America (John Fahey album)
Encyclopedia
America is an album by American folk musician
John Fahey
, released in 1971. Originally intended to be a double album
, it was released as a single LP
. The unreleased material was subsequently restored in a 1998 CD reissue. It has been cited as one of his most ambitious projects.
and was cut from the original. It is a rare example of Fahey playing a 12-string guitar. Fahey commented on the original and reissue releases in an interview for The Wire
, "I thought the material on the second disc wasn't quite up to snuff, but listening to it now, it doesn't sound too bad."
In 1972, referring to "Mark I:15", Fahey said "“Out of all the songs I ever wrote, I consider only two of them 'epic' or 'classic' or in the 'great' category and they are both on this record. It’s taken me more than five years to complete these." The CD reissue edits out roughly two minutes from this track due to the time constraints of a single CD pressing.
America was reissued on a limited edition vinyl double album
in 2009 on the San Francisco–based label 4 Men With Beards. It includes all tracks and a gatefold with a reproduction of the original album booklet. In reproducing the 1998 CD version, this release also included the truncated "Mark I:15"
"Dvorak" is an arrangement of the third movement of Antonín Dvořák
's Symphony No. 8
. "Jesus is a Dying Bed Maker" is based on the traditional gospel music
song "In My Time of Dying
. "Dalhart, Texas, 1967" was later revisited as The Grand Finale on John Fahey Visits Washington D.C.
. "Mark 1:15" includes portions of "When the Springtime Comes Again," from Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes
.
called it "...Fahey at his most ambitious... inventive acoustic guitar instrumentals that draw from folk and blues, with a sedate presentation that has a relaxing effect." and contrasts the CD reissue with the original LP
. Will Hermes of Entertainment Weekly
likewise contrasts favorably the two releases, stating "Restored to full scope, 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."
Matt Hanks of the now defunct No Depression magazine treats the reissue just as kindly, calling the reissue of America the "biggest debunker to date" of the improvement of the songs by reissue. "Heard in near-entirety, America transcends its already classic standing and becomes one of the most ambitious and epic records Fahey ever made... if you’re seeking one man’s ruminations on a world that has both enchanted and forsaken him, America is the Fahey effect you’re looking for."
Critic Greg Cahill of the Sonoma County Independent called the reissue "...rapturous in its beauty—a majestic, spacious work as grand in its deceptive simplicity as the early American landscape from which it draws inspiration."
Production notes
American folk music
American folk music is a musical term that encompasses numerous genres, many of which are known as traditional music or roots music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American...
John Fahey
John Fahey (musician)
John Fahey was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string acoustic guitar as a solo instrument. His style has been greatly influential and has been described as the foundation of American Primitivism, a term borrowed from painting and referring mainly to the...
, released in 1971. Originally intended to be a double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
, it was released as a single LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
. The unreleased material was subsequently restored in a 1998 CD reissue. It has been cited as one of his most ambitious projects.
History
The America sessions yielded over 80 minutes of music and Fahey worried that a double album wouldn’t sell. Originally planned to be a double-LP, almost half of the material was cut when it was released as a single LP. Music critic Matt Hanks likened this to "Kind of like taking a national census and leaving out Rhode Island." The 1998 CD reissue by Takoma restores the unreleased tracks. The title song, "America", is an extended version of the song originally recorded on Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military WaltzesDeath Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes
In reviewing the 1967 reissue of Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes, music critic Richie Unterberger writes the material "...is still outstanding..." and comparing to the original release "The fidelity is clearer." Of the 1999 reissue, Unterberger claims it "...does Fahey fans a massive...
and was cut from the original. It is a rare example of Fahey playing a 12-string guitar. Fahey commented on the original and reissue releases in an interview for The Wire
The Wire (magazine)
The Wire is a British avant garde music magazine, founded in 1982 by jazz promoter Anthony Wood and journalist Chrissie Murray. The magazine initially concentrated on contemporary jazz and improvised music, but branched out in the early 1990s to various types of experimental music...
, "I thought the material on the second disc wasn't quite up to snuff, but listening to it now, it doesn't sound too bad."
In 1972, referring to "Mark I:15", Fahey said "“Out of all the songs I ever wrote, I consider only two of them 'epic' or 'classic' or in the 'great' category and they are both on this record. It’s taken me more than five years to complete these." The CD reissue edits out roughly two minutes from this track due to the time constraints of a single CD pressing.
America was reissued on a limited edition vinyl double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
in 2009 on the San Francisco–based label 4 Men With Beards. It includes all tracks and a gatefold with a reproduction of the original album booklet. In reproducing the 1998 CD version, this release also included the truncated "Mark I:15"
"Dvorak" is an arrangement of the third movement of Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
's Symphony No. 8
Symphony No. 8 (Dvorák)
The Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88, B. 163, was composed and orchestrated by Antonín Dvořák within the two-and-a-half-month period from August 26 to November 8 1889 in Vysoká u Příbrami, Bohemia...
. "Jesus is a Dying Bed Maker" is based on the traditional gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
song "In My Time of Dying
In My Time of Dying
"In My Time of Dying" is a traditional gospel music song that has been recorded by numerous musicians. An early version, titled "Jesus Goin' A-Make Up My Dying Bed", is mentioned in historian Robert Emmet Kennedy's Black Cameos published in 1924, on Louisiana street performers, and also listed in...
. "Dalhart, Texas, 1967" was later revisited as The Grand Finale on John Fahey Visits Washington D.C.
John Fahey Visits Washington D.C.
Music critic Richie Unterberger praised the album, noting the "stellar picking and an eclectic range of influences... Some of his characteristic moodiness emerges in passages from 'Ann Arbor' and 'Melody McBad'."...
. "Mark 1:15" includes portions of "When the Springtime Comes Again," from Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes
Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes
In reviewing the 1967 reissue of Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes, music critic Richie Unterberger writes the material "...is still outstanding..." and comparing to the original release "The fidelity is clearer." Of the 1999 reissue, Unterberger claims it "...does Fahey fans a massive...
.
Reception
In his review of the reissue of America, music critic Richie UnterbergerRichie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger is a US author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.-Life and writing:Having worked as a DJ at WXPN in Philadelphia, he started reviewing records for Op magazine in 1983...
called it "...Fahey at his most ambitious... inventive acoustic guitar instrumentals that draw from folk and blues, with a sedate presentation that has a relaxing effect." and contrasts the CD reissue with the original LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
. Will Hermes of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
likewise contrasts favorably the two releases, stating "Restored to full scope, this set of chamber blues projects a sweeping panorama, combining epic originals with fractal readings of Skip James
Skip James
Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter, born in Bentonia, Mississippi, died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
, Dvorak, and even "Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton , published in 1779. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God,...
". A new cornerstone in a towering oeuvre."
Matt Hanks of the now defunct No Depression magazine treats the reissue just as kindly, calling the reissue of America the "biggest debunker to date" of the improvement of the songs by reissue. "Heard in near-entirety, America transcends its already classic standing and becomes one of the most ambitious and epic records Fahey ever made... if you’re seeking one man’s ruminations on a world that has both enchanted and forsaken him, America is the Fahey effect you’re looking for."
Critic Greg Cahill of the Sonoma County Independent called the reissue "...rapturous in its beauty—a majestic, spacious work as grand in its deceptive simplicity as the early American landscape from which it draws inspiration."
Track listing
- All songs by John Fahey unless otherwise noted.
- "Voice of the Turtle" – 15:42
- "The Waltz That Carried Us Away and Then a Mosquito Came and Ate Up My Sweetheart" – 5:49
- "Mark 1:15" – 16:18
- "Knoxville Blues" (Sam McGeeMcGee BrothersThe McGee Brothers were an American old-time performing duo consisting of brothers Sam McGee and Kirk McGee . Sam typically played guitar and Kirk usually played banjo or fiddle, although they were both proficient in multiple string instruments...
) – 3:07
1998 reissue
- "Jesus Is a Dying BedmakerIn My Time of Dying"In My Time of Dying" is a traditional gospel music song that has been recorded by numerous musicians. An early version, titled "Jesus Goin' A-Make Up My Dying Bed", is mentioned in historian Robert Emmet Kennedy's Black Cameos published in 1924, on Louisiana street performers, and also listed in...
" – 4:20 - "Amazing GraceAmazing Grace"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton , published in 1779. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God,...
" (John NewtonJohn NewtonJohn Henry Newton was a British sailor and Anglican clergyman. Starting his career on the sea at a young age, he became involved with the slave trade for a few years. After experiencing a religious conversion, he became a minister, hymn-writer, and later a prominent supporter of the abolition of...
) – 2:18 - "Song #3" – 1:48
- "Special Rider Blues" (Skip JamesSkip JamesNehemiah Curtis "Skip" James was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter, born in Bentonia, Mississippi, died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
) – 3:03 - "Dvorák" (Antonín DvořákAntonín DvorákAntonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
, arranged by Fahey) – 3:42 - "Jesus Is a Dying Bedmaker 2" – 3:23
- "Finale" – 3:10
- "America" – 7:40
- "Dalhart, Texas, 1967" – 11:01
- "Knoxville Blues" (Sam McGee) – 3:07
- "Mark 1:15" – 14:18
- Note: Song has been abridged
- "Voice of the Turtle" – 15:42
- "The Waltz That Carried Us Away and Then a Mosquito Came and Ate Up My Sweetheart" – 5:49
Personnel
- John FaheyJohn Fahey (musician)John Fahey was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string acoustic guitar as a solo instrument. His style has been greatly influential and has been described as the foundation of American Primitivism, a term borrowed from painting and referring mainly to the...
– guitar
Production notes
- John Fahey – producer
- Bill Belmont – reissue producer
- Patrick Finnerty – art direction, design
- John Judnich – engineer
- Joe Tarantino – remastering
- Charles M. Young – liner notes