Of Rivers and Religion
Encyclopedia
Of Rivers and Religion is an album by American folk musician
John Fahey
, released in 1972. It was his first recording on a major label, (Reprise Records
) and is credited to John Fahey and His Orchestra. It marked a significant change from Fahey's previous releases, incorporating a backing band and performing songs and arrangements in a Dixieland jazz
style. Although Time
picked it as one of the Top Ten albums of 1972, it was also a difficult album to market and had little enthusiasm at Reprise.
. Bruce had negotiated the contract with Reprise after failing to negotiate with Fahey's previous label, Vanguard Records
.
Bruce arranged for the musicians, beginning with Jack Feierman who wrote the majority of the arrangements. Many of the New Orleans session players had previously contributed to Walt Disney
's soundtrack for Song of the South
.
Some of the same musicians would appear on Fahey's second release for Reprise, After the Ball. Multi-instrumentalist and session musician Chris Darrow later commented, "I remember the first time I ever heard him, I thought they'd turned the record from 45 to 33 or something, 'cause I couldn't believe how slow he played."
Speaking of both Of Rivers and Religion and After the Ball in a 1998 interview for The Wire
, Fahey recalled, "I don't understand why they got bad reviews. It's like every time I wanted to do something other than play guitar I got castigated."
picked Of Rivers and Religion as one of the Top Ten albums of 1972.
In his Allmusic review, critic Brian Olewnick called it "A fine effort and certainly something that belongs on the shelves of any fan of the late, very great guitarist." while music critic Robert Christgau
stated "Not for everyone, but I think this is his best." and gave it an A rating; later, Christgau would rank it as the twenty-fifth best record of the decade.
In his 1972 review for Rolling Stone
Bob Palmer praised the change in direction and said, "[Fahey] uses traditional motifs to construct
pieces of dazzling contrasts, counter-balancing their deep feelings and dark undertows with a dry but devastating sense of humor... it's Fahey's show most of the way and the guitarist makes the most of what is surely his finest hour."
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 1972. It was his first recording on a major label, (Reprise Records
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
) and is credited to John Fahey and His Orchestra. It marked a significant change from Fahey's previous releases, incorporating a backing band and performing songs and arrangements in a Dixieland jazz
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
style. Although Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
picked it as one of the Top Ten albums of 1972, it was also a difficult album to market and had little enthusiasm at Reprise.
History
After eleven albums of Fahey playing solo guitar with occasional accompaniment, Of Rivers and Religions marked a departure for Fahey due to the use of accompanists on most of the material. It is also the first album Fahey recorded with producer/manager Denny BruceDenny Bruce
Denny Bruce is an American record producer and artist manager. He was born in Lancaster, PA on October 4, 1944.In the early 60s, he was a drummer for Frank Zappa but suffered a six-month illness with mononucleosis which cost him his job prior to the recording of Zappa's first album with The Mothers...
. Bruce had negotiated the contract with Reprise after failing to negotiate with Fahey's previous label, Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
.
Bruce arranged for the musicians, beginning with Jack Feierman who wrote the majority of the arrangements. Many of the New Orleans session players had previously contributed to Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's soundtrack for Song of the South
Song of the South
Song of the South is a 1946 American musical film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is based on the Uncle Remus cycle of stories by Joel Chandler Harris. The live actors provide a sentimental frame story, in which Uncle Remus relates the folk tales of the...
.
Some of the same musicians would appear on Fahey's second release for Reprise, After the Ball. Multi-instrumentalist and session musician Chris Darrow later commented, "I remember the first time I ever heard him, I thought they'd turned the record from 45 to 33 or something, 'cause I couldn't believe how slow he played."
Speaking of both Of Rivers and Religion and After the Ball in a 1998 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...
, Fahey recalled, "I don't understand why they got bad reviews. It's like every time I wanted to do something other than play guitar I got castigated."
Reception
TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
picked Of Rivers and Religion as one of the Top Ten albums of 1972.
In his Allmusic review, critic Brian Olewnick called it "A fine effort and certainly something that belongs on the shelves of any fan of the late, very great guitarist." while music critic Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
stated "Not for everyone, but I think this is his best." and gave it an A rating; later, Christgau would rank it as the twenty-fifth best record of the decade.
In his 1972 review for Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
Bob Palmer praised the change in direction and said, "[Fahey] uses traditional motifs to construct
pieces of dazzling contrasts, counter-balancing their deep feelings and dark undertows with a dry but devastating sense of humor... it's Fahey's show most of the way and the guitarist makes the most of what is surely his finest hour."
Reissues
- Of Rivers and Religion was reissued on CD in 2001 by Collectors' ChoiceCollectors' Choice MusicCollectors' Choice Music is a company primarily in two businesses. They are best known for re-issuing albums originally recorded in LP record form as compact discs...
. - Of Rivers and Religion was also reissued along with After the Ball in 2003 by Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
.
Side one
- "Steamboat Gwine 'Round de Bend" (Fahey) – 4:15
- "Medley: Deep River/Ol' Man RiverOl' Man River"Ol' Man River" is a song in the 1927 musical Show Boat that expresses the African American hardship and struggles of the time with the endless, uncaring flow of the Mississippi River; it is sung from the point-of-view of a dock worker on a showboat, and is the most famous song from the show...
" (Oscar Hammerstein IIOscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
, Jerome KernJerome KernJerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
, Traditional) – 6:45 - "Dixie Pig Bar-B-Q Blues" (Fahey) – 3:55
- "Texas and Pacific Blues" (Traditional) – 4:30
Side two
- "Funeral Song for Mississippi John Hurt" (Fahey) – 4:20
- "Medley: By the Side of the Road/I Come, I Come" (A. Brumley, Traditional) – 6:05
- "Lord Have Mercy" (Traditional) – 2:28
- "Song" (Fahey) – 5:22
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 - Chris Darrow – guitar, dobro, fiddle, mandolin
- Joel Druckman – double bass
- Jack Feierman – trumpet
- Ira Nepus – trombone
- Joanne Grauer – piano, calliope
- Nappy La Mare – banjo
- Alan Reuse – banjo
- Joe Darensbourgh – clarinet
Production notes
- John Fahey – producer
- Denny Bruce – producer
- Jack Feierman – arranger
- Doug Decker – engineer
- Nat HentoffNat HentoffNathan Irving "Nat" Hentoff is an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media and writes regularly on jazz and country music for The Wall Street Journal....
– original liner notes - Richie UnterbergerRichie UnterbergerRichie 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...
– reissue liner notes - Christopher Whorf – design
- Ed Thrasher – art direction and photography