Customer Reviews

John Fahey, Peter Lang, Leo Kottke

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first encountered this album when I purchased it on vinyl in the late seventies after a co-worker turned me on to Leo Kottke. This in turn introduced me to the master--John Fahey--and the relatively unknown Peter Lang.

Like Kottke after his first album on Takoma, Lang branched out to include session musicians and even the occasional vocal. It didn't work for him, mostly due to poorly chosen material. But Lang's guitar playing shines on the four cuts here. [And if you can find it, his only Takoma album "The Thing at the Nursery Room Window" is remarkable.]

As far as Kottke's and Fahey's contributions, they are as always superb. But other than this being the ONLY way to still hear anything by Peter Lang, this album serves as little more than a sampler for the twin pillars of finger-picking guitarists. It is, of course, all wonderful, but it will leave you wanting more...the next place to go is Kottke's "Six and Twelve String Guitar" and Fahey's "The Legend of Blind Joe Death." HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

What Piccard and Jones did with a balloon in '99, Kottke, Lang & Fahey did way back in '74 with a guitar. They took centuries old technology and redefined its capabilities by applying innovation, vision and courage. For the unenlightened that thought the guitar was limited to either ear splitting rock riffs and/or, campfire strum-alongs, this trio lifts the listener far above the peaks of expected performance and shows them the light.

A must have for fingerstyle guitar enthusiasts? Certainly, but more importantly, a must have for anyone who has no idea what fingerstyle guitar is. These are the guitar-tists that changed the guitar-picker paradigm and defined the fingerstyle genre.

It's about time this was released on a CD. I've worn my album out. This is the best of Kottke. Lang was a wonderful surprise. When Kings Come Home is an amazing song. As for Fahey, there is no one better on a 12 string and this selection of songs proves it.

I bought this album after seeing John Fahey at the Cellar Door in Washington, D.C. in the 1970s. I've been a Fahey fan since. However, the neglected artist of the three is Peter Lang. I cherish my vinyl copy of "The Thing at the Nursary Window" and welcome its eventual release in CD.

Perhaps the best compilation of players from the "Fahey" school of fingerstyle guitar. Kottke's Cripple Creek is an unaccompanied arrangement and really shows the focused power of his early playing. I've probably listened to this track about 1000 times and have yet to get tired of it. Lang was a revelation to me when I bought this record. A very polished player whose records are hard to find now. Fahey checks in with nicely remastered versions of older favorites. Why don't you already own this record? Buy it yesterday!

This is arguably the all-time best steel-string fingerstyle guitar record ever produced. It paved the way for Michael Hedges and more recent solo acoustic fingerstyle players, and the current acoustic instrumental music boom (if it's loud enough to be called that...;-)

Worth listening to, again and again and again.

I bought this album after seeing John Fahey at the Cellar Door in Washington, D.C. in the 1970s. I've been a Fahey fan since. However, the neglected artist of the three is Peter Lang. I cherish my vinyl copy of "The Thing at the Nursery Window" and welcome its eventual release in CD.

I found this record in a pile of my dad's old records that he had no use for anymore. I was already familiar with and loved some John Fahey, so I gave it a spin on a friends record player and immediately fell in love. This collection features 4 songs from each artist, and the way the songs flow, for a compilation, is remarkable. There is nothing really experimental on here at all, so it would serve as a great introduction to this type of finger picking acoustic guitar music. It is very melodic and accessible, as well.

I wanted a digital copy of the album for my mp3 player, and the mp3 version on Amazon is of great quality.

Highly recommended for anyone at all interested in this type of music.

After listening to this and other Takoma artists for almost three decades, I have started to appreciate the magnitude of this unique compilation. All of the selections reflect traditional folk influences infused with a variety of aural imprints, including blues. Not only is the degree of technical skill unmatchable but the music itself is a bridge between established acoustic themes and contemporary approaches. If you are expecting nice soft Windham Hill'esque (with the exception of Michael Hedges) or Narada'esque melodies, you will be disappointed. Forget that - thank goodness. Listening to Peter Lang's "St. Charles Shuffle" still blows my socks off. I can also take a trip on a slow mystical river - an image from some foggy past - listening to John Fahey's "Sunflower River Blues". Despite the different styles the music still has a unity that reflects a specific time in current fingerstyle guitar. Slide work, speed, expression, strong to perfect compositions, narrative - this cd has it all. The only fault of this album is that it did not include Takoma artists Michael Gulezian (a guitar monster in his own right) and Robbie Basho (an influence for handfuls of emerging guitarists). However, adding them to songlist would have required a double album concept which really would have been something.

Yep, I agree - if you love fingerstyle folk guitar (even just fingerstyle guitar) you should have this in your collection.

I have been listening to this album since it's release. I have worn out the record and now getting the CD. Can't wait to hear it digital!