News
We recently transformed this page into a news page. Certain entries have been expanded from what were here earlier. Please email us if you come across something new that we've yet to add.
2010-01-09: "America" 2LP still incomplete
According to an email from denti_alligator, "America" is still incomplete ("Mark 1:15" is still missing about 2 minutes).
You can read denti_alligator's full comment here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1N3B8QCS713WV/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm (from Amazon's "America" product reviews)
2010-01-06: "America" 2LP reissued.. again
It seems like the 2LP limited edition of "America" has finally be issued without any flaws:
All right now. After a few unfortunate issues at the pressing plant (discovered, of course, after these beautiful, highly elaborate gatefold double lps were already on the market), we finally have the mind boggling 2009 edition of John Fahey's America. And man was it worth the wait. Originally released in 1971 as a single lp with only four songs, America wasn't heard as it was intended until 1998 when Takoma issued a cd version with all the tracks (NINE extra songs!), and even then, a few minutes had to be shaved off the song "Mark 1:15" because of cd time constraints. But now we have it on vinyl, and let it be said, 4 Men With Beards have really outdone themselves with this one, offering an appropriate package (limited to a scant 3000 hand numbered copies, by the way) for Fahey at his most epic!
America definitely ranks among Fahey's most thematic albums, which is saying a lot. Even with covers of songs by Skip James and the McGee Brothers, (not to mention an amazing interpretation of the third movement from Dvorak's Symphony #8), this album presents a powerful and unique vision that is pure John Fahey, and in doing so, he takes things further than usual with a couple of massive tracks stretching into the double digits. Some real mind blowers, for sure, and you'll probably be left wondering how anyone could maintain such an amazing and disciplined command of a steel string guitar. But hey, it's John Fahey after all, and chances are you've been waiting for this one for quite some time.
Source: http://aquariusrecords.org/cat/f.html
2009-12-27: "In Christ There Is No East Or West" (taught by John Fahey) video on Youtube
Stefan Grossman has uploaded "In Christ There Is No East Or West" (taught by John Fahey) to Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWlA8J_JEuY (from the DVD "The Guitar Of John Fahey Vol. 1").
2009-12-27: "Discussion" about the unreleased documentary continues / "Memorial" box set
The discussion (if you can call it a discussion) about the unreleased documentary over at mudcat continues. On December 5th, 2009 Gene Rosenthal responds himself: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=116930#2781161
Only to follow up 2 days leter with http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=116930#2782643 and later that same day: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=116930#2782704
We learned from reading those replies that "Memorial" is a 2DVD/4CD box set. Still no release date.
2009-11-07: New tab: "Saint Patrick's Hymn"
A tab for "Saint Patrick's Hymn" has been added to our tabs archive.
Thanks to Takashi Toyosaki for mailing it to us.
2009-10-08: "America" LP discontinued by manufacturer
The recently reissued LP of "America" has been discontinued by the manufacturer due to manufacturing mistakes. Side C and D turned out to be identical.
Special thanks to Takashi Toyosaki for this information.
2009-10-07: Download "Double 78"
Another great blog post on the FM SHADES blog about the rare "Double 78" album from 1996: John Fahey (The last of 78rpm Blues) You can also find the full "Double 78" album in MP3 format at the bottom of the article.
Source: http://fm-shades.blogspot.com/2009/09/john-fahey-double-78-rpm-record-perfect.html
2009-10-07: Download Andy Kershaw sessions from 1987
Great post on the Delta-Slider blog about John Fahey's Andy Kershaw session from 1987-10-15 with downloads.
Setlist:
- Nightmare/Summertime
- St. Patrick
- Spanish Two-Step
- On the Sunny Side of the Ocean
- Dance of Death
Source: http://delta-slider.blogspot.com/2009/07/john-fahey-andy-kershaw-session-1987.html
2009-10-06: Yet another compilation released
It's seems yet another John Fahey compilation CD was released recently. It's named "Twilight on Prince Georges Avenue: Essential Recordings" and was released on 2009-09-22 on Rounder Records.
Tracklist:
- The Thing At The End Of New Hampshire Avenue (03:29)
- from Old Girlfriends and Other Horrible Memories (1992)
- Atlantic High (02:06)
- from Rain Forests, Oceans and Other Themes (1985)
- Dianne Kelly (07:40)
- from Old Girlfriends and Other Horrible Memories album
- A Minor Blues (04:39)
- from I Remember Blind Joe Death (1987)
- Black Mommy (08:04)
- from Let Go (1984)
- Sunset on Prince George's County (04:13)
- from Let Go (1984)
- Twilight On Prince Georges Avenue (04:06)
- from Old Girlfriends and Other Horrible Memories (1992)
- Rain Forest (06:44)
- from Rain Forests, Oceans and Other Themes(1985)
- Improv In E Minor (07:27)
- from I Remember Blind Joe Death (1987)
- Lava On Waikiki (02:16)
- from I Remember Blind Joe Death (1987)
Source: http://www.rounder.com/index.php?id=album.php&catalog_id=7212
2009-10-06: Email from Melody Fahey
On 2009-03-14 we received the following email from Melody Fahey:
Hi—I was wondering who is running this site?—Melody Fahey
We replied back but never heard a thing.
2009-08-20: "John Fahey's Fonotone Years", "Roots of Fahey" and the end of Revenant Records?
From http://dust-digital.com/newsletters/09-08.htm:
We are very excited to announce that John Fahey's Fonotone Years is in production, and we are doing everything we possibly can to have the title out by year's end. As we wrote in a previous newsletter, the set will be a co-release between Dust-to-Digital and Revenant Records. As for the music the set will feature, we are including every recording John made for Joe Bussard's Fonotone record label. The result will be a five-CD box set of music that was only available in the 1950s and '60s in limited pressings on 78rpm acetate records. We will be mastering the audio from the original, pristine reel-to-reel tapes.
Also in the works is a separate two-CD set called Roots of Fahey, which will showcase the songs and musicians that inspired and influenced John throughout his recording career. Each track comes from the 78rpm record collection of John's lifelong friend, Joe Bussard.
Here's a post by Glenn Jones posted to the FaheyGuitarPlayers mailing list about the box set:
Subject: John Fahey Fonotone Box Set // NOW IT CAN BE TOLD
Well, gang, it’s official — signatures are on paper and the Fahey Fonotone box is set to proceed! I am so psyched that it’s finally back on the board, after sitting on the back burner, cold as a dead mackerel, for several years now.
As some of you know, I began work on a reissue of the Fonotone Fahey material for Revenant Records back when John was still among us. In fact, my last visit to him the summer before he died was to discuss and this project.
In the two years or so after John’s death, we made some fairly significant progress on the project, but then things ground to a sudden (and to everyone, including me for a while) inexplicable halt.
Why? It’s a long story, and it took a long time — a couple years — to sort itself out, during which time I was unable to talk about it, partly because there was a lot I didn’t know (though Dean was pretty forthcoming with me, there was lot he couldn’t talk about himself), partly because there were legal issues that couldn't be made public, and partly because it was my hope that once things were sorted out we’d pick up where we left off — but I didn’t know that for sure, and I had no idea how long the legal battles would take.
Several of you wrote me to ask what was going on during this time. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to respond.
The problem had nothing to do with Fahey or his estate.
The upshot is that an expensive and protracted legal battle followed the issue of the Revenant Albert Ayler box set, and that Revenant has decided to call it a day and get out of the record business. Such a shame, since Revenant is / was one of the best labels going, as anyone who bought their Patton or Ayler or Beefheart boxes, or any of the fabulous American Primitive volumes (must haves!) knows.
But lawyer fees ate up Revenant’s finances, which shut down everything in the Revenant pipeline, including the Fahey project, and the experience, ultimately, was so ugly and left such a bitter taste in Dean’s mouth, that he decided to call it quits.
As things unwound, the growing realization that all the work we’d done might be for naught just broke my heart.
But In the midst of Revenant's legal blood-shedding, Dust-to-Digital issued a four-CD of Joe Bussards Fonotone recordings, after which they also began looking into reissuing the Fahey Fonotone recordings. And that’s how Lance Ledbetter, at DTD, and I happened to get in touch with each other.
The good news is that Dean and Lance have brokered a deal whereby the project will be a Revenant / Dust-to-Digital co-production, and probably the last release to have the Revenant imprint.
As for Dust-to-Digital, truly, I can’t think of a better label to have taken over the reins of the project. Their Art of Field Recording volumes (both 4-CD sets) are among my favorite releases of the past couple years. Their packaging (also done by Susan Archie, Revenant’s designer) is terrific. Besides the Fonotone 4-CD box set, there is a fantastic album of vintage Sacred Harp recordings, one of the best gospel collections ever issued, and much more. Everything they put out is worth investigating.
From a strictly ME point of view, I’m chuffed that I’m still be involved in producing the set, gathering together liner notes, etc.. Though the set will be (must be) scaled back from the version I’d planned for Revenant, it will still be a great thing — five CDs worth of material, give or take — a lot of it previously unissued, plus notes, photos, etc.
More info as things proceed.
Cheers!
Glenn Jones
Cambridge, MA
Source: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/FaheyGuitarPlayers/message/5266 (registration required)
2009-06-25: New improved "Brenda's Blues" tab
A new and much better tab of "Brenda's Blues" has been added to the tabs archive.
2009-06-19: Limited edition of "America" to be released on vinyl
A limited edition of America is set to be released on vinyl on August 18th, 2009 on the label "4 Men With Beards". There's no mentioning if contains the full version of Mark 1:15 which is edited down with about 2 minutes on the CD version of this album.
Special thanks to Takashi Toyosaki for notifying us about this release.
2009-05-23: Marc Minsker replies to "Severn" at mudcat
Marc Minsker replying to Severn on 2009-05-04 at http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=116930:
Severn, Since you don't know the whole story, let me fill in the gaps.
Certainly you can stand by your friend, Gene, but the truth of the matter is that YES, the clip on Youtube featured two seconds of footage from Joe Bussard's documentary, DESPERATE MAN BLUES. Joe is a friend of mine who mistakenly said that I could "use a clip" from the documentary when it wasn't really his to give. The Youtube trailer was online from November of 2008 through January of 2009. When the film was accepted into the film festival in mid January, I removed the trailer from Youtube because I didn't want it to preempt the screening. Gene, at this point, had still not contacted me. The film DID NOT feature the 2-second clip in question; it had only been in the Youtube trailer.
On February 15th, 2009, I was contacted by Gene Rosenthal who threatened to sue me for everything I had, including taking my house, my car, etc. Although the film (to this day, 5/4) has never been screened anyway, I asked Gene if he'd seen a copy (such as the one I sent to the John Fahey Trust or the copy I'd given to local music producer David Eisner). He hadn't seen the film. What he was mad about was the 2-second clip taken from DESPERATE MAN BLUES which had been on Youtube but appeared no where else. When I explained that it was long gone from Youtube, he claimed he still planned to sue me and make me pay. He also threatened to show up with "marshalls and shut down the whole Takoma Park Film Festival."
We agreed to withdraw the film from the festival because of his outrageous threats and aggresive tone. Again, the man has never seen the documentary but is basing his threats on something that once appeared on Youtube but was already removed before he even raised an objection.
In regards to Gene and his record on artists' rights, I think there's enough substantial info out there on the internet to show us his true side. I draw your attention to:
http://www.jajouka.com/documents.html
There you'll find a letter addressed to one Mr. Gene Rosenthal.There are many more sites with telling stories about his dealings with Mississippi John Hurt and The Nighthawks (to name a few), but because his reputation certainly proceeds itself, I don't need to go into detail.
Marc Minsker
2009-05-05: Email from Marc Minsker
We received an email from Marc Minsker himself on April 13th, 2009 (we replied back 3-4 days later asking if it was ok to post this email here, since he has yet to reply we're assuming it's ok):
Hello,
This is Marc Minsker, the filmmaker who made the John Fahey documentary, The Legacy of Blind Joe Death. I just wanted to clarify that Gene Rosenthal is not entirely correct in his posting from the blog.
The film has never screened anywhere yet. The trailer that I made for Youtube one year ago, featured a shot that Gene claims to own. One month before he contacted me, I had already removed the trailer because the film was accepted into the Takoma Park Film Festival. I did not want to preempt the premiere in Takoma Park.
The final film (which still hasn't screened) did not/does not include the shot that was contested. Mr. Rosenthal was looking for payment for a clip which was not even in the film. We withdrew the film from the Takoma Park Film Festival so as not to butt heads with Mr. Rosenthal, who was looking for a fight. Anyone who knows Mr. Rosenthal knows his reputation precedes him.
Thanks for hearing my side,Marc Minsker
2009-02-27: Description of TLOBJD documentary from Wikipedia
"Starting work in 2007, Washington D.C. filmmaker Marc Minsker has completed a 30 minute documentary feature on the life of John Fahey entitled "John Fahey: The Legacy of Blind Joe Death." It chronicles his humble beginnings in Takoma Park, Maryland, through his success as a guitarist and record producer in California, and follows him through his dark days in Salem, Oregon. The film was accepted into the 7th Annual Takoma Park Film Festival."
Source: Wikipedia
2009-02-27: Friend of Gene Rosenthal replies at mudcat
Here's message posted at http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=116930 by a user named "Severn" (supposedly a long-time friend of Gene Rosenthal):
What was shown on the You Tube trailer was used without knowledge of neither the maker of the Bussard documentary or of Gene himself. Gene spoke with the filmmaker at length but things remained unresolved. The film was withdrawn from being shown at the festival after protests were made to the organizers and not publicly aired.
Source: http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=116930
2009-02-18: "John Fahey: Memorial"
We found this on http://www.adelphirecords.com/newreleases1.html (btw CEO of AR is Gene Rosenthal). Its release date is TBA. Just guessing, but maybe it's the "Memoriam" release that is listed here: http://www.johnfahey.com/pages/music4.html
"In 2003 Gene Rosenthal told the IFC that this is composed of previously unreleased material and will be released in CD and DVD format. The DVD will contain video footage."
2009-02-17: Future for TLOBJD documentary looking bleak?
The future might look bleak for this project after Adelphi Recordings president and CEO Gene Rosenthal commented on this blog entry (the blog entry has since been removed):
This video is, as far as I can ascertain, an unauthorized bootleg…………& further uses stolen (still) and 16mm film footage from this Company- Adelphi Records, Inc.
DO NOT SUPPORT SUCH RIP-OFFS!!!
<...>
PS- These rip-off artists NEVER contacted us about using our copyrighted material!
PPS- Please supply us an address so we can begin legal proceedings (against these pirates) in my friend John Fahey’s name, thanks. Gene R.
Source: http://naturalismo.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/john-fahey-the-legacy-of-bllind-joe-death/
2009-02-17: The trailer for TLOBJD documentary removed
The trailer for "The Legacy of Blind Joe Death" documentary on youtube has been removed.
Source: John Fahey: The Legacy of Blind Joe Death (Documentary)
2009-11-16: "John Fahey: The Fonotone Years (1958-1962)"
A 3 CD set to commemorate the 50th anniversary of John Fahey's first recordings for Joe Bussard's Fonotone Records. Remastered from the original reels of tape, this will mark the first time this music is available on CD.
Release date: 2009
Special thanks to Takashi Toyosaki for notifying us about this release.
Source: http://www.dust-digital.com/forthcoming.htm
2008-11-12: "The Legacy of Blind Joe Death" documentary trailer
"This 30-minute documentary focuses on the life of John Fahey, beginning with his humble beginnings in Takoma Park, MD, through his success as a guitarist and record producer in California, and following him through his dark days in Salem, OR. Thanks to Stefan Grossman for Fahey footage and support!"
Release date: February 2009
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_McoM_aflyg
2008-11-12: "How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life" gone missing
This documentary is no longer listed at http://southerndocumentaryfund.org/works-in-progress/how-bluegrass-music-destroyed-my-life/
Source: http://southerndocumentaryfund.org/
2008-07-24: Documentary: "How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life"
Is a feature length documentary on the life and work of John Aloysius Fahey (1939-2001) the self-anointed 'American Primitive' guitarist.
- Project Director: Anup Pradhan
- Make a donation to help out the project (follow the link above for more details)
Source: http://southerndocumentaryfund.org/works-in-progress/how-bluegrass-music-destroyed-my-life/
2009-07-24: New CD: "Three Day Band"
A new CD with John Fahey was released over a month ago called "Three Day Band"
"John Fahey and Ayal Senior layed down the tracks for Three Day Band in Fahey's Woodburn Hotel room at some point in 1999. These tracks show an undocumented improvisational side of Fahey. It's certainly not early period Fahey but not TOTE era either. At night after the recording sessions commenced Ayal would record Fahey reading selected excerpts from his writing. Fifteen tracks of Fahey reading are included here."
Tracklist:
- untitled jam #1
- untitled jam #2
- In These Stories
- How I Tell Stories
- The Great Koonaklaster
- Entertainers Pt. 1
- The Factory Pt. 1
- The Factory Pt. 2
- The Factory Pt. 3
- Collectors
- Entertainers 2
- Entertainers 3
- The Spirit Of Seriousness Kills
- Misfits
- Record Collecting
- Religion
- Creativity
Source: http://www.importantrecords.com/releases/imprec185_release_page.htm
2008-03-23: Reissue of "Visits Washington D.C" (CD)
"Visits Washington D.C." about to be reissued on CD on 2008-04-28 in the UK and 2008-05-06 in the US.
2008-01-24: Reissue of "The Mill Pond EP" (CD)
"The Mill Pond was originally released in 1997 as a double 7" that went immediately out of print. For it's 10th aniversary we're issuing it on compact disc housed in a deluxe letterpressed jacket and including an extensive booklet collecting John Fahey's paintings for the very first time. Limited edition."
"Four ecstatic, lo-fi grabs for the ring of eternity, recorded in Fahey's Oregon hotel room. Containing the first graspable evidence of John's throat-singing abilities, this represents the merging of the bull and the china shop. The crudity of the electronics and the delicacy of the stringwork makes for a wonderful match." — Byron Coley
"The Mill Pond EP" will be reissued on 2008-03-25.
Source: http://www.importantrecords.com/releases/imprec183_release_page.htm