I Remember Blind Joe Death

John Fahey | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Varrick
• ASIN: B0000003PA
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #405,163 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Fahey continues to inspire, June 5, 2008

By 

A. Oltsch - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Remember Blind Joe Death (Audio CD)

I shall add my voice to Mr. Welding's.
I'd thought that this was a tribute recording- and was very pleased to come across it and see it is original. The first two tracks are not particularly inspiring, especially if you are familiar with the lovely genius of his various recordings of Steamboat Gwine Round De Bend. But I thought to myself: just relax and enjoy this as itself, instead of demanding that this music be something else.
However, I needn't have developed any "forgiving" attitude, since the rest of this recording is well worth our abiding interest.
And there are certainly passages of serious syncopation, folks!
A wide variety of music, sounds and styles.
I have recently (after hearing Mr. Fahey's collection Yes, Jesus Loves Me! several times) enjoyed Fahey's deconstruction of straightforward time signatures. No doubt some of the hymns have this feature, with elongated measures such as In Christ There Is No East Or West presented.
But here he brings this concept to several pieces. I get a kick out of not knowing what might come next, as he runs several pieces through completely unexpected chord and mood changes. An interesting recording that nobody should hesitate to purchase, and I believe lovers of Fahey will welcome. It isn't slick, but it's good.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars moments of rough beauty, January 29, 2007

By 

Peter G. Welding - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Remember Blind Joe Death (Audio CD)

it's fairly disingenuous to say that john fahey shouldn't have recorded this because he was sick. furthermore, to say fahey himself wrote this album off isn't entirely relevant, since he didn't look back to his early takoma lp's for inspiration later in life, particularly when he was recording his 'red cross' and 'womblife' records. to say this isn't as good as the earlier 'blind joe death' is to misunderstand the essence of fahey's musical evolution. at this stage in his life, he was fighting off the oft-misunderstood (yet nevertheless debilitating) epstein-barr virus. perhaps some reviewers would rather he did not record this album, but it is a window on the artist during a particularly rough period in his life. [it's like saying "maybe richard and linda thompson shouldn't have recorded that album while their relationship disintegrated around them."] yes, the pace is slower, the tone is darker, but uninspired? hardly.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bad, January 11, 2003

By 

P. Bryant (Nottingham, England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Remember Blind Joe Death (Audio CD)

John was quite ill when he made this record, and it shows. There's no inspiration, and no syncopation. Everything is tired, flat, listless, dull. You'll never find a more apt title on anyone's album than "Minutes Seem Like Hours, the Hours Seem Like Days". So this is for completists only. As the album title itself says "I Remember 'Blind Joe Death'" - now THAT was a great album!