February 24, 2015

JOHN FAHEY/BLIND JOE DEATH

A Fahey fan answered the call for a little help around here for Fahey Week, with a brief remembrance for our consideration.

It was probably in the 1970s when I found my treasured copy of the original "JOHN FAHEY/BLIND JOE DEATH" album at a long defunct record store in Glendale, California called Ray Avery's Rare Records.  The record was in the same bin as John's other albums that were commonly available at that time.  The price was comparable to the other albums, so I don't think the owner was aware of the album's scarcity.  I tried my best to conceal my excitement as I went up to the counter to pay for the album.

The opportunity to have John autograph the album came when he performed one of his many concerts at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, California.  After John finished his set, he retreated to Takoma Records which was a few doors up the street on Pico Boulevard.  The person who ran the McCabe's concert series back then, Bobby Kimmel, took me there to meet John.  I still vividly remember John's reaction when I pulled the album out of the bag for him to sign.  After turning the album over a couple times in his hands to examine it, he said laconically,"Holy shit".  After signing the "FAHEY" side, he flipped the cover over and signed the "DEATH" side.  As he handed it back to me, he said, "I signed it Blind X because he's blind and can't see".  Rest in peace, John.....thanks for making my evening and for being an inspiration to me.




 

7 comments:

  1. Hiowdy!!! My story of finding a rare Fahey album isn't nearly as exciting, but here goes...in the early '80s I bought a Kalamazoo Sport Model parlor guitar at Lundberg Guitars in Berkeley, Ca...they had a few racks of albums, and on looking through the albums I found a copy of "Death Chants" in the white cover with black silkscreened lettering...the sticker indicated a price of $2.00...!!! The album made it home safely to Canada, and played just fine!!! It now resides in the collection of Jurgen Kleine, a friend of Fahey's from Germany. Cheers!!! Ralph.

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  2. Hi!
    Is there a way to encourage Jürgen to get in touch with me (again)? I know he is very recluse; we were in touch around 1990, but due to several moves on both sides we lost contact.
    rank_stranger@web.de

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    Replies
    1. Hi,

      You can get in touch with Jürgen via:

      j-kleine@gmx.net

      Hope this helps!

      Delete
  3. Hiowdy!!! Same applies with me...I've not heard from Jurgen for many, many years...Ralph.

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  4. Really enjoyed this post! A big "thank you" to the fan for this great story of meeting John and for sharing photos of the album.

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  5. Loved the "Blind Joe Death" LP story, and was interested to see that several of you have lost touch with my longtime friend, Jurgen Kleine, and wish to be back in touch with him. I talk to Jurgen every couple of months and we have been in correspondence with one another for almost 30 years. I will let him know that are looking for him!

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    Replies
    1. Hi MTW!
      Thanks for your help!
      Can you please send me a mail so I can give you more info on me.
      I don't think, J.K. will look into here; does he even own pc these days??
      Rank Stranger

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