JF (source unknown): "I succeeded more on that album than on any of my other 12 albums in composing and recording (not to mention getting exactly the right sound I wanted). I worked on it for a long time. It was extended and syncopated tone poems for guitar, similar to many works for full orchestras by late romantic composers; i.e., Sibelius, Vaughn-Williams, Oliver Messican, etc."


"...this set of chamber blues projects a sweeping panorama, combining epic originals with fractal readings of Skip James, Dvorak, and even `Amazing Grace.' A new cornerstone in a towering oeuvre." - Rating: A
Entertainment Weekly 5/22/98, p.71

Listen to John Fahey's AMERICA and hear an honest-to-goodness pioneer of solo acoustic steel-string guitar. Originally intended as a double album but released in 1971 as a single LP, this edition contains the 9 singular tracks that were previously omitted. With a truly distinguishing approach, Fahey creates dusty, sweetly evocative worlds of American folk and blues that make the soul throb. His fingerpicking on alternating and drone bass lines coupled with chorded melodies continues to provide inspiration to acoustic players.

AMERICA opens with the bittersweet "Jesus Is A Dying Bedmaker," a spirited folk painting of elation dressed in suffering. Fahey's halting articulation at the outset of the tune eventually gives way to an up-tempo gust of glad resolve. Here and elsewhere lies Fahey's remarkable talent for squeezing a wondrous amount of expressiveness out of simple musical materials. Skip James's "Special Rider Blues" crawls along like a 12-string sloth, its call-and-response melodic lines full of languor and images of a breezeless afternoon in Mississippi. "Dvorak" is a sensitive arrangement of the third movement of Dvorak's eighth symphony, a perfect offering of classical composition with a natural folk sensibility. "Steel string wailing" spoken here


John Fahey
America
(Takoma/Fantasy)

IN 1971, John Fahey released the single LP America that many consider a masterpiece--a classic example of solo acoustic guitar from the man who defined the instrumental folk genre. Unfortunately, only about half of the original work made it onto vinyl because someone convinced the guitarist that a double album wouldn't sell. Now. thanks to the ability of digital technology to squeeze lots of info onto a single shiny CD, Fahey fans for the first time get to hear this landmark work in its entirety (actually, two minutes were cut since current CDs can hold only about 79 minutes of music).

It's a real treat.

The reissue is rapturous in its beauty--a majestic, spacious work as grand in its deceptive simplicity as the early American landscape from which it draws inspiration. This new version features nine additional songs that were meant to make up the first LP of the ill-fated two-record set, including inventive recastings of American hymns, gospel, and folk songs; a cover of country blues legend Skip James' "Special Rider Blues"; a breathtaking arrangement of the third movement from Dvorak's Eighth Symphony; and the lost masterworks "America" (thought to be the only recording of Fahey playing a 12-string guitar) and the 11-minute mini-opus "Dalhart, Texas, 1967."

Considering that this brilliant Maryland guitarist rarely records or performs anymore--beset by a deep depression and inner demons--and is seldom able to attain the same level of virtuosity when he does, this release is all the more welcome.
GREG CAHILL
From the May 7-13, 1998 issue of the Sonoma County Independent.

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