Jazz Articles

John Fahey: The Best of John Fahey, volume 2, 1964-1983

by Charlie B. Dahan
February 1, 2004

It seems one of the happiest days in John Fahey’s life was the day he was included in Spin magazine's guide to “Alternative Music," which included biographies about such artists as Nirvana, the Pixies and Joy Division. This listing finally validated that someone understood him and his musical career. Often lumped into the categories of “folk revivalist," or even worse, “father of new age guitar," Fahey simply played his guitar with raw emotion and soul. Fahey's compatriot ...

John Fahey: Days Have Gone By

by Derek Taylor
October 1, 2001

John Fahey’s death from medical complications earlier this year was a shock to many of his loyal listeners, but in the context of the commercial music world his passing went largely unnoticed. A prime reason for this disparity of awareness originates in Fahey’s resolute refusal to play the commercial music game and in many instances to openly (and cleverly) mock it. One of his earliest ruses was the invention of an alter ego for himself (the legendary itinerant bluesman Blind ...

Robbie Basho: Bashovia

by Derek Taylor
September 1, 2001

Robbie Basho had all the requisite trappings of a musical eccentric. So states John Fahey in his posthumously published sleeve notes to this second compendium of the enigmatic guitarist’s work for Fahey’s own Takoma label. While Fahey’s reminiscences often poke fun Basho’s fabricated persona (and ironically cite several critiques that could just as easily be leveled against Fahey himself) they also reflect an underlying respect for the man, both as musician and stylistic original.

Fancying himself the reincarnation of a ...

John Fahey: Vol. 4 - The Great San Bernadino Birthday Party and Other Excursions

by Glenn Astarita
December 1, 2000

Vol. 4 - The Great San Bernadino Birthday Party and Other Excursions represents archival material culled from the early to mid-60’s by legendary acoustic guitar pioneer John Fahey who melded traditional Americana type themes with a deeply personalized vernacular. On the nineteen-minute title track, the guitarist combines grassroots style picking with odd tunings, unorthodox phrasing and keen utilization of space and depth. Yet Fahey also experimented with EFX back in those days which is evident on “Knott’s Berry Farm Molly”, ...

John Fahey: Vol. 4 - The Great San Bernadino Birthday Party and Other Excursions

by Glenn Astarita
December 1, 2000

Vol. 4 - The Great San Bernadino Birthday Party and Other Excursions represents archival material culled from the early to mid-60’s by legendary acoustic guitar pioneer John Fahey who melded traditional Americana type themes with a deeply personalized vernacular. On the nineteen-minute title track, the guitarist combines grassroots style picking with odd tunings, unorthodox phrasing and keen utilization of space and depth. Yet Fahey also experimented with EFX back in those days which is evident on “Knott’s Berry Farm Molly”, ...

John Fahey: The Great San Bernadino Birthday Party

by Derek Taylor
December 1, 2000

Relatively few musicians can lay claim to creating an entire school of music. John Fahey is among the number who can though his reclusive nature has often been at odds with the accompanying celebrity his earlier innovations engendered. Fahey gathered the seemingly disparate genres of European classical, country blues, religious music and even free improvisation, and brewed them into his own alchemical mead called American Primitive. Central to the early incarnations of his signature style was the steel string acoustic ...