Talk:John Fahey (musician)

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personal comment[edit]

I worked with John for a few months in 1999 to shortly before his death. First as tour manager on his UK tour in 1999 and then getting some bookings for him in the USA and Canada.
John was a hero, a great guitarist and a really nice person, once you got past his prickly exterior.
I wrote something about him on my website http://www.pkmusicstuff.co.uk/fahey.html.
It sums up what I think about John and his music.
Fare Forward Voyager!
Paul Kelly —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.39.112.50 (talk)

miscellaneous[edit]

Minor Edit, added American Primitivism and wikified Takoma.Felix-felix 21:15, 11 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Needs something adding about Fahey's often bizarre humour and prickly relationship with the "folk revival". —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.3.248.243 (talk)

12 Feb : Note : I removed the following phrase: "including the extremely obscure but influential Blind Joe Reynolds (who recorded one 78 with Paramount in 1929)," as it isn't true, and even if it was, why pick out one of the dozens of influential 78s Fahey immersed himself in? P Bryant —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.30.26.150 (talk)

5 Oct 2010: There is very little discussion of Fahey's guitar style and music as such. The article could be improved by such an addition. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 168.98.67.23 (talk) 13:24, 5 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Asperger's Syndrome?[edit]

There has been quite a lot of discussion among those who knew him about whether John Fahey had Aperger's Syndrome. I knew him back in Berkeley during the early 1960s and in retrospect, i think that this was part of his oddness, and that the drinking may have been his way to subdue his social awkwardness. Look at the videos of the 1969 interview with Laura Weber (currently on youtube) and notice his lack of eye contact, inability to take or make a joke, flat literalness of speech, strangely skewed head movements ... then fast forward to the 1978 Hamburg concert -- by then his drinking had bloated him, but he was still doing very weird things with his head and body and making no social gstures at all. When i knew him, he was not only strange but he drank a lot, and so i also think that delaying any mention of his drinking problem until the "later years" section as it is now on the page is bogus. Anyway, think about the Asperger's thing, whoever is writing this bio, because it explains a lot more than mere alcoholism does, when you put it all in place. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.142.90.34 (talk)

Zabriskie Point?[edit]

This article lists the Zabriskie Point soundtrack album as a Fahey recording, but the link to the Zabriskie Point reference doesn't list any Fahey cuts, nor even mention his name.

In Fahey's book "How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life" he claims to have recorded a significant amount of music for this film, most of which was left out of the film after he "punched out" Antonioni. But he also claims that about 2 minutes of his music was left in the film.

This raises a couple of questions: 1) Which music in the film is Fahey's, and why isn't it credited in the CD notes? 2) What happened to the more extensive music he originally recorded for the film?

The first question is, I think, directly relevant to this article, since it does list the film soundtrack as having a Fahey association. The second is of potentially great interest to Fahey fans whom I'm certain would love to hear 20-30 minutes of new, heretofor lost Fahey music.

Anyone have any insights on these questions?

I have no insight on if this is true or not, but since there is no citation for the soundtrack info, I guess it should be removed. Airproofing (talk) 22:28, 21 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Edit: I see now that "Dance of Death" by John Fahey is in the track listing. Airproofing (talk) 22:32, 21 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The Wiki article on Zabriskie Point has a citation for the Fahey music that was left in the film. It is, indeed, part of has "Dance of Death". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.95.43.249 (talk) 23:13, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Documentaries[edit]

I tagged the documentary info for citation. It appears there is some discussion about the Minsker film here so I thought maybe both should be tagged for reference. Airproofing (talk) 17:34, 8 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Sourcing for Grammy[edit]

The link for Awardrainbow.com is not a suitable link to source Fahey's Grammy award. I replaced it with a link to the correct year at Grammy.com, but I could not link to the exact Notes page. Flowanda | Talk 09:09, 22 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Pronunciation of surname[edit]

I have heard it pronounced both "John Fay" and "John Fah-hee" recently. I think it might be worth including the IPA pronunciation in the article. NotFromUtrecht (talk) 00:09, 17 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]


- I have also heard it as FAY-hee; is this reliable? > Kyle C. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.169.248.254 (talk) 21:32, 4 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Labels[edit]

Why isn't Revenant included among the other labels mentioned under the heading "Labels" under Background Information? Revenant was the label of his last recording, Red Cross, as discussed in the text. JCNSmith (talk) 03:20, 24 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Autobiography?[edit]

The opening section states, "Fahey wrote a largely apocryphal autobiography..." Really? What is the name of that alleged autobiography, or who published it, or where can it be obtained?

I've followed Fahey's carreer since the mid 1970s, and this is the first I've seen anywhere refering to an autobiography. If some reference for this statement can't be produced, it probably should be removed from the article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.95.43.249 (talk) 01:07, 10 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I've removed the line about the alleged autobiography, as no citation for, nor information about such a work has been forthcoming. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.95.43.249 (talk) 23:17, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
This is undoubtedly referring to "How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life," which Amazon describes as "a collection of fictional but semi-autobiographical stories" by Fahey. Vandemark (talk) 19:35, 17 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]
"How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life" is a collection of short stories. Whether the stories contain autobiographical elements or not, a collection of short stories is not an "autobiography". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.95.43.249 (talk) 22:48, 19 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

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Birthplace[edit]

What is this article's source for saying that Fahey was born in Washington, D.C.? Other sources, including the New York Times obituary, say he was born in Takoma Park, Md. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rockettemorton (talk • contribs) 01:36, 18 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

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John Fahey and Monroe's recording of "Blue Yodel Number Seven"[edit]

Curiously, though the entry’s author cites Fahey’s, How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life, he recounts a different version than Fahey’s about listening to a Monroe recording and its impact on his life. It seems to me that Fahey’s own account should be taken over a secondary source like the article from Washington City Paper that the entry cites. Fahey credited a record search trip with Spottswood, and the later’s subsequent playing of the Monroe recording of "Blue Yodel Number Seven" with altering the course of his life. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Worldviewman1974 (talk • contribs) 03:16, 17 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

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