Henry Flynt was not the only minimalist on the block searching for the american primitive within. John Fahey made a consumatly ignored career out of it. Inventing a fictional alter-ego called Blind Joe Death,posing as a forgotten folk/blues musician from the twenties.After recording an album for his own imprint called Takoma Records after his home town,in 1959. He attempted to sell these albums himself. Some he gave away, some he sneaked into thrift stores and blues sections of local record shops, and some he sent to folk music scholars, a few of the dumber ones were even fooled into thinking that there really was a living old blues singer called Blind Joe Death.
In the fifties there was a record collecting trend towards old blues and country 78's from the twenties and thirties,so collectors were desperate to find undiscovered classics before their hip mates did.
John Fahey provided this convincing facimile for this burgeoning market,eventually selling out the first pressing of 100 discs three years later.So there would follow endless editions of Blind Joe albums troughout the sixties.....this is a CD version just in case you're wondering.
Fahey made several more albums under his alter-ego's name,and moved to San Francisco to check out the post-Beat, proto-hippie music scene, loathing in particular the awful Pete Seeger–inspired folk-music revivalists with which he found himself classed alongside. Fahey then moved south to Los Angeles to join UCLA's folklore master's program,incredibly,or, un-credibly, and received an M.A. in folklore in 1966,with a thesis on Charley Patton.Yep, he was qualified in Folk music!?...not sure if that's possible is it?
Before hitting the bottle, Dr.John M.A. made a few mildly avant-garde albums in the later part of the Sixties, including a lost album with the Red Krayola,that got binned by the record company....so that one must have been good?
After losing everything due to alcoholism, he was 'rediscovered' in the ninieties,making a few experimental avant-folk albums,and could often be seen adorning the cover of The Wire magazine.Hence new copies of 'Blind Joe Death' albums started appearing on white collor coffee tables all over the more comfortable parts of NATO subscribed countries and beyond.
Although his zeal and puritanism is admirable, i personally find these instrumentally forged folk/blues albums boring as fuck.
Yeah, great authentic finger pickin' technique, but i alway nod off when trying to get why he's so esteemed in such circles.I prefer Jandek myself.Fahey's qualifications are impeccable,but,i'm not sure Folk should be taught in Universities;its like an early version of that shameful Brits academy in London which churns out terrible production line pop stars,like Adele,who's been bangin' on about her boyfriend troubles for about a decade so far.
I'm thinking about doing a doctorate in Punk Rock too......Not!? Could certainly lecture on the subject if the money was right,but under my auspices, accepting money for such an anti-punk thing would be against the meaning of life the universe and punk rock!So such an idea would inevitably disappear up its own arse should it not?
Same goes for Folk, of which Punk Rock is a close relation.Discuss.
Tracklist:
Selections By Blind Joe Death
A1 On Doing An Evil Deed Blues
Written-By – Death*
A2 St. Louis Blues
Written-By – W. C. Handy
A3 I'm A Poor Boy A Long Ways From Home
Written-By – Barbecue Bob
A4 Uncloudy Day
Written-By – Traditional
A5 John Henry
Written-By [Spiritual] – Traditional
A6 In Christ There Is No East Or West
Written-By [Episcopal Church Hymn] – Traditional
Selections By John Fahey
B1 The Transcendental Waterfall
Written-By – John Fahey
B2 Desperate Man Blues
Arranged By – John Fahey
B3 Sun Gonna Shine In My Back Door Someday Blues
Written-By – John Fahey
B4 Sligo River Blues
Written-By – John Fahey
