JOHN FAHEY - AZALEA CITY AND OTHER TOXIC NOSTALGIA

Unreleased 1992

01. Dorothy Gooch, Part 2
02. Dorothy Gooch, Part 1
03. Two American Folk Hymns
04. In The Still Of The Night
05. Banjo Street
06. My Prayer
07. Springtime In Azalea City
08. Our Lady Of Sorrows

This is an unreleased original John Fahey album. Written, recorded and completed at the same time as 'Old Girlfriends And Other Horrible Memories'. There is no artwork for this and would probably have been on the Varrick label if originally released.

'Dorothy Gooch, Part 2' was originally intended to have lyrics, but was never completed. The second part is a re-recording of 'Voice Of The Turtle' track.

'Two American Hymns' is a re-recording from 'Yes! Jesus Loves Me'.

'In The Still Of The Night' is a cover of the hit record by The 5 Satins.

'Banjo Street' is a new composition.

'My Prayer' is a cover of a single by The Platters.

'Springtime In Azalea City' is from Fahey's own archives and dates from 1965/66.

'Our Lady Of Sorrows' is a new version of  'The Voice Of The Turtle'.

Ace.

JOHN FAHEY - BLIND JOE DEATH (1967)

Takoma 1967

01. On Doing An Evil Deed Blues
02. St. Louis Blues
03. Poor Boy, Long ways From Home
04. Uncloudy Day
05. John Henry
06. In Christ There Is No East Or West
07. The Trancendental Waterfall
08. Desperate Man Blues
09. Sun Gonna Shine In My Back Door One Day Blues
10. Sligo River Blues
11. I'm Gonna Do All I Can For My Lord

The third and final pressing of 'Blind Joe Death' from 1967. This time, Fahey re-recorded all of the tracks and included an entirely new composition; 'I'm Gonna Do All I Can For My Lord'.

JOHN FAHEY - BLIND JOE DEATH (1964)

Takoma 1964

01. On Doing An Evil Deed Blues
02. St. Louis Blues
03. Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home
04. Uncloudy Day
05. John Henry
06. In Christ There Is No East Or West
07. The Transcendental Waterfall
08. Desperate Man Blues
09. Sun Gonna Shine On My Back Door Someday Blues
10. Sligo River Blues
11. West Coast Blues

Following on from last month's post, here's the 1964 version of 'Blind Joe Death'. "On Doing an Evil Deed Blues", "In Christ There Is No East or West" and "The Transcendental Waterfall" were re-recorded for this reissue, and "St. Louis Blues" was given a new edit. "West Coast Blues" was also re-recorded but omitted to make way for the now 10 minute "The Transcendental Waterfall", but I've included it here as a bonus.

JOHN FAHEY - BLIND JOE DEATH (1959)

Takoma 1959

01. West Coast Blues
02. St. Louis Blues
03. I'm a Poor Boy a Long Ways From Home
04. Uncloudy Day
05. John Henry
06. In Christ There Is No East Or West
07. The Trancendental Waterfall
08. Desperate Man Blues
09. Sun Gonna Shine In My Back Door Someday Blues
10. Sligo River Blues
11. On Doing An Evil Deed Blues

The story of Blind Joe Death is a great one. 100 copies were pressed and Fahey himself would slot them into the racks of record stores. Blind Joe Death was supposed to be an old undiscovered blues talent, his guitar was made out of a baby's coffin. It was just a pseudenom for Fahey, trying to sell more records.

Two more attempts were made of this album in 1964 and 1967. Fahey re-recorded, re-ordered and replaced over those versions.

Takoma released a nice compilation of the various versions of these tracks, but omitted some.

Here's the 1959 version in full.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - CONTEMPORARY GUITAR SPRING '67

Contemporary Guitar - Spring ‘67

Takoma 1967

01. Max Ochs - Raga
02. John Fahey - Sampler
03. Bukka White - Old Man Walking Blues
04. Max Ochs - Raga
05. Harry Taussig - Water Verses
06. Harry Taussig - Children’s Dance
07. Robbie Basho - The Thousand Incarnations Of The Rose


The same year, Takoma released a sampler of the artists on their roster. This sampler, so far, has not been part of the Takoma reissue series. A shame, it contains an exclusive Fahey track but the real treasure here is the 14 minute ‘The Thousand Incarnations of the Rose’ by Robbie Basho. A breathtaking  tour-de-force unavailable elsewhere.

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...