The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death
Encyclopedia
The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death is a 1965 album
by American
fingerstyle guitar
ist and composer John Fahey
, originally issued in a hand-lettered edition of 50. As with all of Fahey's independently released early albums, it had little critical recognition upon release. The album has grown in stature since its reissue on CD in 1997 and is now highly regarded critically.
. For years Fahey and Takoma Records
continued to treat the imaginary guitarist as a real person, including booklets with their LPs containing biographical information about him and that he had taught Fahey to play.
The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death was issued by Riverboat Records, initially in a hand-lettered edition of 50, before The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party (Guitar Vol. 4), but was later reissued by Takoma. Once reissued by Takoma, it became Volume 5, but was already labeled Volume 5 on the Riverboat album sleeves. It was the first Fahey album to be released in the UK, on Transatlantic Records
.
The original 1965 liner notes came in a separate booklet, were lengthy and were attributed to one Charles Holloway, Esq. They begin:
The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death was partly recorded on the East coast, but more tracks were needed to make the album. Barry Hansen
, Fahey's friend and some-time producer and contributor, stated: "We didn't have the budget for a legit studio for that one. So I found someone who had a real nice home recorder and a quiet room. I pretty much set John up and let him play. He was all by himself for most of it. I wasn't even around for many of the takes... He sat there with a dog at his feet. There's one track where the dog barks in the middle of the music—it was my decision to leave that false start in."
's film A Clockwork Orange
. The jacket design and drawing are by David Omar White.
, Chris Smith gave it an A+ rating and wrote "Fahey excels at conjuring up a painstakingly developed sense of time and place in his playing, and if its predecessor at times accurately mapped out the restive confines of the dark night of the soul, this record no less vividly represents a (mildly acid-fried) return to the front porch and the prairie." Calling "On the Sunny Side of the Ocean" the "undeniable highlight of the album", he refers to the rest of the songs generally as "...unpredictable, complex, and evocative as any of Fahey’s previous, more aggressively daring work." Likewise, a 5 out of 5-star rating from Allmusic reviewer Steven McDonald conceded the album "has a lot of rough edges in terms of the recording but a tremendous amount of power when it comes to the music. Fahey was at the top of his game..."
Musician
said it "...balance[s] whimsy and dignity, melody and dissonance, in a wholly original and very bent manner..." and music critic Jeff Lindholm, writing for the folk
and world music
magazine Dirty Linen, called it "...a mix of old-timey country, ragtime, Spanish flamenco, Indian classical music and more. Quiet, beautiful and jaw-droppingly intricate."
In a review for the 1967 Takoma reissue, ED Denson
called the liner notes "...a paranoid vision of reality unrivalled since Kafka
. Nothing is what it purports to be directly, but everything is "in a certain sense" — people make statements like characters in B-grade horror films, the trivial becomes significant, the meaningful, nothing."
Production notes:
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
fingerstyle guitar
Fingerstyle guitar
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking ....
ist and composer 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...
, originally issued in a hand-lettered edition of 50. As with all of Fahey's independently released early albums, it had little critical recognition upon release. The album has grown in stature since its reissue on CD in 1997 and is now highly regarded critically.
History
The title refers to a fictional bluesman named Blind Joe Death, first introduced by Fahey on his debut album Blind Joe DeathBlind Joe Death
Blind Joe Death is the first album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey. There are three different versions of the album, and the original self-released edition of fewer than 100 copies is extremely rare...
. For years Fahey and Takoma Records
Takoma Records
Takoma Records was a small but influential record label founded by John Fahey in the late 1950s.. It was named after Fahey's hometown, the Washington, D.C. suburb of Takoma Park, Maryland.-History:...
continued to treat the imaginary guitarist as a real person, including booklets with their LPs containing biographical information about him and that he had taught Fahey to play.
The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death was issued by Riverboat Records, initially in a hand-lettered edition of 50, before The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party (Guitar Vol. 4), but was later reissued by Takoma. Once reissued by Takoma, it became Volume 5, but was already labeled Volume 5 on the Riverboat album sleeves. It was the first Fahey album to be released in the UK, on Transatlantic Records
Transatlantic Records
Transatlantic Records was a British independent record label. It was established in 1961. It started began primarily as an importer of American folk, blues and jazz records - by many of the artists who influenced the burgeoning British folk and blues boom. Within a couple of years, the company had...
.
The original 1965 liner notes came in a separate booklet, were lengthy and were attributed to one Charles Holloway, Esq. They begin:
- "A disgusting, degenerate, insipid young folklorist from the Croat & Isaiah Nettles Foundation for Ethnological Research meandered mesmerically midst marble mansions in Mattapan, MassachusettsMattapan, MassachusettsMattapan is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. Historically a section of neighboring Dorchester, Mattapan became a part of Boston when Dorchester was annexed in 1870. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 36,480...
. It was an unsavory, vapid day in the summer of 2010 as the jejune air from Back Bay transubstantiated itself autologically and gradually into an ozone-like atmosphere."
The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death was partly recorded on the East coast, but more tracks were needed to make the album. Barry Hansen
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen , better known as Dr. Demento, is a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present....
, Fahey's friend and some-time producer and contributor, stated: "We didn't have the budget for a legit studio for that one. So I found someone who had a real nice home recorder and a quiet room. I pretty much set John up and let him play. He was all by himself for most of it. I wasn't even around for many of the takes... He sat there with a dog at his feet. There's one track where the dog barks in the middle of the music—it was my decision to leave that false start in."
Cover
The distinctive cover of The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death is briefly focused on in a shot of a record store in Stanley KubrickStanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's film A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange (film)
A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. It was written, directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick...
. The jacket design and drawing are by David Omar White.
Reception
After its reissue in 1997, "The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death" received highly laudatory reviews. In his review for StylusStylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
, Chris Smith gave it an A+ rating and wrote "Fahey excels at conjuring up a painstakingly developed sense of time and place in his playing, and if its predecessor at times accurately mapped out the restive confines of the dark night of the soul, this record no less vividly represents a (mildly acid-fried) return to the front porch and the prairie." Calling "On the Sunny Side of the Ocean" the "undeniable highlight of the album", he refers to the rest of the songs generally as "...unpredictable, complex, and evocative as any of Fahey’s previous, more aggressively daring work." Likewise, a 5 out of 5-star rating from Allmusic reviewer Steven McDonald conceded the album "has a lot of rough edges in terms of the recording but a tremendous amount of power when it comes to the music. Fahey was at the top of his game..."
Musician
Musician (magazine)
Musician was a monthly magazine that covered news and information about American popular music. Initially called "Music America", it was founded in 1976 by Sam Holdsworth and Gordon Baird. The two friends borrowed $20,000 from relatives and started the publication in a barn in Colorado...
said it "...balance[s] whimsy and dignity, melody and dissonance, in a wholly original and very bent manner..." and music critic Jeff Lindholm, writing for the folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
magazine Dirty Linen, called it "...a mix of old-timey country, ragtime, Spanish flamenco, Indian classical music and more. Quiet, beautiful and jaw-droppingly intricate."
In a review for the 1967 Takoma reissue, ED Denson
ED Denson
Eugene "ED" Denson is an American music group manager, producer, record label owner, and - later - lawyer, who has made notable contributions to folk, blues, and early San Francisco rock.-Biography:Denson was born in Washington D.C. in 1940...
called the liner notes "...a paranoid vision of reality unrivalled since Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
. Nothing is what it purports to be directly, but everything is "in a certain sense" — people make statements like characters in B-grade horror films, the trivial becomes significant, the meaningful, nothing."
Reissues
- The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death was reissued on LPLP albumThe 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...
by Riverboat Records in 1967, 1970 and 1972. - The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death was reissued on LPLP albumThe 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...
by Transatlantic RecordsTransatlantic RecordsTransatlantic Records was a British independent record label. It was established in 1961. It started began primarily as an importer of American folk, blues and jazz records - by many of the artists who influenced the burgeoning British folk and blues boom. Within a couple of years, the company had...
in 1968. - The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death was reissued on LP by Takoma Records in 1967 and 1973.
- The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death was reissued on LP by Chrysalis RecordsChrysalis RecordsChrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis...
in 1980. - The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death was reissued on CD by Takoma Records in 1997 with notes by pianist and guitarist George WinstonGeorge WinstonGeorge Winston is an American pianist who was born in Michigan, and grew up mainly in Miles City, Montana as well as Mississippi and Florida. He attended Stetson University in Deland, Florida and lives in Santa Cruz, California.-Background:...
.
Track listing
All songs by John Fahey unless otherwise noted. Song times are from the original release.Side one
- "Beautiful Linda Getchell" (Fahey, L. Mayne Smith) – 1:50
- "Orinda-Moraga" – 3:55
- "I Am the Resurrection" – 3:00
- "On the Sunny Side of the Ocean" – 3:00
- "Tell Her to Come Back Home" (Fahey, Uncle Dave MaconUncle Dave MaconUncle Dave Macon , born David Harrison Macon—also known as "The Dixie Dewdrop"—was an American banjo player, singer, songwriter, and comedian...
) – 2:45 - "My Station Will Be Changed After Awhile" – 2:02
- "101 Is a Hard Road to Travel" (Fahey, Macon) – 2:17
Side two
- "How Green Was My Valley" – 2:15
- "Bicycle Built for Two" – 1:10 (arrangement of the 1892 song, "Daisy BellDaisy Bell"Daisy Bell" is a popular song with the well-known chorus "Daisy, Daisy/Give me your answer do/I'm half crazy/all for the love of you" as well as the line "...a bicycle built for two".-History:"Daisy Bell" was composed by Harry Dacre in 1892...
") - "The Death of the Clayton Peacock" – 2:52
- "Brenda's Blues" – 1:45
- "Old Southern Medley" (Fahey, Stephen FosterStephen FosterStephen Collins Foster , known as the "father of American music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century...
, Charlie PattonCharlie PattonCharlie Patton , better known as Charley Patton, was an American Delta blues musician. He is considered by many to be the "Father of the Delta Blues", and is credited with creating an enduring body of American music and personally inspiring just about every Delta blues man...
, Daniel Decatur EmmettDan EmmettDaniel Decatur "Dan" Emmett was an American songwriter and entertainer, founder of the first troupe of the blackface minstrel tradition.-Biography:...
) – 6:08 - "Come Back Baby" – 2:15
- "Poor Boy" (Fahey, Bukka WhiteBukka WhiteBooker T. Washington White , better known as Bukka White, was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer. "Bukka" was not a nickname, but a phonetic misspelling of White's given name Booker, by his second record label .-Biography:Born between Aberdeen and Houston, Mississippi, White was the...
) – 2:25 - "Saint Patrick's Hymn" (based on "Saint Patrick's BreastplateSaint Patrick's BreastplateSaint Patrick's Breastplate is a Christian hymn whose original Old Irish lyrics were traditionally attributed to Saint Patrick during his Irish ministry in the 5th century; however, it was probably actually written later, in the 8th century. It is written in the style of a druidic incantation for...
") – 0:55
Personnel
- John Fahey – guitar
- L. Mayne Smith – banjo
Production notes:
- Barry Hansen – engineer, editing
- Brian Hansen – engineer
- David Omar White – cover design, illustrations
- John Fahey – original liner notes
- George WinstonGeorge WinstonGeorge Winston is an American pianist who was born in Michigan, and grew up mainly in Miles City, Montana as well as Mississippi and Florida. He attended Stetson University in Deland, Florida and lives in Santa Cruz, California.-Background:...
– reissue liner notes - Samuel ChartersSamuel ChartersSamuel Charters, born Samuel Barclay Charters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 1, 1929 , is an American music historian, writer, record producer, musician, and poet...
– reissue liner notes - Phil DeLancie – remastering