JF in 1983: It’s kind of an abstract melody line. Yet you feel like there i… Read Full Bio ↴JF in 1983: It’s kind of an abstract melody line. Yet you feel like there is a melody. It really is an implied melody.
GW: One of John’s truly classic compositions in open G major tuning (D-G-D-G-B-D). This song again has his signature rapid picking roll. It is beautiful and impressionistic, yet slightly bluesy and dissonant.
Title is Fahey’s play on the Hank Snow hit The Sunny Side of the Mountain.

On The Sunny Side Of The Ocean
John Fahey Lyrics

We have lyrics for these tracks by John Fahey:

Blueberry Hill I found my thrill On Blueberry Hill On Blueberry Hill Whe…
Boddle Am Shake Boodle am, boodle am, boodle am, boodle am, boo Toodle am,…
I I wish I knew how It would feel to be free I…
It Came Upon A Midnight Clear It came upon the midnight clear That glorious song of old Fr…
Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning Fred: Well, keep a-your lamp Annie Mae: (Trimmed an burni…
Layla What'll you do when you get lonely And nobody's waiting by…
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town I just came back from a lovely trip along the…
Song Chestnuts roasting on an open fire Jack Frost nipping at you…
St Louis Blues I hate to see that evening sun go down I hate…

The Christmas Song Chestnuts roasting on an open fire Jack Frost nipping at you…
The Little Drummer Boy Come, they told me pa-rum pum pum pum Our newborn King…
Tulip I met you in a garden in an old Kentucky…
Will The Circle be Unbroken I was standing by my window On one cold and cloudy…

You On and on she'll walk this earth Her face like a…

The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos

TRACKS

Genre not found

Artist not found

Album not found

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Comments from YouTube:

Karen Turner

6y↑152

See the strip of wood behind his chair? Reminds me of when he came to Bellingham, WA to play at Western Washington State College (now WWU) in '72 or '73. Two bandmates & I were asked by the Student A&E director to play some acoustic 'warm-up' tunes if John felt like he wanted to loosen up backstage for a longer period. 'Loosening up' for John was simply checking the tuning on his guitar and applying Jack Daniels liberally to get that mellow effect. We got to share the bottle with him and then it was "Yeah, let's do it". The stage in the Viking Union hall was a 4' riser against the back wall and curtain and John was set up with a mike and chair. Since we'd been backstage with him, we had great views from immediate stage right. Part way through his set, he was really in to one of his long compositions and we could see that his chair was slowly 'walking' back toward the wall. He got right to the edge of the riser and the back legs dropped into the void behind. Why we didn't react quicker is still unclear to me (Jack Daniels Syndrome?) but we got him upright and way forward on the stage and he carried on as if nothing untoward had happened. He may have struggled with some demons in life, but what wonderful music he created. Just glad I got to share a little time with him.

useyourimaginasean

4y↑5

Lovely story, thank you for sharing. Hope you're enjoying a peaceful existence from wherever you see this.

David Seabury

4y↑5

Wow. Amazing story.

slubberde

13y↑22

The thing about Fahey's music is that he takes you somewhere you have never been before when he plays. His guitar is the "vehicle" and the "place" is somewhere in your subconscious mind. He opens the door of consciousness by the creation of Alpha waves when he plays. Fahey understood music and its purpose better than anyone who ever picked up a guitar; that is why he is so special...

S. Van Rootselaar

14y↑8

I think one of the most beautiful fingerpicking style guitar songs i've heard so far... It really gets some kind of extra charisma when fahey plays it.

major hoop

12y↑10

Fahey opened the door. Kottke is deeply soulful and faster. For me, when I listen to Fahey deeper emotional tones (if you will) are reached. Kottke is great. Fahey is in another zone. Both are in that league of players where "better" is an inoperative word.

Zatoichi Masseur

2y↑2

Fahey and Basho are light-years above and beyond kotke..

Kolby K

3y↑6

Kottke is too busy for me, almost like he's showing off. Fahey has a better sense of composition and restraint to my ears. Very melodic and tasteful.

James Boelter

10y↑17

I got hold of the tablature for this song and discovered that the open tuning in "G" actually makes this fairly simple to play. But I never played it this well, or with this amount of soul. Man, what a composer and performer he was!

James Boelter

9y↑2

Absolutely true, and well said.

Jeremy Lavine

9y↑13

You can buy a booklet with the "official" tabs. However, these match the earliest recordings from the '50s-'60s, and not the significantly modified (and, in my opinion, improved) versions shown in these videos of Fahey's '78 Hamburg performance. The fingering with the left hand is not too challenging with the open chord tuning, as you say, however the plucking with the right hand is tricky and getting the timing and intensity of the plucking just right really makes all the difference, in my opinion.

Machete Moonlight

9y↑41

this is my favorite Fahey tune, and I'm going to die trying to play it on guitar half as good as him.

Dany Corona

2y↑2

@NonZeroSum I think you are missing the point if you judge Fahey’s music in those terms, for me it’s about what his playing makes you feel and where it takes you. A lot of people can play as good or better than him and create more theoretically complex/innovative music but not many can take you into deep places with them like Fahey does.

NonZeroSum

@Errico Malatesta E. Malatesta
I 1st heard him play after buying an LP in 60's .The name of album was "Blind Joe Death " a alter ego Fahey invention. I was playing some guitar then and with no instruction I figured out an open tuning, on a tuning if you're not familiar with..is you can have a pleasant consonant sound without fingering and you just "noodle" around for notes in that key, Most Occidental music is based on a three chord system called in Roman numerals I IV V..quite easy when you catch on so ie...key G (I chord) C = IV. & D,-D7 = V chord..it's based on starting chord. With open tuning all you need to do Is as Fahey does is barre 5th fret =IV. & 7th fret = V. ( A "barre is placing left index finger across all strings or ½ barre ) in practically EVERY piece Fahey does he uses open or alternate tuning and just uses that simple technique. It actually is derived from "old school blues " like Robert Johnson and Son House..nothing more..IMHO Fahey is no genius he just has put on this 60's hippie oddball character and stretches out these long improvised noodling pieces. If anyone who understands basic old blues will tell you, he's just no genius.

Lee Knodel

6y↑2

Goals. Gotta have 'em. 🙌🏼

Errico Malatesta

9y↑6

@Machete Moonlight yeah me too. and there's a lot to choose from. i love the beautiful melancholy at 2.32. so moving.

Jared Baxter

4y↑4

Overwhelmingly, heartbreakingly beautiful. Thank you, John.

jrh11254

5y↑4

In 1973 one Houston’s rock stations would play Peter Lang’s, “Future Shot at the Rainbow.” I quickly bought the LP that featured that song (it was on Takoma Records). Later I bought Takoma’s, “Lang, Fahey, and Kottke,” with 4 songs by each artist. I bought it because of Lang but found myself only listening to Mr Fahey’s - they just seemed to have more gravity and seriousness. I sought out many of his records. Years later - I think in ‘86 - I got to see him at Anderson Fair. Strange to see his hulking presence. Fair owner, Tim Leatherwood, would bring out pitcher after pitcher of what looked to be Coca Cola. I’m sure now it was more likely bourbon and coke. The man obviously needed lots of fuel to keep going - whatever it was. What a thrill - and honor - to see him. Rest his soul.

francesfree

15y↑2

Fahey is a new discovery for me. I find the energy and power of his music quite amazing. Wish there was someone comparable playing his stuff who would tour (the UK) - maybe there is...

glasgowdmon

14y↑2

one of my favourite acoustic pieces of all time, so moving

terrypussypower

10y↑34

Fahey can make grown men cry.

Mark Seibold

10y↑77

@John White- I was driving in my car in I think late 1998 or early 1999, when a local radio station in my home town of Portland OR, announced that John Fahey would play for free this afternoon in the Eastside Music Millennium Record Store where I had bought many recordings over the years. I raced there to find people standing out the front door to get in. I politely wedged my way through the crowd and walked to the upstairs. The place was jam-packed as I looked down to the lower level, a grungy street bum looking guy moseyed in the front door. He was disheveled and wore a tee-shirt with stains and holes all over it and carrying a well worn guitar case. It was Fahey in his finest form. He sat down and looked upstairs to us, asking if someone had a spark plug or a screwdriver or a wrench. An employee in the store tossed down a screwdriver, I think it was. Fahey picked it up off the floor and began scratching the guitar strings in an unstructured ambient form for maybe 10 minutes. Then he set the screwdriver down and began to play Oh Come All Ye Faithful in the finest classical traditional playing that I have ever witnessed live. There were people in the crowd literally in tears. He played a few more of his favorite compositions for maybe a half hour, then everyone lined up to buy his new CD, City of Refuge and he autographed an 8 X 10 glossy portrait of himself with sunglasses to go with the purchase, as I'm sure you've all seen it on that CD inside liner notes and other online sites. I had to shake his hand and tell him how honored I was to meet him and watch him play for my first time, [little did I know then it would be my last] and I asked him what he thought of recording Leo Kottke. I am still mesmerized today 16 years later as I recount this experience on that cool grey rainy day there. I accidentally saved a stack of old New York Times in my home, packing up to recycle one day in early 2001, and accidentally paged across the obituary of John Fahey, not knowing that he passed away several months earlier that year in a Salem Oregon hospital near my home town of Portland Oregon. Still today, as I read this obituary, I weep at the raw humanity of this mans truth. Here is that obituary, that I still have the copy of today with the small photo of Fahey at the top, (this is the NY Times electronic archive version without photo). > ttp://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/25/nyregion/john-fahey-61-guitarist-and-an-iconoclast-is-dead.html

zorba nongreco

5y↑1

Mark Seibold : thanks for the story & obit link.
A truly inspirational guitarist and unique character. Please relate what he said about my favourite guitarist Leo Kottke,
cheers 😀🐂💨💨💨

zorba nongreco

5y↑1

Mark Semibold : thanks for great story about this inspirational guitarist😀.Can you please tell us what he said about Leo Kottke !??🐂💨💨💨

Micah Madore

Thank you

Chris P

6y↑2

I'm sure many people will dismiss it,but that you for sharing this story

shatchett0

9y↑1

@teethdontgrind
Yea, tell it again.

1 More Replies...

TheBanjopilot

8y↑9

Four decades of fingerpicking guitar and scrugg's banjo and feel like a kid again, jazzed hearing some of best acoustic music as is this piece. I am sure John refined this piece as time went on, whatever age it began. I believe, easily, he did this as a teenager. I too have a couple of pieces like that and now, even some of the best players at workshops will stop and wonder. You had hours of the day to be with your strings because you just had to. Returning to the guitar more now after ten years of scrugg's hard work [and it is hard guy,s but worth it if you want it] it really is a new world to have videos available lightning fast, ten songs in less than an hour. To hear these works of so many players; M J Hurt, Rev Gary Davis, Taj Mahal etc. took months, years or not at all by mail, or hanging with jam joints. I have learned Poor Boy' early John just in the last two months, listening and watching his chord forms in open D. Music is not sport. It is art. Now, to be able to gain, borrow [someone ask's where that come from tell 'em or it's stealin'}. If I can maintain a" jazzed kid again" outlook the next ten years I'be quite satisfied, long comment, just sayin'...

Elena Reed

I have been having such a great time listening for hours online, YouTube in particular, so easy to just follow a musical thread and end up in new listening spaces. And here is the inimitable John Fahey from decades ago! Terrific. :>)

Raymantico

15y↑1

Fahey elevates my spirit every time, & has for decades...this is poetry

Kevo

5y↑25

Sometimes I’m on the dark side of the moon and other times I’m on the sunny side of the ocean

scaredypicker

I don't know how, but Fahey's playing always makes me feel really emotional. Sublime.

malbuff

11y↑2

Like another of my favorite guitarists, John Cipollina, Faheny's technique is all about the right hand. Brilliant unorthodox playing, and that doesn't even take into account his rich musical vocabulary and incredible sense of timing.

Gary Hurd

17y↑1

I sure do miss John. Thanks for the clip. It is good to watch him play even thought there is no comparison to the sound of a session recording.

taurtue

11y

Didn't know this artist and glad to have discovered him today, he's very inspiring. Wish I could find his disks in popular shops.

Rangda Rangda

14y↑1

this was the one that won me over, none of us can review how amazing this is.

John White

11y

Feel blessed to have been to a half- dozen of his concerts during my years in Seattle. From the first one at the UofW in '68, to the last one at a Ballard club just a few years before his death.

Neocelt146

16y↑1

Now this just is. Unreal. Well done, John. You were the man then, you the man now.

Andy Hofer

12y

Nice rendition. This is the Fahey tune I most enjoy playing myself. I was lucky enough to see a number of the great fingerstyle artists in person, including John Fahey once, Leo Kottke many times and also Michael Hedges several times. Will always remember seeing Leo and Michael in the same concert come out for an encore and play several tunes together. Now THAT was an interesting cross-pollination of styles. (to be continued...)

John White

15y↑1

I felt so fortunate to see him in concert so many times, during my 40 years in Seattle. Saw him at Meany @ U.W., Seattle concert theater (long gone), Blue Moon, the HUB @ U.W., & Backstage (long gone), as well as MOHAI at Montlake. Was introduced to his music by a friend in our '67 Ravenna boarding house, when he played one of the early Takoma albums on his little Philco record player. Though scratchy, the sound mesmerized me...

freak49

13y

John Fahey was one of my earliest influences on guitar. I saw him.in Ohio at a local club in the 90s. I thought this would be the only time I would get to see him. He showed up onstage totally shitfaced, gave the sound man endless grief, and took a piss break in the middle of the show for about a half hour. Me and my friend left after about an hour.

NuG919

16y

truly a masterpiece...brilliant

superstarajl

11y

this is so good. i keep coming back to it. as a piece of music, just gorgeous, and really not like too much else out there.

Alfred pEte Neuttigieg

8y↑30

every time i listen to this alien being emit his note hoard, i become engorged with currents upon currents of heavy feeling.Not a sadness really. Not bleakness. Not emptiness. More alike some odd fullness, or completeness, to which i feel something of a stranger to myself. Attaining such fullness, i know the feeling of completion and totality, at which moment i am certain beyond the bounds of thought, that now, that at this time i am freed of some NEED to live, rather, it is a lovely time, as lovely as those notes, to die. .. to die with beauty and without regret of a thing missed. rip john 2001

shembob

Good God that's gay

petalchild

Yes

Mike Monson: Songs; guitars; and gear!

7y↑6

that's what every one says

mercaptopropyl

8y↑1

Well said.

dingoswamphead

15y

Yes, it was an early Takoma LP with Leo Kottke, Peter Lang and John Fahey, with good stuff by all three. Fahey plays this tune on it and it is profoundly beautiful. You get to wallow in those wonderful descending discords. It is available on Amazon.

MrPlatypus70

15y

John Fahey is the first master of the solo acoustic guitar. He took blues based riffs and his own ideas and strung then together into instrumental pieces that were the basis for Kottke and evryone else to follow. This piece is one of his best and the peferformace is outstanding. Thanks for posting!!

Andy Hofer

12y

(...continued) All produced highly emotional, moving music, each with their own stamp, and all will be remembered -- and missed when they're gone. Kottke is still playing, and playing well! If you get the chance to see him, don't miss it!

Chris Thompson

13y↑1

@PaulAndrewsVideos I must agree with you. I have heard many fine guitar players cover him, but Fahey strikes the strings with an authority which no one else duplicates. He wrenches sounds out of the guitar and tears from my eyes. Played by others, many of these tunes seem unremarkable. Played by Fahey they make my adrenaline pump and my imagination soar.

cuerpoeperra

15y

Su armonia me recuerda la del maestro cubano Leo Brouwer........Maravilloso!

Kelsey S

3y↑1

John Fahey taught me the power of open strings.

Brian White

Warms my heart. I appreciate you sharing this.

Daniel Willis

8y↑1

Priceless! Thanks for sharing!

bloozplyr

14y

Amazing how everyone's suggestions are different as far as which lps they got/get behind so much they'd pick them to start someone down Fahey's path. The two that I'd pick for you to start with would be "America" and "The Legend of Blind Joe Death". The "America" album is truly a masterpiece. If you can get that in vinyl, the booklet inside will keep you occupied for some time as well.

Todd Olinger

8y↑2

LOVE IT

Dennis Hastings

5y↑4

What is he doing with his head? One of the best guitar players ever. So sorry he's gone.

A Nautical Gate

3y↑2

working his way through a portal to another dimension

dullarddom

3y↑3

The main thing is the beauty of the music. That said I've been playing guitar twenty years and it blows my mind how still his left hand looks compared to the sound he gets. Its a primitive american orchestra in his right hand and that's what I wish I knew when I picked up guitar. You can wank the fretboard all day with your left hand and it wont mean anything if your right isn't paying perfect precision.

MP60

16y

I heard "Sunflower River Blues" on the radio late one night many years ago and went and ordered the album Peter Lang John Fahey & Leo Kottke the very next day. This has since becme my favourite piece from that outstanding album. I saw Kottke in Sydney a few years ago - absolute genius.

NickJones55

17y

IMO, Fahey was THE MAN when it came to fingerpicking acoustic guitar (sorry, Leo). I was graced to have seen him live at a pub in Cambridge, MA in the mid-80's. He played off the stage; I was almost close enough to touch him. He seemed to be, um, a little 'toasted' at the time, but you couldn't have told by his performance that night. One of the best live music experiences of my life.

Norb Thansk

15y↑1

I don't have a single favorite album, but "Death Chants, Breakdowns and Military Waltzes" and "The Legend of Blind Joe Death" are two good places to start.

Richard

13y↑1

I have many of his recordings from the early 70's and this rendition seems very rushed. Much hastier than the earlier version that I listened to for hours on end... I miss you, John.

b automat

17y↑2

Again, thank you so much for this posting; I get so emotional over this. Does anyone know if this is a commercially available video?

Jeremy Wray

15y

Great thanks for all your help on this - will check that album out :-)

Gary Weglarz

John was a gift!

INFINITECLOCKWORK

16y↑1

absolutely beautiful. I've been finger-picking for fifteen years and still can't my pinky to cooperate. Fahey was great.

weewee

@INFINITECLOCKWORK

awesome

god bless

INFINITECLOCKWORK

@weewee We all have "special" talents - the answer is no. Lol, I went in a completely opposite direction - I love Fahey to this day.

weewee

2y↑1

have you managed to work it out after another 15 years?

Stoy Wilson

13y

Have always loved Kottke , but Fahey takes my mind to different places . Was fortunate to see Fahey at a small Indy club - the Hummingbird . Sat about 6 feet away and had a beer with him on his break . He was touring the country in an old station wagon back then . I think this song was his first original composition . Sure gonna miss him .

whosiskid

13y

I had tickets to see him play only 4 or 5 months before he died. It was heart breaking. He was literally dying but had to tour because he didn't have health insurance. On the whole Fahey versus Kottke, I prefer Fahey, though I love both. Fahey is more of an innovator and can play more musically complex stuff (even if Kottke may have a better picking hand). But I love Kottke's personality onstage. They've both great.

Justin Boland

12y

It's remarkable how much parts of this resemble Bajourou "Big String" music from Mali -- the rhythms and voicings sound so African at points here, it's a beautiful reminder that music cuts through all that geospatial-temporal bullshit. Cheers to the human race at it's best = making music.

The GoodTime FolkRock Show

12y

Fahey was Kottke's mentor and teacher as well as fellow label mate on Tacoma Records along w/ Michael Hedges ....they all play mostly instrumental, open tuning, ambient guitar music so comparisons are gonna be inevitable but i agree no need to put anyone down ...they are all great in their own way

Ian Botting

15y

He was a genious!

ourbearskins

13y↑1

this sounds like the kind of songs my dad used to play when i was a kid.

rimbaud1020

16y↑2

even his mistakes are better than what is now on the radio

Will

11y↑1

While Fahey's spirit was musically rich, this guy was severely underpaid.

Culture Fusion

12y↑1

I could listen to Fahey for hours: and have.

tunaratr

15y

Some folks can express emotion through their instruments, and some can't, John can, Leo can't.

Andy Hofer

12y

(...continued) For those commenting that one artist was "better" than another -- John Fahey had an inimitable style, earthy and visceral, which he himself called "American Primitive Guitar". Kottke picked up where Fahey left off, adding a more etherial sound, with what some would argue was a more sophisticated style. Hedges went off-planet completely for a style that was impossible to classify at all. (to be continued...)

bjorntooski

15y

John Fahey...guitar god... John Fahey...comb-over KING

noemata83

15y

I've played some Fahey and it's true about the nuances, but I think the broader point is this: if you are someone who fetishizes technical virtuosity, Fahey is not really your guy. He is a songwriter at heart, and he's apt to be appreciated for inventing, or re-inventing, a whole approach to songwriting for solo guitar that both looked backward to folk guitar tradition, and also outward to Bartok, raga, etc. His talent is less what he does with his fingers--more in the music. IMO, anyway.

slubberde

11y

Thanks for the response shatchett0. I can remember seeing Suni play 40 years ago in Dayton, Oh. I didn't realize until much later that he was a world class artist with 3 Adelphi records to his credit. Fahey referred to his guitar as: " a place he goes to", not a thing or an ax etc. I think Suni also found that "place".

Fraulein Flora

13y↑1

love him.

eric congdon

13y

He's just so into it, its cool to see.

Mark Trumble

12y

wonderful. I wish he would play it more slowly

Sublime Music Channel

13y

Did Fahey write a better song?! Wow! Thanks again for posting.

Wolf_At_The_Door

14y

Get real, man! This guy is doing amazing things with his HANDS and all you can say is "What's with the head?"?

Andrew Kay

9y↑8

It's a Martin D-35. You can tell it's a D-35 and not a D-28 because the fingerboard's bound in white. If he flipped it around you'd see that gorgeous three-piece rosewood back.

THEREDNECKPEPI64

16y

this is a genius.

Joris Jorens

12y

one of my favorites :)

adurtube

I just discovered John Fahey and man, what a great talent! There's this canadian band the Tea Party, i don't think they're together anymore, that reminds me a lot of Fahey's style...

sweet hair

Im sorry bro. But the fuckin Tea Party? All those dudes came out of their moms #2, Strait up worst eyesore of a rock act that I've ever laid eyes on. SO BAD.

adurtube

+sweet hair Haha, yeah it would seem so... But The Tea Party (the band) actually formed back in the late 90's, long before the abomination that is the American movement sprang out of the depths of political hell.

sweet hair

+adurtube wow someone actually references "the" tea party. Thats like a hot shit sandwich rite there..

jeeperforlife

17y↑1

So sad that hes gone. Thanks for posting

acebodine

12y↑2

Seeing people try to compare Fahey and Kottke here reminds me that I once (a long time ago) heard John Fahey say in an interview, "I've just written a new song. I can't play it, but Kottke can."

James Hughes

13y

I have an interview where Fahey states this is the first song he ever wrote when he was 12 or 13. That's worth keeping in mind while debating the worth of this song and performance.

glasgowdmon

5y↑1

So, so good.

Paul Andrews

14y

No one even comes close to Fahey for cadence and harmonics. He gets sounds out of a guitar that simply cannot be duplicated. That's why you don't find anyone covering him, or if they try, why it just doesn't compare.

Chris Thannisch

15y

Wow. This is brilliant. A little like Kotkke, but easier to "understand". If you were going to buy 2 or 3 of his albums, which ones would be a place to start. Great,great stuff. I want to hear more. Videos don't do justice, albums are what I need. People at one time used to listen to them, you know what I mean.

russelsheartinacage

15y↑4

definately start from the beginning, The Legend of Blind Joe Death is his first and is brilliant.

Yishai Halutz

15y

Simply Epic ! :D

Raven101able

9y↑2

Kottke, Fahey and Lang was a great album

Marty McVeigh

14y↑2

Fahey is a great reminder that something like guitar playing, or lifestyles, can be approached from infinite directions. Mr Fahey takes me somewhere nobody else does.

David Doyle

Papa John at his best,,,,,I used to see him and talk to him in the flesh at the Ash Grove

ElJimmie

9y↑12

fahey claims he wrote this at the age of 14. i wonder if this is revised /improved upon as he progressed as a player. at least i hope it is, otherwise im doomed

sculpt

The version he plays in this video is available in tab-form on ultimateguitar.com. The other, earlier renditions of the song are more difficult.

jwardbass

5y↑3

I know your comment is three years old but this song has definitely been revised. Even in 1965 on Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death the song was quite a bit slower and written differently, so imagine what 12 years of prior revision could have done to the arrangement, since Fahey was around 26 when Blind Joe Death was released

Charlie Leger

10y

john lennon was the best at doing what did, john fahey is the best at doing what he did.

zau6ucb

4y↑2

I have a feeling that perhaps Uelmen's Tristram Theme was inspired by this masterpiece.

Terri Cole

Not familiar with Uelmen, but this sounds like something that might have influenced Joni Mitchell. Very similar chords and structure

Andrew Bourke

13y

@whosiskid That is sad,he truly was an innovator when it came to solo fingerstyle guitar the same way Chet Atkins was but chet did some different things.Preston Reed was influenced by Fahey as Fahey would occasionally play chords with his thumb which was at the time very unconventional its just that Preston Reed took that Fahey technique even further. Fahey was actually at one point even kicked out by his third wife and was forced to live in a homeless shelter,very tragic

19gunslinger78

17y

does anyone know what tuning this is in? thanks

SedunaToTheTuna

11y

Can definitely hear some 'what the sun said' licks in there

razorman916

15y

The first master of the acoustic guitar was Mississippi John Hurt.

Rob j

3y↑1

privileged to witness that

Steven Roberts

10y↑5

Unbelievable.

Machete Moonlight

@Steven Roberts don't look now.

Steven Roberts

10y

Every time I see the thumbnail for this I think that it's Donald Sutherland..

cicadagodking

13y

@freak49 That's not the first time I've heard that story about John Fahey - kinda sad, but it's a package deal. Talent and troubles often go hand in hand.

Steven Roberts

10y

Unbelievable.

guild40

13y

It is a bit faster than on the record. I think it was John's way of keeping himself interested -- making it harder. He did not enjoy playing live.

Kingdagmarius

14y

this is another world created by mister john fahey

Charlie Leger

10y

I'm surprised Mr.Fahey didn't sing like Charley Patton.(( once in a while anyway) If he did, i would love to hear it. Patton was such a Great singer> Didn't John write his dissertation on The music of Charley Patton? I. not sure but.. Fahey is my hero musician.

Colton Cox

Dunno if you've found it by now, but there are a few recordings of him singing!

MrPlatypus70

15y

True but I said solo acoustic guitar. John Hut was a huge influence on Fahey. What I meant was Jon Fahey was an innovator in turning this style of music into instrumental pieces. Not to take anything away fro John Hurt who was a huge influence on so many people.

manysons

16y

I get lost in this...in a good, yet haunted way.

slubberde

12y

Yes, but there was a contemporary who picked up where Kottke and Fahey left off; namely, Suni McGrath; whose music I refer to as the" Andres Segovia of the steel string guitar". If you are curious about this statement then plz investigate his music and I think that you will agree. Happy listening!