John Fahey - Blind Joe Death • Blind Joe Death- a blind blues man, a man with a guitar made from a baby's coffin, a man who sold his soul to the devil, a folklore legend described by the six string folk composer John Fahey. Fahey created this character as a means of defining himself through blues folklore in the tradition of old blues legends like Blind Willie Johnson and Blind Joe Taggart. So in 1959, Fahey composed, recorded, and produced his debut album 'Blind Joe Death', crediting one side of the album to himself, and the other side to Blind Joe Death. With only 100 copies printed through Fahey's own label Takoma, the album was entirely insignificant in the realm of popular music and was exclusively distributed to friends and family, with the exception of a few records cleverly placed in the bins of local record stores. 'Blind Joe Death' was discovered years later after the minor success of Fahey's following albums, and received uniform praise for its remarkable uniqueness, being one of the first known albums to be produced and recorded by an independent artist, as well as its groundbreaking, idiosyncratic guitar performance. • 'Blind Joe Death' is strictly comprised of a singular guitar, nothing more. Fahey's style of guitar playing was distinctively original, using elements of folk and blues music in performance, and classical/avant-garde in composition. Alternate tunings and free time finger picking made 'Blind Joe Death' a truly historical landmark in guitar music, methods that were practically unheard of in 1959. Fahey, an avid record collector and music lover, took influence from old and very rare blues recordings he would stumble upon during record-hunting road trips. His love of these rare records would eventually lead to the creation of his label Revenant Records in 1997, a label dedicated to reissuing rare old-time records. 'Blind Joe Death' was deemed to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" by the Library of Congress in 2011, and in 2010 was added to the United States Recording Registry. Takoma, 1959. • #vinyl #vinylcollection #vinyloftheday #vinylcollectionpost #johnfahey #blindjoedeath #takoma #1959 #folkmusic #kurtvile (at Takoma Park, Maryland)
