Back cover to America
Hi-
A few weeks ago at an employee dinner party my boss, Dave, lent me a few records. One of those records was John Fahey’s America, which is incredible, and I have been unable to listen to much of anything else since hearing it. John Fahey is a fingerstyle guitarist and his particular style is described as “american primitive”….which is apparently a term borrowed from painting and refers to the self-taught nature of his particular style of music. I find his music to be completely and totally mind-blowing and I am amazed that he is able to bring forth emotions in me that range from joy to sorrow with simply his solo guitar playing. There is something old and natural about his songs, as if they existed before he ever actually played them. Two of the tracks I have included in this mix, “Mark 1:15 and The Voice of The Turtle”, are 15 minute epics and represent the highlights and the majority of the album, “America”. Unfortunately “mark 1:15″ has a few minutes cut off. Anyway, this is a fairly lengthy mix and I included some other tunes that I have been listening to a bit lately. Let me know what you think of these Fahey tracks.
It’s snowing here in Missoula and I just spent an hour shoveling in the dark with this mix on my headphones, it fit.
Bye, Collin
Oh, and here is an interesting article concerning John Fahey and his childhood home in Takoma Park, Maryland.
Artist / Album / Song
John Fahey / America / Mark 1:15
King Crimson / In The Court of the Crimson King / The Court of the Crimson King
The Pentangle / Basket of Light / Light Flight
Bert Jansch / A Rare Conundrum / Day Break
The Pentangle / Basket of Light / Train Song
John Fahey / America / The Voice of the Turtle
Frank Zappa / The Grand Wazoo / Blessed Relief
Stephen wrote:
You might care to visit my John Fahey pages. I’ve put up the full version of Mark 1:15 as a download, as well as the other stuff that didn’t make it onto CD.
You’re right. America is one of his great works.
Posted on 27-Jan-08 at 12:55 pm