Dance of the Inhabitants of the Palace of King Philip XIV of Spain" Ð 3:19
13. "Revolt of the Dyke Brigade" Ð 3:03
14. "On the Sunny Side of the Ocean" Ð 3:54
15. "Spanish Two-Step" Ð 2:21
Personnel:
* John Fahey - guitar