A folk hermit, a guru of primitivism, a minstrel of western raga, John Fahey built a populist, ethnological new art of sound, which was the sonic equivalent of the “stream of consciousness” of William James or automatic surrealist writing.

Fahey is the spiritual father of the “American Primitive Guitar,” the folk style that emphasizes the solo metaphysical acoustic guitar (especially when strictly solo and strictly instrumental). Fahey had two models to follow: the Goofing-Off Suite by Pete Seeger (1955) and Sandy Bull’s Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo (1963). Most of his music, though, was the result of musical and spiritual introspection that had little in common with those models (at first, this was purely technical, but later it became transcendental).

John Fahey, a native of Maryland (born in Takoma Park), matured musically in California in the late ‘50s. His training took place in the world of blues, and he would eventually acquire an encyclopedic knowledge of American music. During college he shared a room with Al Wilson (of Canned Heat), and in his company Fahey discovered the classics of the blues genre. He graduated with a thesis on Charley Patton.

In 1958, he created and published his first album, Blind Joe Death (Takoma, 1959), which was dedicated to a non-existent bluesman. The album was originally printed on only 95 copies, but in the long run, on a national scale, it would become a relative phenomenon of primitivism. Among the many traditional songs within, there were two of his original compositions which stood out: The Transcendental Waterfall and On Doing an Evil Deed Blues, which both had little in common with the folk revival of those years.

Death Chants (Takoma, 1963) contains ten songs, including some surreal cartoons (Stomping Tonight on the Pennsylvania/Alabama Border, The Downfall of the Adelphi Rolling Grist Mill, and Dance of the Inhabitants of the Palace of King Phillip XIVI).

Although it would be several more years before Fahey decided to take a serious career in music, he released Dance of Death (Takoma, 1964) in 1964. To have a free hand in the “transfiguration” of folk music, before the publishing of this record Fahey officially founded his own record label, called Takoma (in tribute to his land of origin). This album contains two long improvisations, Dance of Death and What the Sun Said, which anticipated the masterpieces of Fahey’s mature years.

In these transition years, Fahey engaged in apprenticeships and found his true nature as a disciple of the guitar. From his mentors, he learned techniques that would eventually lead to the zenith of his musical output, including a curious return to unorthodox styles that were inspired by both the symphonic poems of romance and the soundtracks to silent films.

The first results of Fahey’s mature years are found in Great San Bernardino Party (Takoma, 1966), especially the long The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party, and Requia (Vanguard, 1967), which contains the four part Requiem for Molly, which overdubs noises such as war sounds and Nazi war chants.

Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death (Riverboat, 1965) miniaturizes that profane conception of sacred music on honky-tonk rhythm (Orinda-Moraga) and on blues rhythm (Death of Clayton Peacock), while introducing elements of Eastern religions (I Am the Resurrection), to define a new kind of ecstatic litany (On the Sunny Side).

His impressionistic narrative art continued to evolve on

Days Have Gone By (Takoma, 1967) via the frenzied, dramatic and cinematic Night Train To Valhalla and the elegant, unstable eloquence of The Portland Cement Factory at Monolith - California, while A Raga Called Pat blends railway sounds, field recordings of a pond and raga-like concentration, and the nine-minute My Shepherd Will Supply My Needs is a slow, whispered religious prayer. His palette is broad enough to encompass both the stately hymn The Revolt Of The Dyke Brigade and the breezy serenade Impressions Of Susan, and to amuse with an antiquated miniature like My Grandfather's Clock.

Yellow Princess (Vanguard, 1968) is carried away by the moods of the hippie era (the raga Dance of the Inhabitants of the Invisible City of Bladensburg, the horrific psychedelia Singing Bridge of Memphis, Tennessee, the madrigal Yellow Princess), and it shows the same expressive maturity of the aforementioned record on a more humble level.

In these records, Fahey unleashes a vast amount of ideas. Each album is a mosaic of instrumental monologues, never shrill, rhetorical, or martial, but always crystal clear and delicate. Fahey shuns sensationalism and the breathtaking acrobatics of the bluegrass virtuosos: his “picking” is much more intimate, composed, and resigned.

The ingredients of his style are all still recognizable: the blues, gospel, country, Irish dancing, church music, psychedelia. To amalgamate all of these into a single continuum, he utilizes unrecognizable Indian classical music.

On Voice of the Turtle (Takoma, 1968), Fahey creates a fusion of western guitar playing and Indian scales (A Raga Called Pat Parts 3 and 4), and then developed his conception of metaphysical primitivism. Fahey, on this record, would finalize a guitar style that is the folk equivalent of stream of consciousness.

The Voice of the Turtle is the first of three soloist and instrumental masterpieces by Fahey, followed by America (Takoma, 1971 – Fantasy, 1999 – 4 Men With Beards, 2009) and Fare Forward Voyagers (Takoma, 1973). The tracks on Turtle stretch, relax, chase each other through the skies in timeless and endless valleys over a period of sunrises and sunsets, and the listener is hoisted as if on a magic carpet, drifting down a stream of memories and dreams. Fahey shifts the emphasis of this record towards mysticism, transcendence, and metaphysics. From America  there are the tracks Mark 1:15 and The Voice of the Turtle, and from Fare Forward Voyagers there is When the Fire and the Rose are One; these tracks especially create an intense blues atmosphere/ the raga of “man-turtle” transfigures existence in a sort of internal journey/ eternal in the mind.

The slow tinkling of the guitar, left to drift alone, cradling the dreams of pioneers, the anxieties of solitary adventurers, the hopes of the caravan, crosses landscapes of boundless prairies and unexplored mountains, majestic rivers and terrible oceans. What Fahey achieves is a stream of collective consciousness, and in that stream the consciousness of humanity is recognized in the whole of odysseys and travelers are bid a “fare forward voyage,” while the whole times the great Ulysses sails, rides, or walks towards the unknown.

And in this is the message of the “western raga” which Fahey created: the hypnotic and cultish breaking away from calm and anemic cadences, away from any temptation of descriptivism or imitation of tradition. The music that results, cryptic and obscure, is nevertheless full of a rich and warm humanism.

Rocco Stilo writes:

Among all of the updates, you forgot to mention the new CD reissue of America, which restores the disc in its original, double-sized “concept.” It recovers nine songs from Takoma which Fahey was persuaded to set aside; they would end up forgotten. This is, in my opinion, one of the most important events of American folk music in recent years, due to the monumental size of the disk and the presence of so many masterpieces (those already known and those that are “new”). Among the “new” songs, several in particular stand out: the title track (absent from the original), which according to Takoma is the only known 12 piece song by Fahey, Dalhart, Texas, 1967, which is perhaps the best among those retrieved, and two beautifully themed tracks, Jesus is a Dying Beadmaker and Dvorak. The latter is taken from a theme by the eponymous composer. Reference page: http://www.fantasyjazz.com/cat_fahey.html.

Voyagers is by far Fahey’s most lyrical composition, both complex and majestic. Where Voice is still tied to a fairytale world, both in the cadence and the story told, Voyagers rises in a spectacular whirlwind of celestial visions, a modest and ascetic mandala.

At that point, in correspondence with the general slowdown of alternative instances of the ‘60s that was replaced by a period of relaxation and gentrification, Fahey becomes satisfied with scholarly nonchalane and often proceeds to browse the pages of the American past: Of Rivers and Religion (Reprise, 1972), is arranged in a far more professional manner (dobro, mandolin, trumpet, clarinet, piano, double bass) and echoes Dixieland music. However, it is far less “personal” and unique than the other albums of this period. Contemporaneously, After the Ball (Reprise, 1973) and some Christmas album were released.

The best of these nostalgic reinterpretations of music from the early part of the century is perhaps Old Fashioned Love (Takoma, 1975), on which Fahey is accompanied by a band with a tuba, trumpet, trombone, jug, banjo, and piano, and where, wandering between blues and ragtime, he eventually reaches another one of his ecstatic mantras with Dry Bones in the Valley.

The pathological curiosity with the archaic 78’s would remain a constant throughout Fahey’s career, a fever that would assail at regular intervals.

The creative fatigue, however, was offset by a beautiful theme of fantasy, sweetness, good nature, and optimism that was missing in Fahey’s masterpieces. His exuberant travel impressions on Visits Washington DC (Takoma, 1979) contain the breathtaking Grand Finale, and the next record, Railroad 1 (Takoma, 1983), contained “imitations” of trains. Old Girlfriends and Other Horrible Memories (Varrick, 1990) contains themes of courtly rock music romances. Let Go (Varrick, 1984) and Rain Forests (Varrick, 1985) both contain folk variations on famous rock and classical compositions, and both albums come off as a bit distracted.

Fahey è il padre spirituale dell'"american primitive guitar", lo stile folk che privilegia l'assolo metafisico di chitarra acustica (soprattutto se rigorosamente solista e strumentale). Fahey aveva due modelli a cui ispirarsi, il Pete Seeger di Goofing Off Suite (1955) e il Sandy Bull di Fantasia For Guitar & Banjo (1963), ma il risultato fu una musica introspettiva e personale che aveva poco in comune con quei modelli (puramente tecnico il primo, e trascendentale il secondo).

John Fahey, originario del Maryland (nato a Takoma Park), si era formato musicalmente in California verso la fine degli anni '50. La sua formazione avvenne nel mondo del blues, genere del quale acquisira` una conoscenza quasi enciclopedica. Ai tempi del college divideva la camera con Al Wilson (Canned Heat) e in sua compagnia riscopriva i classici del genere. Si laureò con una tesi su Charley Patton.

Nel 1958 registro` il suo primo disco, Blind Joe Death (Takoma, 1959), dedicato a un bluesman inesistente. L'album venne stampato in sole 95 copie, ma, a lungo andare, lancio` su scala nazionale il fenomeno del primitivismo. Fra tanti brani tradizionali spiccavano due sue composizioni originali, Transcendental Waterfall e On Doing An Evil Deed Blues, che avevano poco in comune con il folk revival di quegli anni.

Death Chants (Takoma, 1963) contiene dieci brani, fra cui alcune vignette surreali (Stomping Tonight On The Pennsylvania-Alabama Border, The Downfall Of The Adelphi Rolling Grist Mill real audio, Dance Of The Inhabitants Of The Palace Of King Phillip XIV).

Dovettero comunque passare altri sei anni prima che Fahey decidesse di intraprendere seriamente la carriera di musicista, Dance Of Death (Takoma, 1964). Per avere mano libera nella sua "trasfigurazione" del folk Fahey fondò una sua etichetta discografica, battezzata Takoma in omaggio al suo paese d'origine. L'album contiene due lunghe improvvisazioni, Dance Of Death e What The Sun Said, che anticipano i capolavori dell'eta` matura.

In questi anni di apprendistato Fahey si rivela discepolo dei chitarristi di colore, dai quali apprende la tecnica che porterà ai massimi estremi, ma anche curioso rivisitatore e adattatore di stili eterodossi che si ispirano tanto ai poemi sinfonici del romanticismo quanto alle colonne sonore dei film muti.

I primi risultati maturi si trovano in Great San Bernardino Party (Takoma, 1966), soprattutto la lunga Birthday Party, e in Requia (Vanguard, 1967), in particolare quello per Molly in quattro parti (che porta sovraincisi rumori di guerra e inni nazisti).

Transfiguration Of Blind Joe Death (Riverboat, 1965), che miniaturizza quella concezione profana di musica sacra a ritmo honky-tonk (Oringa-Moraga) e blues (Death Of Clayton Peacock) introducendo elementi delle religioni orientali (I Am The Resurrection) per definire un nuovo tipo di litania estatica (On The Sunny Side); Days Have Gone By (Takoma, 1967), che contiene uno dei primi collage di rumori, Raga Called Pat, e altre miniature eccentriche (Night Train Of Valhalla, The Portland Cement Factory At Monolith California, My Shepherd Will Supply My Needs); e Yellow Princess (Vanguard, 1968), che si lascia trasportare dagli umori hippie del tempo (il raga Dance Of The Inhabitants Of The Invisible City Of Bladensburg, la psichedelia orrifica di Singing Bridge Of Memphis Tennessee, il madrigale di Yellow Princess) testimoniano della stessa maturità espressiva su un piano più umile.

In questi dischi Fahey distilla una mole sterminata di idee. Ogni album è un mosaico di monologhi strumentali mai petulanti, retorici o marziali, sempre cristallini e delicati. Fahey rifugge dal sensazionalismo e dalle acrobazie mozzafiato dei virtuosi di bluegrass: il suo è un "picking" molto più raccolto, composto e dimesso.

Gli ingredienti del suo stile sono ancora riconoscibili: il blues, il gospel, il country, le danze irlandesi, la musica da chiesa, la psichedelia. Ad amalgamarli in un continuum unico e renderli irriconoscibili è la musica classica indiana.

Su Voice Of The Turtle (Takoma, 1968) Fahey sperimenta una fusione di chitarrismo occidentale e scale indiane (A Raga Called Pat Part 3 and 4) e da quel momento matura la sua concezione metafisico-primitivista. Fahey mette a punto uno stile chitarristico che è l'equivalente folk del flusso di coscienza.

The Voice Of The Turtle è il primo dei tre capolavori solisti e strumentali di Fahey, seguito da America (Takoma, 1971 - Fantasy, 1999 - 4 Men With Beards, 2009) e Fare Forward Voyagers (Takoma, 1973). I brani si allungano, si distendono, si rincorrono in cieli e vallate senza fine e senza tempo, nel trascorrere di albe e di tramonti, si inalberano come tappeti magici, vanno alla deriva trascinati dalla corrente dei ricordi e dei sogni. Fahey sposta l'enfasi verso il misticismo, la trascendenza, la metafisica.
In dissertazioni come Mark 1:15 e The Voice Of The Turtle (su America), When the Fire and the Rose are One e soprattutto Fare Forward Voyagers le intense atmosfere blues/raga dell'"uomo-tartaruga" trasfigurano l'esistenza in una sorta di viaggio interno/eterno nella mente.
I lenti tintinnii della chitarra, lasciata andare alla deriva da sola, cullano i sogni dei pionieri, le ansie degli avventurieri solitari, le speranze delle carovane; attraversano paesaggi di praterie sconfinate, di montagne inesplorate, di fiumi maestosi, di oceani terribili. Quello di Fahey è un flusso di coscienza collettivo, è il flusso di coscienza di un'umanità intera che si riconosce nelle odissee di tutti i "viaggiatori lontano in avanti", tutti i grandi piccoli Ulisse che navigarono, cavalcarono o camminarono, verso l'ignoto.
E' questo il messaggio del "raga occidentale" da lui fondato: di quell'ipnotico e occulto frangersi degli accordi su cadenze pacate e anemiche, lontano da qualsiasi tentazione di descrittivismo o di imitazione della tradizione. La musica che ne risulta, criptica e oscura, è nondimeno pregna di un umanesimo ricco e caloroso.

Rocco Stilo scrive:

A quel punto, in corrispondenza con il generale rallentamento delle istanze alternative degli anni '60, subentra un periodo di rilassamento, di imborghesimento, in cui Fahey si accontenta spesso di sfogliare con erudita nonchalance le pagine del passato americano: Of Rivers And Religion (Reprise, 1972), arranged in a more professional way (dobro, mandolin, trumpet, clarinet, piano, double bass) and echoing Dixieland music, but less "personal" and unique than other albums of this period, and After The Ball (Reprise, 1973), e alcuni album natalizi.

La migliore di queste nostalgiche rivisitazioni della musica dei primi del secolo è forse Old Fashioned Love (Takoma, 1975), sulla quale è accompagnato da una banda con tuba, tromba, trombone, jug, banjo, e piano e dove, divagando fra blues e ragtime, finisce per pervenire a un altro dei suoi mantra estatici, Dry Bones In The Valley.

La curiosità patologica per gli arcaici 78 giri rimarrà comunque una costante della sua carriera, una febbre che lo assalirà a intervalli regolari.

La stanchezza creativa è però compensata da una suggestiva fantasia tematica e da una dolcezza, una bonarietà, un ottimismo che mancavano nei capolavori. Fahey dispensa esuberanti impressioni di viaggio, su Visits Washington D.C. (Takoma, 1979), con il mozzafiato Grand Finale; una raccolta di "imitazioni" di treni, Railroad I (Takoma, 1983); le romanze cortesi su temi della musica rock di Old Girlfriends And Other Horrible Memories (Varrick, 1990); variazioni folk su brani celebri di musica rock e classica, su Let Go (Varrick, 1984) and Rain Forests (Varrick, 1985). Sono album un po' distratti.

Yes Jesus Loves Me (Takoma, 1980), a collection of sacred music, and I Remember Blind Joe Death (Rounder, 1987) are other albums of this period. God Time And Causality (Shanachie, 1990) is possibly the apex of his guitar technique, although it mainly reworks material of the 1960s.

The Return Of The Repressed (Rhino, 1994) is an anthology.

A serious disease began affecting his career in 1986 and eventually caused him to reture. Fahey returned to the scenes with a double 78-RPM record, Morning/ Evening Not Night (Perfect, 1996).

City of Refuge (Tim Kerr, 1997) marked John Fahey's return, but it was a mixed blessing. Fahey had abandoned his progressive-folk style and converted to modern technology. City of Refuge is an epic-length exploration of textural possibilities, and On the Death and Disembowelment of the New Age is, de facto, a concert of tape manipulation (20 minutes). Fahey the musician prevails over Fahey the poet.

Womblife (Table Of The Elements, 1997), an exercise in psychedelic ambience, contains five lengthy pieces: Sharks (9:20), Planaria (9:54), Eels (6:13), Coelacanths (7:28), Juana (12:34). At least the gamelan nightmare Planaria ranks among his masterpieces. this period.

The EP The Mill Pond (Little Brother, 1997) is far more adventurous that either 1997 album: Ghosts, Garbage and Mill Pond are electronic and dissonant music at its best.

The Epiphany Of Glenn Jones (Thirsty Ear, 1997) is a collaboration with Cul De Sac. A few pieces are impressive (Gamelan Collage, New Red Pony, Our Puppet Selves, Magic Mountain, Tuff) but the music does not sound as personal and emotional as it used to. It sounds like a university lecture.

The Mill Pond (Important, 2008) collects a double single from 1997, two of his most experimental and somber works: The Mill Pond Drowns Hope and You Can't Cool Off In The Mill Pond, You Can Only Die

Georgia Stomps Atlanta Struts (Table of the Elements, 1998) is his first-ever all-electric recording, but the repertory is mostly covers.

Hitomi (Livhouse, 2000) is hardly revolutionary in his career, despite the bright watercolors of Delta Flight 53.

Red Cross (Revenant, 2003), the last album he recorded before his death, is a very minor work.

Hard Time Empty Bottle Blues (1-4) (Table Of The Elements, 2004) is a four-track EP that documents a live 1996 performance.

The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick (2005) documents live performances from the 1960s.

Sea Changes and Coelacanths - A Young Person's Guide To John Fahey (Table Of The Elements, 2006) is a double-CD that collects Womblife (1997), Georgia Stomps, Atlanta Struts, & Other Contemporary Dance Favorites (1998) and Hard Time Empty Bottle Blues (2003).

Twilight On Prince Georges Avenue (Rounder, 2009) is a compilation of the period 1984-1992.

The five-disc box-set Your Past Comes Back To Haunt You (The Fonotone Years 1958-1965) collects the earliest John Fahey recordings.

John Fahey died in february 2001 at 62.

Yes Jesus Loves Me (Takoma, 1980), una collezione di musica sacra, e I Remember Blind Joe Death (Rounder, 1987) sono gli altri album del periodo. God Time And Causality (Shanachie, 1990) e' forse l'apice della sua tecnica chitarristica benche` contenga principalmente materiale dei '60. The Return Of The Repressed (Rhino, 1994) e' un'antologia. Una grave malattia che lo afflisse dal 1986 lo costrinse al ritiro. Fahey torno' pero' con un doppio 78 giri, Morning/ Evening Not Night (Perfect, 1996). City of Refuge (Tim Kerr, 1997) segna il ritorno in modo contraddittorio. Fahey aveva abbandonato il progressive-folk in favore della moderna tecnologia. City of Refuge e' una lunga ed epica esplorazione delle possibilita' testuali, e On the Death and Disembowelment of the New Age e' di fatto una manipolazione di nastri (20 minuti). Il Fahey musicista prevale sul poeta. Womblife (Table Of The Elements, 1997), ambience psichedelica, contiene cinque lunghi pezzi: Sharks (9:20), Planaria (9:54), Eels (6:13), Coelacanths (7:28), Juana (12:34). Tra i capolavori del periodo figura il pezzo da incubo Planaria. L'EP The Mill Pond (Little Brother, 1997) e' ben piu' avventuroso del precedente: Ghosts, Garbage e Mill Pond sono ottima musica elettronica e dissonante.

The Epiphany Of Glenn Jones (Thirsty Ear, 1997) e' una collaborazione con i Cul De Sac. Alcuni pezzi sono suggestivi (Gamelan Collage, New Red Pony, Our Puppet Selves, Magic Mountain, Tuff) ma la musica perde in personalita' ed emozione e suona come una lezione universitaria. Georgia Stomps Atlanta Struts (Table of the Elements, 1998) e' la sua prima registrazione totalmente elettronica, con un repertorio di quasi sole covers.

Hitomi (Livhouse, 2000) ha ben poco di rivoluzionario nonostante la splendente Delta Flight 53.

Red Cross (Revenant, 2003), ultimo album registrato prima della sua morte, è un lavoro molto minore.Hard Time Empty Bottle Blues (1-4) (Table Of The Elements, 2004) è un EP che documenta quattro pezzi du un live del 1996.The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick (2005) documenta performance dal vivo degli anni sessanta.Sea Changes and Coelacanths - A Young Person's Guide To John Fahey (Table Of The Elements, 2006) è un doppio CD che raccoglie Womblife (1997), Georgia Stomps, Atlanta Struts, & Other Contemporary Dance Favorites (1998) e Hard Time Empty Bottle Blues (2003).Twilight On Prince Georges Avenue (Rounder, 2009) è una raccolta del periodo 1984-1992.I cinque dischi del box-set Your Past Comes Back To Haunt You (The Fonotone Years 1958-1965) raccolgono le prime registrazioni di John Fahey.

John Fahey mori' nel Febbraio 2001 a 62 anni.

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