Rosewoody Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 I'm listening to stuff I haven't heard in 40 years, just feeling maudlin, wondering who else likes American primitive fingerstyle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefleppard Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 pardon my ignorance but i'd never heard of him. i really enjoyed this though... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93v6eoTjpig anyone know what he's playing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosewoody Posted September 19, 2008 Author Share Posted September 19, 2008 He is playing a Bacon & Day, which I understand, is being reissued, don't know by whom. Very ornate. Fahey was great stylist, started the Tacoma label which signed early Leo Kottke. Swampy Americana, esoteric song titles, very melancholy and mysterious cat who died broke and was probably too smart for his own well being. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NevadaPic Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. Soul has been replaced by $oul and it makes you want to hang your head and cry. I am listening to Karla Bonoff at the moment, another individual with too much soul and not enough 'commercial' appeal. There's a train a coming and we are going to be riding... Pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLiveSoundGuy Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 Thanks for that Rosewoody. I was not familiar, but I am now. Nice. While digging thru some of his stuff, I also found this: Don't know who the kid is, but the word prodigy comes to mind. I especially love the way he scratches his face about the 1:25 mark, without missing a beat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rambler Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 Heard him play in a small cafe in Urbana years ago. Great lap slide. Plus helped rediscovered country bluesmen and recorded Leo Kottke. Check him and other great primitives: Paul Geremia, Steve James, KJ Phelps.... ps Cunk, your avatars are killing me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 Put me in the 'maudlin' camp! A woman I now play with hung with him a lot when they both lived in Portland, Or. She has a lot of stories-- he was one of the special ones. I worked through a number of his arrangements a few years ago; love that stuff. But I've never cared for the 'primitive' label-- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosewoody Posted September 20, 2008 Author Share Posted September 20, 2008 So Hoss, that makes you one degree removed from John Fahey, right? Or is it 2 degrees? Very cool, whichever. BTW, for so long people tried to categorize JF into "folk," "then "new age," "experimental," "free-form," "middle eastern raga jazz" that he himself preferred just to call his thing"American Primitive" as a handle. This according to his publisher, but I suspect Fahey resisted labels generally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thermionik Posted September 20, 2008 Share Posted September 20, 2008 Adored the man - one of the most influential guitarists in my early playing years (1962 onwards). First introduced to him by my high-school art teacher, who was himself a pretty hot blues player (Mr Cohen, Owen's Boys - if you read this, you were the man.....). Through Fahey and his management/recording I discovered the likes of Leo Kottke, Mike Bloomfield, Canned Heat, Bukka White, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and the quite gorgeous Maria Muldaur (forgive me if her name is mis-spelled). He dropped off the radar with some illness or drink problems, or both, and I hear he died a while back, which is a shame. Last saw him in London at some posh venue in the late nineties and he WAS hard work to listen to, and didn't seem to care about his audience - but some of us forgave and listened anyway..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted September 20, 2008 Share Posted September 20, 2008 +1 Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grampa Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Fahey was one of my early influences at least in the area of fingerstyle kind of stuff. Truely a trailblazer although a really odd bird. My favorite Fahey story was from my younger brother who was an on-the-road folk musician and one time at a festival somewhere he encountered Fahey in a restroom reaching into the toilet saying something about dropping his cars keys. His playing, though, was a revelation. Along with Sandy Bull I realized that one could just play the guitar as a solo instrument for more than just the classical stuff like Segovia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modac Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 I listened to a lot of Fahey back in my formative years, but always preferred **** Rosmini, who predated him, as a guitarist. Rosmini was light years ahead of his time. I still have this record....which still blows me away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thermionik Posted September 27, 2008 Share Posted September 27, 2008 By way of a shameless BUMP Dug this out from the vinyl. Hard work listening, but rewarding..... The Voice of the Turtle:- Bottleneck Blues Bill Cheatum Lewisdale Blues Bean Vine Blues Bean Vine Blues #2 A Raga Called Pat, Part III A Raga Called Pat, Part IV Train Je Ne Me Suis Reveillais Matin Pas En May The Story Of Dorothy Gooch, Part I Nine-Pound Hammer Lonesome Valley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acousticat Posted September 27, 2008 Share Posted September 27, 2008 One of the best, love his version of Candy Man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixpakplayer Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 It's nice to hear artists name mostly of which have not heard since the 60's. There was a local Radio station here KSAN and the DJ's had pretty much free reign to play many different artists. All these names mentioned and then some, Michael Bloomfield for me tops the list, that is because I met him around 69'-70' I was a junior in high school and had just turned 18. At a local park where everybody gathered to party on weekends. We, that in myself Mike and another guy ended up talking over a period of a couple of weekends. The hands down best conversations I ever had. We talked about just about everything but when was finally wiling, we talked Music and Michael just lit up, he was in his element, it was a who , what, where and why of music structure, form and history of American "Primitive" traditional, oh let's not forget Jazz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grampa Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 When I started playing - I started in '62 - he was about the only solo player around who wasn't a classical player. Huge influence on me and a lot of players I knew back then. He was quite a character. My brother was a folk musician and he had played at a festival where Fahey was also. My brother's main contact with him was in a bathroom where Fahey was fishing around in a toilet grumbling about dropping his keys in the toilet. But his music was fabulous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayla Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Love what he did! And've learned a couple of 'em: "Sligo River Blues" (one of the two or three pieces that really inspired me to get into fingerstyle playing), and "Uncloudy Day." That piece posted up above -- "Red Pony" -- is really nice, too. Just wonderful stuff! All kina info + tabs here: http://www.johnfahey.com/ Yowsa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modac Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 **** Rosmini, another "primative", must certainly have been an influence upon Kottke. His albums are rare, but they are well worth seeking out. He could play a little,too. Check out this clip. 1964. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgretz Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I don't log into here often, but yes, I remember John Fahey - still have all the Blind Joe Death albums on vinyl. Great stuff - still listenable after all these years. jdg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardinal2B Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Yep, used to play his records on the radio back in my progressive DJ days. He could make that D-35 sing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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