Customer Reviews

Return Of The Repressed: The Anthology

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Rhino Records has done the music world a great service over the years in resurrecting old classic works, and here's another of their successes. Fahey's approach has not changed very much over the span of his 40 year plus career, but because he is such an original this is not necessarily a bad thing. The essentials of his music can thus be reasonably succinctly listed: (1) the leading American fingerpicking style guitarist of his generation, with strong influences on Leo Kottke and many, many others (2) a quirky sense of humor, evident both in his play and choice of subject material (3) a straightforward, almost brutally direct fingerpicking style (he calls 'American primitive') influenced by American blues and a slew of other elements (4) a singular lack of popular (i.e., sales) success (with the exception of his brilliant Christmas album, "The New Possibility") (5) a concentration on solo, vocal-less 6-string play, but with occasional excursions into bottleneck guitar, tape-looping, dog barks, and whatever else might suit him, and (6) the occasional educational element (Fahey has a Master's degree as a musicologist, and spent a good deal of time in the field collecting material by old masters). This collection is excellent and representative of it all; there are 42 cuts on the 2-cd package, including, among others, 'Sligo River Blues,' 'On Doing an Evil Deed Blues,' 'Knott's Berry Farm Molly,' 'In Christ There is No East or West,' 'The Yellow Princess' (my personal favorite), 'The Approaching of the Disco Void,' 'Rain Forest,' etc., etc. The best place to start for an overview of the musical world of this unconventional but fascinating instrumentalist.

The John Fahey of the Nineties tends to pan much of his early work. In a recent article for the British music magazine "Wire," Fahey says, "A lot of what I did is embarassing to me now, because it was pretentious and stupid." His legions of fans--myself included--disagree. Over the past forty years and as many albums, Fahey has created an impressive body of work which explores what the artist dubbed "American primitive" guitar.

The forty-two tracks on this album are culled from twenty albums beginning with the original recording of Blind Joe Death in 1959 (although it is the 1967 rerecordings that are used) through 1992's Old Girlfriends and Other Horrible Memories. Since only a handful of Fahey's albums are still in print, this compilation offers an opportunity to hear many songs that are otherwise unavailable.

Fahey's unique blend of blues and folk music make for some of the most arresting finger-style guitar playing you'll ever hear. Fans of Leo Kottke, the late Michael Hedges or countless other guitar players influenced by Fahey, owe it to themselves to listen to this generous sampling of songs from the master. Highlights are too numerous to mention, but I especially enjoy "Desperate Man Blues," "I'm Gonna Do All I Can for My Lord," "On the Sunny Side of the Ocean" and "In Christ There Is No East or West." ESSENTIAL

Surprising to see so few reviews of this set (so far). Fahey was hugely influential in the boom in acoustic guitar music that followed his recordings of The Legend Of Blind Joe Death in 1959, 1964 & 1967. It's doubtful that we ever would have heard Leo Kottke or any of the Windham Hill guitarists (Ackerman, Hedges, De Grassi, et al) if not for Fahey's playing, recording, producing and advocacy of this genre of music.

It is hard to get your arms around such a sprawling body of work, but this 2 CD anthology does a pretty good job. On the plus side, it includes a generous 6 cuts from Blind Joe Death. On the other hand, there is only 1 cut from America -- an inexplicable shortcoming fortunately remedied by the subsequent release of an extraordinarily expanded version of America. Anyone interested in Fahey should at least supplement this anthology with America.

Fahey went many places with his acoustic explorations and, frankly, one is unlikely to enjoy all of the songs here. However, the overall batting average is high (more so on disc 1 than on disc 2).

It's very hard to grasp the importance that John Fahey's music had in the development of the solo acoustic performance genre. Before Fahey the guitar (in "popular" music) was only there to support the voice. Fahey made the guitar the star. He did this not through sheer virtuosity, although certain elements of his technique were unmatched, but by being INTERESTING! His music was hard to pigeonhole, was it bluegrass,blues,new-age,folk?...all of these and none of these, it WAS thought provoking and hypnotic. Now that he's gone artists are coming out of the woodwork (at least three tribute albums already). He could have used their support during his very tough life, but Fahey was not an easy person to love. He was iconoclastic and highly critical(even of himself). His excellent literary efforts show him to be a very complex and troubled individual. This compilation of recordings is a good representation of his ever evolving musical style (he called it "American Primitive Guitar"). If you love music and don't know John Fahey, prepare to be profoundly changed.

This record superceeds the earlier "The Best of John Fahey 1959-1977" with more material spread over 2 CDs.

Fahey inspired Leo Kottke, William Ackerman and through them, nearly every acoustic guitarist of the last 30 years. Not all of Fahey's tunes "work" but the ones that do are awe-inspiring.

Two of my favorites are: The Sunny Side of the Ocean and The Last Steam Engine. Sunny Side of the Ocean sends shivers down my back each time I really listen to it. St. Louis Blues, Take a Look at that Baby, and In Christ there is no East or West are also excellant.

Its amazing what one man and an acoustic guitar was able to do. Thanks for the music John.

A fab 2-CD collection of one of the 20th Century's most innovative acoustic musicians, the late John Fahey. Yeah, it's true there's so much great John Fahey music out there, that limiting it to a single best-of seems a shame... Still, this is a wonderful introduction to his work... Admittedly, these beloved classic recordings from the '50s, '60s and '70s are to blame for the legions of sugary acoustic musicians to follow -- Will Ackerman, et al -- but the curse of history in no way diminishes the original power of Fahey's incredibly creative muse. As he brilliantly quotes and elaborates on old folk and turn-of-the-century popular music, Fahey distorts the melodies, meter and tonal qualities in radically unexpected, mind-altering ways. Chances are that if these two CDs are your first exposure to Fahey's work, you will be left swiftly scrambling for more.

The Return of the Repressed is wonderful and uplifting.