Review

Hadn't really returned to Fahey in a while — kinda hard to hear music by a friend who died sometimes — and Fahey ruled. One day Jim O('Rourke) pointed at this CD and said "Oh, this is pretty good, Kaiser put it together" — well hell, say no more, my young wizard of sound and Japanese film obscuriana. Kaiser is Henry Kaiser natch of SF area of the Northwest region of the USA and he LOOVVEESS good guitar music — especially fingerpicking avant-garde maestro gods. Derek Bailey loves it! John Fahey — frikkin looovveess IT!! Yes and Fahey's "IT" is really in tandem with Bailey's "IT." And Kaiser is the one man to acknowledge this intellectually in a way that really makes us all live in a much greater huzz-kosmo together. With that in mind I had to hear what HK put together here.

Seems pretty daunting to reach into Fahey tapes and be able to tag it as Greatest Hits; I don't care what volume it shall be. But, of course, and alas, this is a score and a half. If I gots my facts straight (and believe me, I'm cribbing from internet weenie sites so don't think I'm plucking this info outta my hair) then this CD contains what is generally regarded as the great lost Fahey LP Azalea City Memories (and Dreams of Prince George's County) which the very mature music listener label Shanachie (which comes from the Scots Gaelic seanachaidh, and the Old Irish senchaid, a variant of senchae (historian), and from sen (which just means "old") — basically means: a skilled teller of tales or legends, especially Gaelic ones. Ahem...) planned (maybe!) to release in 1991 — which wasn't too hell of a long time ago. Whatever happened, I wasn't there at the decision-making table so I don't know but someone boo-boo'd cuz this is beautiful primo '91 Fahey picking. Which is scary right? Cuz Fahey was maybe kind of a mess then, I had yet to meet him, but he was going through some heavy lifeism, and his gigs could be pretty dislocated affairs. But this session is pretty righteous grown-man Fahey music, sometimes gorgeous, sometimes anxious, always intriguing. All the other trax, besides the looong (13 minz) "The Fahey Sampler" are culled from other available sources. But big deal, this plays 'em in a way that has not only the vision of JF but the curatorial hoomph of HK.

If you look at the pic on the cover you see classic late, but not super late, period Fahey with joyful belly and stormy head and an orange T-shirt. Orange: energy, balance, warmth, enthusiasm, vibrant, expansive, flamboyant, demanding of attention. The man knew what to wear to tell you what was going on. The man played colors like some men play baccarat. Sometimes he'd wear nothing at all. I knocked on his hotel door to ask him a question and he was buck naked and he had no fear. Invited me in to listen to some Messiaen or something. He had an incredible ass, I couldn't help but look, but whoa, I did have to look away, and there in the corner was a crumpled, well worn orange T-shirt. He was handing me CDs of some of his releases, I shoulda asked for the shirt.