The Legend of Blind Joe Death

by John Fahey

Overview

The saga of Blind Joe Death is an extremely confusing one, for those listeners who haven't been following Fahey's career from the beginning. In short: Fahey originally recorded Blind Joe Death in 1959, in an extremely rare, self-released edition of less than 100 copies. Though few heard it, his debut album was a groundbreaker on the acoustic folk scene in its unusually experimental approach to blues and folk styles, though its innovations sound relatively tame when compared to the best of Fahey's subsequent work. Fahey reissued the album in 1964 on Takoma, re-recording some of the cuts, and dropping one selection ("West Coast Blues"). In 1967, when the album was issued for the stereo market, Fahey re-recorded the entire album from scratch, resulting in performances of the exact same new material, but with improved fidelity and technique. This reissue does us all a mammoth favor by combining the 1964 and 1967 editions of the album (which, to make matters more confusing, bore the exact same catalog number, Takoma 1002) onto one 75-minute disc. A previously unreleased 1964 version of "West Coast Blues," a song which had been on the 1959 edition of Blind Joe Death but was left off subsequent configurations, is added as a bonus cut. Completists should note that this is not the final word in the Blind Joe Death saga. Several of the versions originally presented on the 1959 album that were re-recorded for both the 1964 and 1967 remakes are still absent, for space reasons and because the compilers themselves feel that the later renditions are notably superior. Still, it's a near-definitive package of the important Blind Joe Death material, with extensive historical liner notes explaining the circumstances that gave rise to its various incarnations. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	09/03/1996
Label:	Universal Music
UPC:	0025218890120

Tracks

1. On Doing an Evil Deed Blues
2. St. Louis Blues
3. Poor Boy, Long Ways from Home
4. Uncloudy Day
5. John Henry
6. In Christ There Is No East or West
7. Desperate Man Blues
8. Sun Gonna Shine in My Back Door Someday Blues
9. Sligo River Blues
10. On Doing an Evil Deed Blues
11. St. Louis Blues
12. Poor Boy, Long Ways from Home
13. Uncloudy Day
14. John Henry
15. In Christ There Is No East or West
16. Desperate Man Blues
17. Sun Gonna Shine in My Back Door Someday Blues
18. Sligo River Blues
19. I'm Gonna Do All I Can for My Lord
20. The Transcendental Waterfall
21. West Coast Blues

Album Credits

Performance Credits

John Fahey   Primary Artist,Guitar

Technical Credits

John Oxenham   Composer
Public Domain   Composer
Glenn Jones   Liner Notes
ED Denson   Liner Notes,Producer
W.C. Handy   Composer
Harry (Henry) Thacker Burleigh   Composer
Desmond Dunkerly   Composer
Joe Tarantino   Remastering
John Fahey   Arranger,Composer,Producer,Adaptation
Traditional   Composer
Chester Petranick   Liner Notes
Bill Belmont   Reissue Producer,Compilation Producer
Tom Weller   Art Direction,Cover Art