The Resurrection(s) of Blind Joe Death: The John Fahey Comeback Albums Poll

up until red cross i woulda said refuge or womblife. but red cross.

def. Red Cross. Untitled with Rain... *swooon*

red cross and hitomi are both gorgeous. this poll is missing the live "atlanta struts, georgia stomps" record.

haven't listened to it in forever, but doesn't the cul de sac record have its moments? mill pond is terrifying. best record is probably red cross, but these are all pretty interesting efforts i haven't quite wrapped my head around.

I haven't heard city of refuge or womblife. there was also the fahey trio radio set, which I also don't think I've heard. all his icy narcoleptic electric stuff was patchy & I know some people find the reverb-drenched slowness interminable, but the clarity & directness of the best late-fahey is very sobering, esp when wading through the pleasant-smelling structural waffle & hopeful reiterations of so many other guitarists that are spoken about w/reference to JF.

none of the records are really ~solid~ (red cross mb the best contender), but hitomi hangs together well, & there's good stuff scattered across them all as well as at least one or two killer live recordings. the sense of purpose he had over the last records is really incredible; it was an amazing end to his career. there's a sense of isolation about a lot of it that I can't help but find really sad, but everything was done w/ aggressive honesty & a lack of sentimentality. i enjoyed his drive manifesting as obstinacy, trolling his fans w/his flying v, tape loops & so on. always expressed w/ almost ritualistic calm. calling it 'deeply cathartic' doesn't go far enough.

I love the way he very deliberately shambles-together lonely reincarnations of old songs. you can almost hear his guitar creaking under the weight of his discography. JF was always incredible at quoting other musicians, and to hear him quote himself, gutting a rippling tune like melody mcbad and turn it into ananaias, wryly intoning liner notes he wrote for his first album forty years previously w/perhaps a grim affection... on the right night it can feel like the end of the world. i wish they'd put that version on red cross, it seems like ppl willed it into being some gesture of coming full-circle anyway, so they may as well have.

"i haven't come here to entertain you. um. i hope you don't expect me to... entertain you. i've come here to deliver a message to you, and the rest of the world. and the message is, that... it is getting late. very late. it is getting very late. it's not - ...it's getting very late. ok, i'll play the guitar."

Parts of the aforementioned KBOO session of the Fahey Trio surfaced on Hitomi, including one of my favorite Fahey pieces: "A History of Tokyo Rail Traction"

Great post, ogmor. I think 'icy narcoleptic' hits the nail on the head.

So, how does Hitomi compare with Red Cross? Same vibe? I mean, I'll need to buy it eventually.

Hitomi every time. It's just better than the others.

yeah this is key: "everything was done w/ aggressive honesty & a lack of sentimentality". he could've easily done a victory lap thing, playing the old things people (suddenly) wanted to hear, but he did this strange, alienating stuff. which is rough going but makes me want to figure out what he was up to.
could anyone hook a dude up w/ that fahey trio broadcast thing ogmor linked to? there's real audio/windows media here: http://johnfahey.com/pages/trio2.html, but you know...

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Ten people? A poor showing for ol' John. Anyway, I guess this was predictable. I was hoping someone would have some insight into why another of these might beat Red Cross. I certainly voted for it, but I'm a bit surprised by the landslide consensus.

yes yes yes yes yes
no no no no no