Customer Reviews

I Remember Blind Joe Death

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

Fahey explained this disaster by saying that he had a virus when it was recorded and during the playback. It's a very poor album, full of bum notes and uninspiring playing. There's plenty of potentially good material, but it's really an object lesson against recording things when you're ill. His producer should have called on him to re-record it when he was better. It's too late now, of course.

John Fahey is a very interesting composer of solo guitar music for the most part. This album is all instrumental, all solo guitar. Quite interesting and harkens back to his early days and his first recording, The Legend of Blind Joe Death, a name he made up for himself. It is less melodic than the 60s recordings, but still very Fahey-esque. I am giving this one three stars only because the first five albums all seem to deserve five stars. Probably the best place to start with Fahey is the Kottke/Lang/Fahey record or any of the first three albums. The later records are more mature and more eclectic. He is just a great musician and one of a kind. See reviews of his other albums for more insight. I just did not find this album as moving as the early works, America (!) or God, Time & Casuality, but still recommended!