John Fahey
was one of the most influential acoustic guitarists of his generation, and his impact was felt even by people who never heard his music.
Fahey
's championing of rural
blues
masters such as
Charley Patton
and
Bukka White
before the "blues revival" made such things fashionable helped save an entire school of music from the scrap heap of history, and by giving
Leo Kottke
Robbie Basho
their first opportunities to record, he launched some important and long-lived careers in the new acoustic music. But
's own music wasn't always as warmly received as that of his contemporaries and followers; while his dexterous finger picking and imaginative interpolation of
structures were a joy to hear,
was always determined to press the envelope, and his embrace of
modal
structures,
ragas
, and modern
classical
influences (as well as
post-rock
noise
-making late in his life) coupled with his withering sense of humor made him a performer who often seemed too smart for the house.
The Revenge of Blind Joe Death: The John Fahey Tribute Album
features 20 performers playing tunes either written, discovered, or inspired by
, and in many respects this sounds like the engaging and thoroughly approachable album that it wasn't
's nature to make. There's no question that the performers here love and respect
's work, and there's some truly stellar picking, especially from
Peter Lang
,
Dale Miller
Terry Robb
, and
David Doucet
. A few artists contribute original pieces, most notably
Stefan Grossman
's
"The Assassination of John Fahey"
(a witty tribute to
"The Assassination of Stefan Grossman"
), and
Country Joe McDonald
"Thinking of John Fahey,"
an homage to
's slide technique, while others offer strongly distinct takes on
's material. It's doubtful that anyone was expecting
George Winston
to contribute a solo harmonica piece, while
Henry Kaiser
John Schott
filter their number through their very electrified sensibilities and
Canned Fish
, featuring members of
Canned Heat
Country Joe & the Fish
, turn
"Dance of the Inhabitants of the Palace of King Phillip XIV of Spain"
into a loud and joyous
jug band
stomp. But the sense of creative adventure and musical risk that was so much a part of
's music is largely missing, and a number of the guitarists here offer renditions that are so close to the sound and style of the original that they seem almost pointless except as a show of technique, something
didn't much value in and of itself.
The Revenge of Blind Joe Death
is a well-intentioned labor of love, but its polished surfaces lack the edgy textures that were so important to
's work; too bad
isn't around to issue his response. ~ Mark Deming