Thursday, April 7, 2011

JOHN FAHEY-FARE FORWARD VOYAGERS (SOLDIER'S CHOICE) 1973



I WAS INTRODUCED TO JOHN FAHEY WHEN BYRON COLEY WROTE A PROFILE ABOUT HIM FOR SPIN MAGAZINE IN 1995/96.I REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME I HEARD ONE OF HIS RECORDS-I FORGET WHICH ONE-BECAUSE IT SPARKED A SERIOUS CASE OF DEJA VU.THIS MUSIC HAD BEEN IN THE BACK OF MY MIND SINCE I WAS BORN..I IMMEDIATELY RE-TUNED MY GUITAR TO AN OPEN C AND STOPPED USING A PICK.AS GREAT A GUITARIST AS FAHEY IS,WITHOUT THOSE 2 THINGS HE'S WOULDN'T SOUND ANYWHERE NEAR AS UNIQUE.I WOULD PLAY IN THIS TUNING FOR LONG STRETCHES,BUT NOT ON AN ACOUSTIC GUITAR AND THROUGH A MYRIAD OF EFFECTS PEDALS:2 BOSS DD-5 DELAY PEDALS,2 BOSS PITCH SHIFTERS PS-2 AND PS-3,A HARMONIX MEMORY MAN (CHORUS SETTING) AND I FORGET WHAT ELSE BUT I'M PRETTY SURE THERE WAS AN ENVELOPE FILTER IN THERE AND POSSIBLY A ROLAND SPACE ECHO THOUGH BY THAT TIME I DON'T THINK THE SPACE ECHO WAS OPERATIONAL.I ALSO HAD A RACK MOUNT EFFECTS PROCESSOR BUT I DON'T RECALL HOW I USED IT.THE 3 PEOPLE I WAS TRYING TO EMULATE SOUNDWISE WERE ROBERT FRIPP,FLORIAN FRICKE FROM POPOL VUH,AND KEVIN SHIELDS.I WAS NOWHERE CLOSE TO ANY OF THESE PEOPLE'S LEVELS OF VIRTUOSITY,NOT EVEN IN THE SAME SOLAR SYSTEM,BUT I STILL MANAGED TO COME UP WITH A PRETTY COOL SOUND.A UNIQUE SOUND,I THOUGHT-LIKE JOHN FAHEY.IT'S A SIGN OF REAL ARTISTRY WHEN YOU CAN IDENTIFY SOMEONE'S WORK WITHIN A FEW SECONDS-AURAL OR VISUAL.AND NO ONE ELSE SOUNDED LIKE FAHEY-HE MADE 50SOMETHING RECORDS COMPRISED OF HIMSELF AND A GUITAR.WHO ELSE CAN SAY THAT?OUT OF ALL THOSE FARE FORWARD VOYAGERS WAS ALWAYS MY FAVORITE ONE....


http://rapidshare.com/files/456270097/JOHN_FAHEY_FARE_FORWARD_VOYAGERS.zip

4 comments:

  1. Lovely, lovely lp that I wasn't expecting to find featured here. I hope some folks who've never heard this give it a try!

    Curious as to what _your_ stuff sounds like..

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  2. like roy montgomery but with less structure...

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  3. Ohh, I love Dadamah & 'Scenes from the South Island', haven't really kept track of newer releases. You should share some of your work!

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