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Old Fashioned Love Takoma CDTAK-6511 CD £11.99 Reissue of this 1974 album that closes with Fahey's magisterial reading of the hymn "Dry Bones In The Valley (I Saw The Light Come Shining 'Round And 'Round)" after running through a set of orchestral arrangements with a bunch of LA jazz musicians (including the beautifully titled "The Assassination Of Stephan Grossman") and a series of duos with guitarist Woodrow Mann. The duos are particularly gorgeous, with the two playing through a Leslie cabinet for some orchestral reverb. This re-issue features extensive sleevenotes by Samuel Charters. |
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Yes! Jesus Loves Me Takoma CDTAK-7085 CD £11.99 Despite John Fahey's notoriously combative, curmudgeonly character and his lack of truck with "fake sentimentality and phony emotionalism", he was a sucker for Christmas records, old hymns and schmaltzy seasonally-themed collections of songs and he cut a series of these records across his career that constituted the bulk of his best selling sides. 1968's The New Possibility sold over 100, 000 copies. But by far the most rewarding of these is 1980's collection of "guitar hymns", Yes! Jesus Loves Me, coincidentally Fahey's worst-selling Takoma record due to a combination of wretched cover art and phasing problems with the initial vinyl cut. Up until now it has also been badly served on CD, only briefly available as part of a twofer with Maria Muldaur's Gospel Night. So this brand new full-reissue comes as so much gravy for the hardened Fahey nut, complete with liners by Kris Needs. The incredible compositional liberties that Fahey takes with the various readings and the way he plays around with the elemental melodies is fairly jaw-dropping and he brings a weight of ideas and execution to the table that is not commonly associated with Christmas fluff. His reading of "Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus" ranks up there alongside Sandy Bull's setting of William Byrd's "No Nobis Domine" as one of the most striking modernist/traditional amalgams ever couched in avant garde strings. "Christ is not cute," Fahey insisted. |
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Visits Washington, D.C. Takoma CDTAK-1069 CD £12.99 The final CD in Takoma’s on-going Fahey reissue program, Visits Washington, D.C. was released in 1979 and remains one of the lesser known – though highly rewarding – sides in his voluminous back catalogue. It’s a collection that balances inspired cover versions – Doc Watson’s “Silver Bell”, Bill Monroe’s “Cheyenne”, Leo Kottke’s “Death By Reputation”, Bola Sete’s “Guitar Lamento” – with extensive re-thinks of earlier themes and inventions, peaking with dizzyingly complex “The Grand Finale” which interweaves modes lifted from a clutch of totemic Fahey inventions and previously sketched heads. Great to have this one back in print. Comes with Fahey’s original liners and new notes from Kris Needs. |
