John Fahey

"Shot live for TV by the legendary German music show “Rockpalast” this DVD represents the earliest example of a complete Fahey concert performance. The multi-camera filming features detailed close-ups of Fahey’s playing style giving fans a rare insight into what Pete Townsend has called the William Burroughs of the guitar. Fahey’s 1978 visit to Europe saw him in fine wild form performing an 11 track set and as an incredibly rare bonus a short interview with the maverick iconoclast.

It’s the Summer of 1969. The temperature hovers around 105 degrees on a humid weekend in Memphis, Tennessee. It’s only been a year since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But on this particular weekend, everyone in town, all races, creeds and colors have come out for the Fourth Annual Memphis Country Blues Festival. The lineup is the most ambitious in years, welcoming blues masters like Bukka White, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and the 106 year-old Nathan Beauregard, coupled with more notable headliners like Rufus Thomas & The Bar-Kays, John Fahey and rocker Johnny Winter. One attendee that year was Gene Rosenthal, who brought along a couple of cameras, a small crew and left with 40,000 feet of color film that was left untouched for nearly 50 years….until now. ‘Memphis 69’ is a time capsule. If you’re a blues enthusiast, watching this film feels like you’ve opened up a treasure chest and discovered that you’ve hit the motherload.

In this first DVD lesson, John offers insights to playing seven of his best known instrumentals. Regular and open G (DGDGBD) tunings are featured. A detailed tab/music instructional booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD. DVD is region 0, playable worldwide.

No description available.

In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey is a documentary film about the legendary American guitarist, composer and provocateur John Fahey, 1939-2001. Fahey is often considered the godfather of 'American primitive guitar'. This cinematic exploration features Pete Townshend, Chris Funk of The Decemberists and Joey Burns of Calexico. These stellar musicians, along with Fahey associates and friends such as the famous 'Dr. Demento', radio broadcaster Barry Hansen, explore the legacy of this profoundly influential artist. The film was recorded in the Washington D.C. area where John Fahey was born, along the Mississippi Delta from Memphis to New Orleans, in Los Angeles, Toronto, Austin, New York and in Oregon where Fahey spent his last two decades.

Autumnal scenery of Riverside Cemetery in Waterbury, CT, set to 'Impressions of Susan' by John Fahey, reflecting on the passage of time, mortality, social class, and memorialization.

“Journey into the Mine” (礦之旅) is a 1981 documentary directed by Chang Chao-Tang (張照堂). Part of the “Journey Through Images” series (映象之旅), it documents the Ruìsān Coal Mine (瑞三煤礦) in Houtong, Ruifang (瑞芳侯硐). Using a portable ENG camera, the crew descended 600 meters underground to record miners working amid heat, coal dust, and gas hazards. Rejecting elite-centered television perspectives, the film foregrounds the resilience of working-class laborers. Its essayistic voice-over is paired with ECM jazz and blues, creating a distinctive tone. In 1982, it won the Golden Bell Award (金鐘獎) for Best Educational and Cultural Program. A rebroadcast added footage of the Neihu Futian Coal Mine disaster (內湖福田煤礦災變), producing a stark dialogue between policy narrative and industrial tragedy. Its footage was later used in Hou Hsiao-hsien’s 1986 film Dust in the Wind”(戀戀風塵).

First concert is from the TV Show 'Guitar, Guitar' hosted by Laura Weber in 1969. Next is 'In Concert at the Freight & Salvage, 1996'. Last is 'An Informal Interview (1996)'.

Titles include: "Red Pony, Death of the Clayton Peacock, In Christ There Is No East or West, Poor Boy. Medley: "Twilight On Prince George's Avenue and O Holy Night and My Prayer", Who Will Rock The Cradle, Steamboat 'Gwine Round The Bend, The Story of Dorothy Gooch, Part One, Guitar Rag, On The Sunnyside Side Of The Ocean, Medley: "Blueberry and Special Rider", St. Vitus Dance, Dorothy, City of Refuge, Mexico, and Discarded".

John Fahey has created a unique body of guitar compositions and arrangements as well as a distinct approach to fingerstyle guitar. He broke fresh ground in recording guitar music that drew from such diverse sources as Country blues, Old-Time music, Indian ragas, European classical music and Gregorian chants. In this second video lesson John explains and teaches eight of his best known Instrumentals Regular, Open G (DGD GBD) and Open D (D A D F# A D) tunings are featured. 65-minutes. A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD. DVD is region 0, playable worldwide.