JOHN FAHEY - THE VOICE OF THE TURTLE (ORANGE LABEL VERSION)

Takoma 1968

01. Bottleneck Blues
02. Bean Vine Blues
03. A Raga Called Pat, Part III
04. A Raga Called Pat, Part IV
05. The Little Train That Couldn't
06. Kuolema
07. Leaving Home
08. Lo How a Rose
09. Texas and Pacific Blues
10. The Bastrop Waltz


Fahey’s greatest joke?

Released in 1968, “The Voice of the Turtle” has perplexed Fahey fans ever since. Half truths, in jokes, self mythologizing and some plain old lies.

Some of the tracks are credited to Fahey and the ficticious blues guitarist, Blind Joe Death. Most fans were aware that BJD was an alter ego of Fahey but those tracks were actually other artists old 78’s. Fahey plays over the top of some, others he doesn’t even appear on.

The Fahey originals are stranger still. “A Raga Called Pat, Part IV” features gongs, slide and chanting monks.

Fahey, ever keen to puzzle his fans, goes further in the liner notes. The first sentence is 561 words long and the photos and captions seem to be completely made up. Fahey later stated that “The whole record was a hoax”.

However, there's more...

There are two versions of this album.

Fans only became aware when listening to other copies of the L.P. There are some completely different tracks across the two versions. There are no clues in the notes and there seems to be no explanation available.

The two versions have different coloured labels. One black, one orange. The Takoma cd reissue is a remasterd version of the black label.

I do not have the time, space or mind to go further into this joke within a joke. If you wish to read further I suggest you visit http://www.johnfahey.com/ and read their excellent article on the matter.

But for now, enjoy the alternative punchline...