John Fahey TV interview 1978

Alan Bangs interviews John Fahey about his guitar style and influences. German TV.

[@BroadcastsFromPoorFarm]

It's strange to finally see Fahey speak in such a lucid and articulate form.

[@lucianotaroni4422]

It's the glasses

[@danielstoddart]

@@lucianotaroni4422 He could speak well when he wasn't drunk. I'm pretty sure this interview was filmed before the show. I'm guessing right before showtime he got loaded as usual.

[@gachitadamunga2403]

Any film makers out there looking for a fresh untouched subject for a documentary - this is it. He's not just another fascinating, underapreciated artist who deserves more recognition.

[@TVLIES2YOU]

Gachitadamunga There is a documentary about him and it's quite good: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aX_SiayYbqadgNk

[@AnthonyMonaghan]

@@TVLIES2YOU It's excellent documentary. Small, unassuming, deferential and funny. Highly recommend it to anyone.

[@alanpiper2061]

What a great interview! I bought Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death when it came out in the UK in the early 70s. I’ve heard Fahey could be very difficult but here he’s really relaxed and speaks candidly and lucidly. Magic!!!

[@MontyCantsin5]

Rhythm really is everything. So great to hear John Fahey talk about this in such an insightful way.

[@alexyames3518]

For all the Fahey uploads, you are heroic, Sir. Probably more peeks behind the mask than In Search Of Blind Joe Death in these interviews. You have done the internet a massive service. Cheers!

[@TVLIES2YOU]

Thank you, this is exactly why I felt I needed to share these, lots of candid and funny insights into his very personal take on music and playing the guitar.

[@FinalCurve]

TV LIES Ditto to what Alex Yames said. Thank you, TV Lies!!!!!!

[@danielstoddart]

TV LIES Is the complete interview available? Is this all there is, or are there more clips?

[@TVLIES2YOU]

Daniel Stoddart I hope the rest will turn up some day but this is all I could find

[@scaredypicker]

Musicality over technical prowess any day of the week! I think Fahey sells himself short though. He was a very technical guitarist too, but he still had a great feeling in his playing

[@1HandGuitar]

U know I just heard of this guy tonight while watching A Clockwork Orange for the 200th time on TV. 1 of his albums is on the rack in the record store right next to 2001 space odessey soundtrack. What I've been missing!

[@losnos79]

thats amazing that is my favorite movie and I never knew that! Kubrick was a man of great taste

[@1HandGuitar]

@@losnos79 yep he was a talented smart guy, like me.

[@guitarsmasher13]

One day our culture will appreciate musicality completely over technical skill, cuz we will be more interested in the product of the imagination than the image of the artist

[@asiangoofs4697]

What? Technique is part of musicality

[@guitarsmasher13]

​@@asiangoofs4697 I worded that poorly. I think a better word would have been songwriting instead of musicality, although it's a bit of both. I find John Fahey's music much more enjoyable than somebody like Eddie Van Halen even though their technical skills aren't even comparable. EVH takes the cake there, but it feels like his music exists solely to impress his audience and facilitate his image of some sort of guitar god, even if that's not intentional, while Fahey's music is very simple and accessible and it feels like he's really trying to express himself or some spiritual connection he has with his music.

[@je7647]

​@@guitarsmasher13 they aren't comparable, but I'd argue fahey is technically adept as evh in his own right. I agree with what you're getting at though.

[@gerardobarrientos3154]

@@guitarsmasher13 eddie van hallen no es superior a john fahey en técnica ni nada ni john fahey superior a el los dos son de estilos muy diferentes y cada uno es muy bueno en su estilo en cuanto a lo demas si comparto contigo con lo de la espiritualidad y todo obio john fahey transmite algo enorme con su música

[@kennethnick3213]

​@@asiangoofs4697He never said technical skill wasn't musicality. I think he's just saying that people will stop focusing on how a person moves their fingers and if it's cool looking or fast and instead focus completely on the music itself. It's not about image but sound. I always feel like a really technical, fast, and flashy guitar players are like magicians; they're distracting you with this physically showy technical stuff from the actual sound of the music and people just stare in awe about the physical image of their moving fingers rather than the sound of what is being played.

[@dreamofshrooms]

straight to the core, genius man....

[@michaelhaydn3493]

Where I didn't 'know' John Fahey, I saw him live at the Hippodrome in Gainesville, Florida in 1985. I sought John out 'backstage' and we exchanged a few words. John wasn't allowing for an extensive, casual talk and that impressed me. I had bought one or two of John Fahey's guitar albums in the late '60s. I was at University in Ohio at the time. John Fahey played some part in rediscovering the late Bukka White ( Booker T. Washington White ). The late John Fahey and he had estabished his own 'Takoma' records.

[@andrewpearson1903]

"Most of 'em weren't any good, but a few of 'em were great" is record collecting in a nutshell. 😂 Props to this courageous dude for telling the truth about our habit

[@andrewpearson1903]

Also, a note: the banjo comes from Africa. The slaves imported to the US brought the instrument design with them

[@clumsystrummer]

Would love to hear the complete interview. Just this clip reaffirms my acceptance and my being fine with my fanaticism of Mr. Fahey.

[@danielschaeffer1294]

The Briish guitarists he's presumably referring to, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, did a lot of transposing of Lute music onto steel string guitar, which is why they sound "stately," though Jansch could play some really fine jazz-influenced blues. (As witness his influence on Jimmy Page.) But he never got into down-and-dirty Delta slide.

[@lowdownshakinchill]

Hell yes, Blind Joe Death droppin some serious wisdom

[@deenibeeni3938]

While he was talking about "spurious notes," I was reminded of the quote "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away" (Antoine de Saint-Exupery). Most of the time less is definitely more. Pretty irritating to hear that guy call Leo Kottke one of Fahey's influences, when Fahey is the one who found Kottke & got his third record made (the first one to actually sell).

[@zatoichimasseur6767]

Dude Leo kotke is a pimple on John Faheys foot at best.

[@gerardobarrientos3154]

@@zatoichimasseur6767 toda la razón

[@zatoichimasseur6767]

@@gerardobarrientos3154 sin Duda.

[@thomasbellino1569]

Fahey is awesome

[@JakobSpooner]

awesome guy

[@deniscassiere]

2:47 i think this is the most useful advise a musician could ever receive

[@deefjohnholler]

i've never seen this. thank you!!!!

[@ryangunwitch-black]

Gonna go play guitar now!

[@jeffreysims3831]

I've always had a theory that modern electronic dance music is the logical successor to Fahey's music It's all based on that driving and shifting rhythm. What Fahey tried to capture was the early dance halls, with a solo guitarist banging out as much sound as possible, just getting the crowd going and not concerned any sophisticated melody or chord structure, just a background sound to having a helluva good time.

[@pupusaslordking5617]

i didnt know tom cruise and john fahey were friends !

[@bralingii1635]

I believe Kottke cites Fahey as an influence.

[@charliewecker]

Wow. Thanks for uploading this. ...Also, that journalist blows. Bringing up Kottke around King Fahey..tisk tisk.

[@joshisanonymous]

I've only found two interviews with Fahey on KZbin, but both ask about Kottke, and his response is about the same both times. It must've been annoying being asked about the guy he signed in his own interviews, particularly this one where the interviewer doesn't even acknowledge that the influence could've went the other way.

[@TVLIES2YOU]

joshisanonymous There was some influence both ways, they liked eachother a lot, Kottke covered quite a few of Fahey's songs and Fahey used some of Kottke's licks and bits like Death By Reputation. I have to agree with Fahey though: that the faster Kottke style (listen to The Last Steam Engine Train for example) doesn't have the grace and soul Fahey's version has for me, but it is exciting hearing Kottke doing his version at breakneck speed too.

[@JamesScottGuitar]

TV LIES and shall we not forget Robbie Basho...who was pretty influential on Kottke as well.

[@HalfManThirdBiscuit]

not a musician myself, but this clip helps explain why I'm not more of a fan of someone like Geoff Achison. He's technically a marvel, a genius!, but I get no feeling from his playing. It's completely hollow emotionally.

[@lipby]

He looks like an English professor

[@je7647]

he was. read this thesis on charley patton

[@alexyoungen]

Does anybody know the Monroe albums he's referring to?

[@TVLIES2YOU]

Fahey first exposure was 'Blue Yodel #7' and it's his favourite Monroe song: Blue Yodel No.7 - Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys 1941

[@robertanderson4913]

yes! , i too; am much more familiar with fahey as a grumpy old drunk !

[@hearingroom]

Tom Cruise has done a great job pretending to be American!