Greetings Delta-Slider readers. I’m proud to say that today’s post is the
official release of the new RC Johnston effort, The Fahey Project. Ralph has decided to go with a digital
release for his latest and Delta-Slider is the place to get it! I’m thrilled!
But the same rules apply here as to all of Ralph’s generous releases:
feel free to share this far and wide, he wants the music shared.
So without further ado, here is Ralph to tell you all about
it.
The Fahey Project:
Hiowdy, and welcome to "The Fahey Project", a
dream of mine for over forty years. If I
had recorded "the project" back then, you would have heard poorly
played approximations of John's compositions and covers, whereas today you are
listening to adequately rendered interpretations, tempered of course by time
and experience.
The song selection process was easy: play the stuff that
most moves me, even if it takes several versions of a song for me to reach Valhalla.
Hearing John's music for the first time was a definite shock
to my shriveled suburban nervous system, but the greatest shock of all was when
I heard the orange label version of "Voice of the Turtle". That edition featured "Bean Vine Blues”
with Fahey and (?) on guitars and Joe Bussard and Fahey on vocals. Along with "Night Train to Valhalla",
"Bean Vine Blues" is my ultimate favorite Fahey cut.
Other favorites included are renditions of "Poor
Boy", "Tell Her to Come Back Home", "John Henry" and
"Farther Along" (John's "duet" with Laura Weber on Laura's
PBS TV program "Guitar, Guitar" back in 1969-70).
John influenced my picking style in so many ways by
introducing me to the licks of such greats as Charlie Patton, Sam McGee, Bukka
White, Frank Hutchison, Weaver and Beasley and a multitude of lesser known but
nonetheless great musicians.
I also learned the art of open tunings from John, and the
tunings I use on this recording are a testament to that fact:
FADDAD: #s 1, 2, 6
DADDAD: #s 3, 5, 12, 13
DAD: #4
GGDGBD: #7
DGDGCD: #8
DGDGBD: #s 9, 10, 11
Fahey’s music buoyed my spirits as I reached out to explore
other musical realms such as surf music, Savage
Republic and Quonset’s
ethno/industrial sand doomed journeys.
I think about Fahey every day. He lauded me, he insulted me, but in the end
it was all worth it. John’s music has
stood the test of time. He is a modern
classic: ignored by most, but beloved by the few.
My choice of guitars to play on these recordings was a no
brainer: Dixie X appears on all cuts except “Night Train to Land O’
Lakes”. On that song I played Gator X, a
3 stringed cigar box resonator built by Jim Mitchell of Land O’ Lakes, Florida.
Thanks to one and all for your support over the years. Forty six minutes of music that took over
forty years to see the light of day!
Cheers! Ralph.
You can d/l this as 320-MP3
All artwork you see here, and a little more
is included.
MP3-109MB
Please come on back and leave a comment about the music!
Tracklist:
- Pea
Vine Apocalypse Then
- Variations
on John Henry Variations
- Edgar
Allan Poe Boy
- Night
Train to Land O’ Lakes
- Blind
Thomas’s Blues
- Pea
Vine Apocalypse Now
- Night
Train to Great Neck
- On the
Shady Side of the Desert
- Takoma
Two Step
- The
Wonderful Waltz I Heard on That Day
- Jolly
Joe’s Fonotone Blues #2
- Tel
Her to Go Back Home
- I Love
My Blind Joe Death Steam Engine Tattoo
