John Fahey - Wine and Roses

[@gentphilistine]

These videos from the Hamburg concert are truly special. Every one of them. Audience members consistently look stunned when you see them. John the Baptist totally absorbed, a demon on the stage, haloed by two rays of light breaking the darkness. How can anyone not desire to become a musician after seeing and hearing this?

[@adolin1338]

"John the Baptist, totally absorbed, a demon on the stage, haloed by two rays of light breaking the darkness" Hands down the best youtube comment i've ever had the pleasure of reading, rock on mark. Cant agree more about the clips of Fahey in Hamburg, other-worldly, truly incredible. I hope they still find you well after all these years

[@oobieo]

Love it

[@BuddhaVSZeus]

I am glad I am related to this man! he is my grandpas younger brother

[@jrh11254]

BuddhaVsZeus - wow...really?!

[@duckface524]

That's cool

[@plemgrubern]

this is still one of my favorite fahey tunes. there's just some melancholy and ghostly mystery to it.

[@tomguitaronline]

I started playing guitar at age 15. At that time, the beatles, stones, led zeppelin were my teachers. Since then, I studied classical Segovia style but did not become a true spiritual guitarist until I was exposed to Blind Joe Death. I listened and collected all of his albums and became a freestyle finger picker playing from the heart and soul. Many guitarists are technically greater than Fahey but few play with the feeling and inner quality that he exhibits. He has inspired a new following of acoustic guitarists that will continue to explore, splice, and improvise the blues with country, indian ragas, classical, jazz, folk and everything that is music! Enough said, His spirit lives on through my playing and others and I hope he is upstairs smiling down on us!

[@KCBarr1]

Amen friend. I have for years been a guitarist, albeit a hobbyist, more than anything else. I do a bit of finger picking, and a bit of slide, both acoustic and amplified. I had the pleasure of seeing Leo Kottke way back in the 70's. Technically, he was awesome. I had heard some John Fahey at that time, but not enough to be aware of how truly talented this man really was. Since then, it's been like, Fahey's better. No Kottke's better. Then I realized that it doesn't matter a damn who's better. It's what your ear and your heart tell you that matters, and my ear and heart love them both, along with many, many others. That said though, Fahey was something else.

[@ficheye00]

Great comment.

[@LosHuxleys]

Name technically better guitarists than John Fahey, please. I can only think of Leo Kottke and maybe Paco de Lucia... but then again I wouldn’t say they are better, just different and virtuous in their own way.

[@rememberpast3985]

really dont think he could smile haha))

[@RRLeimbach]

For what it's worth, I've played Fahey's stuff since about 1970 and met him about 1981, helping him carry his guitars out to his old Plymouth after a concert. He was a very nice man, contrary to legend. Also, the primary creator of fingerstyle modern guitar.

[@OspreyD40]

Also, by this time, he was commonly calling the piece, in this scary iteration "Approaching The Disco Void". Earliest title, I believe was "Wine and Roses". Then "The Red Pony". The piece evolved over time, becoming less the gently mournful song of the Red Pony days, more anxious and ... bleak.

[@MososarkusN]

I appreciate that the audience is not making noise. This deserved reverent silence, as almost everything he wrote did, for it needed space to ring. It does here.

[@deenibeeni3938]

Totally agree. Love your dog, BTW.

[@Shamino1]

The fact he could do all of this while absolutely hammered and in the deepest throwes of drunkenness is, in itself, absolutely incredible.

[@dennisjcny]

Shamino Warhen with as little as know about the human brain, don't discount the inebriating effects on some of the more creative portions of the brain. Simply don't know the effects, but we can enjoy the evidence.

[@alcoholya]

this is a comment from someone who doesn't play guitar and drink heavily.. It's nearly impossible to maintain these kinds of levels of skill after a certain amount of inebriation. Which is why Shamino made that insightful comment above yours..

[@jasonterry2096]

@@dennisjcny as a person who drinks a lot & tries to play the guitar I can tell you (at least for myself) I wouldn't be able to do anything even remotely close to this while drinking.

[@IustinNitza]

He was not drunk during this performance. You can find an interview that he gave before this concert

[@TheBestBoyyeeehehe]

​ @Machete Moonlight @@jasonterry2096 It depends on the kind of drinking. Most alcoholics do not drink in the same way as somebody who parties. A regular person reveling will try to slam down drinks and get their buzz up, an alcoholic will usually just try to maintain the buzz they need. I used to sit around in my apartment and drink and play guitar all day and when the drinking habit reaches a certain point the drunkenness doesn't necessarily affect your behaviour.

[@jimicoop]

John Fahey = Depth of feeling. His music reflects so much of lifes ambiguity. Mesmorizing.

[@tuckercahillchambers1361]

“I came into this world, not chiefly to make this a good place to live in, but to live in it, be it good or bad.” - Henry David Thoreau, talking about John Fahey

[@woobi4739]

The first video of John Fahey I ever saw. It was enough to send me down a fucking rabbit hole and influence the way I see acoustic guitar forever.

[@verbaud]

Saw Fahey at the Cellar Door in DC in the 70's. He wandered on stage. I thought, "Oh no, some local drunk is touching Fahey's guitar!" Then he sat down and played into heaven. Spoke all of 2-3 words, mumbled a thankyou and wandered off stage and left. A stunning performance.

[@Cosmicladybug]

I love this...

[@nnnnnie]

A friend and I drove from UVA/Charlottesville to DC to hear him about that time ('72/'73?) , maybe at the Cellar Door. He didn't show up. I did get to see Leo Kottke, John Prine and Mike Auldrdige about that time in small venues.

[@bufatutuagonistes8876]

I've loved Fahey for a long time. But never thought to look for him on utube...until watching Michael Hedges got me into becoming a viewer. This is really an incredible piece, full of creative tension, peak skill, and heart. I think Wine and Roses/Red Pony are his most beautiful compositions. In my little musical world, this is one of my top two or three songs. The entire first two plus minute are an insanely intense improvisation. He was flying...but not yet gone. His fingers are moving insanely fast and with feeling. I've honestly never heard him play better. He excels.

[@legbider]

I watched him give a radio interview at the Denver "underground" FM station Feb. "71". The interview lady mentioned "studio overdubbing", and he declared, a little peeved, that he " never overdubbed anything in his life". She got real embarrassed. He was awesome. A memorable moment for me. Thank you John!

[@JDBoelter]

"Red Pony" (or whatever the working title) is still one of the most haunting pieces I've ever heard (or ever expect to.) Wow.

[@ficheye00]

Unbelievable. One of the best pieces of picking I've ever heard.

[@robertchallen]

I used to play this one years ago, and if my memory is correct, it's in D minor tuning. DADFAD, instead of DADF#AD which is the regular open D tuning.that he used a lot. Have to get my guitar out to be sure though.

[@bobgreen8142]

The secret of John Fahey's technique is in how he places the guitar - on the left leg, held in balance by the right, and tilted in to the body. That way, the guitar is supported and neither hand is needed to take any of the weight of the guitar, or to balance it, so you are free just to play, and it's very comfortable too. I can sit that way for hours, my main differences are that 1) I favour a smaller-bodied guitar like my Guild M-20, and 2) on a good day I'm maybe 20% as good as Fahey (but I'm still on that trip).

[@chrissteinblondie]

!!!! Fahey was one of my main influences for playing modern rock guitar... he was one of the most innovative players around... i saw him in NYC in the early seventies... Wine and Roses one of my favorite of his pieces... i cant say enough how huge a fan of his i am... he was a very crazy guy though and died too early

[@dancochran1689]

Everytime i listen to Fahey i swear i hear two guitars picking, but NO..it's just John..Superlative....i heard that later on someone requested him to play this song, and he said he would never play it again, because it was way too dark...

[@luminol2079]

Think about constantly changing to different open tuning, in concert, without a digital tuner. Easy for some (like Fahey, obviously) but not for most. That alone is pretty cool in my opinion.

[@ficheye00]

It's fascinating to see him tuning his guitar during a song. Probably using a tuning fork in the morning, but who knows?

[@stratmen]

Leo Kottke, a one time student of Fahey, does the same thing made all the more difficult because he’s playing a 12 string guitar. Lots of Kottke on KZbin.

[@soldelcumpleanos9535]

Its very spiritual... you can feel his soul on the song :)

[@Fakovnik]

best acoustic guitar song ever ?

[@jrod9104]

Best acoustic guitar player* ever

[@toughlikerocks]

Don't mind me, just here for my weekly watch.

[@omnirath]

See you next week !

[@rpdugoni]

I caught him in 74 on Stanford campus. Amazing!!

[@mstrultan]

@phishhead11 Agreed! I am an amateur photographer and once knew a man who taught photography at a little neighborhood craft shop. He was much like your description of Kottke - technically proficient, but his pictures were soulless. Like so many who do weddings, proms, family portraits, etc. - all technique, no vision.

[@TrademarkRecordings]

Is there seriously anyone out there who would give this any less than 5 stars? FYI in 2009 the audience would be all weird long-haired metalheads into Fahey, John McLaughlin, and Ian Williams. FTW.

[@SerialPortExperiment]

Never realized before hearing this exactly how much John Fahey seems to be a large influence on Ben Monder's finger style pieces. Fahey was amazing.

[@tommypickles7]

what truth in his music. what freedom and truth

[@communty]

Both, depends which version you're listening to. Sometimes it's called "The Approaching of the Disco Void" aswell.

[@NickBaracchi]

On his website johnfaheydotcom you can find some interesting tunings, tabs and lesson.

[@danielackerman3159]

Once he was lost but now he is found

[@nnnnnie]

I am a Fahey fan. I have a lot of Fahey's records around here that I used to listen to back in the day. Yes, we had big, round plastic disks that had to have a needle on it to play the sound. Now I play it mostly in my head, but I remember.

[@gxtmfa]

Dude, you know records are still quite in vogue with millennial listeners nowadays, right?

[@calypsojimmy]

1 Leo and John loved each other's playing. 2. Strings don't break solely due to increased tension. Bigger reason for breakage = kinks in string, which can occur in 4 places: (i) the nut, (ii) the saddle, (iii) the place where string enters the tuning post, and (iv) somewhere else in the string, i.e. a defective string. Strings (esp. un-wound ones) can break @ kink-spots identified by (i-ii-iii) above, regardless of whether you are tuning up or down. But: If strings r new, theres no problem.

[@je7647]

Strings dont break if you tune down been playing forever lol

[@rebeloj]

Haha that's a rather coarse way to express your pleasure, but even as a life-long metal fan I don't disagree. The power and emotion that Fahey brings out of 6 steel strings and no other accompaniment trumps anything else I ever listen to. If I could only ever listen to instrumental solo guitar for the rest of my years I would not be upset.

[@global_tetrahedron]

haha thanks for being nice, was just trying on some hyperbole to make a point

[@jdtube]

great stuff... much thanks for the posting... i have a dvd of his, with the guitar guitar appearance and the later in life show's - but these are great clips of him is younger day's - i only wish i could have seen him live... atleast i got to see kottke... 8^)

[@naprode]

three thumbs down??? how impaired do you have to be to not like this great sound...

[@angellacanfora]

God this is gorgeous....gives me chills....

[@LateNotes]

rocking blues raga magic man !

[@hyperpoesia]

that is amazing and beautiful. do you have memories of him that you care to share?

[@wertherellerbrock]

Breaking strings from tuning down is more common than you think. The reason is that, unless you have several guitars -one for a given tuning-, if you tune down, you will eventually tune up, and going back and forth weakens the string to the point where it eventually may snap regardless of whether you were tuning up OR down.

[@OspreyD40]

While Fahey used thumb and index and middle finger, he explains to Laura Webber on the Guitar Guitar TV show that he drags the index finger across strings at times (When The Springtime Comes Again, and its iterations such as Mark 1:15), but that he's been unable to teach this to others. Use of your ring finger, a typical classical approach, can make up for less-than Fahey technique. He's amazingly fast with just two fingers and thumb. In this show, about at his peak of technique and speed.

[@sesshomaru322]

This song is in Open Dm isn't it? So many of the songs he played at this concert are in such different tunings and it looks like he played them all on the same guitar. How on earth did he not break any strings retuning?

[@je7647]

Yeah it is. Pretty hardy to break strings likw that when you're never going higher than standard

[@Beardaux]

this guy is amasing

[@mradamcooley]

lifechanging.

[@notthebannerboys]

@phishhead11 Love them both and see no need to compare then as if they are sports franchises.

[@OMGWUNSIU]

@phishhead11 Not everybody understands your simple but oh so accurate statement. I do and agree 110%.

[@gerby90]

@sandysuicide yes its the same composition. he changed the composition as well as the title throughout his career..

[@gallopinghost74]

It's a medley. It commonly played them live. I often wondered if it was pre-meditated, but he seemed to just go with it.

[@whoisit01]

i feel so lucky to have discovered this guy out of nowhere when everybody else in my generation likes hip-hop and "pop-punk" emo shit from delta blues to classic rock...im never goin back to that pop crap EVER this is the best!

[@slubberde]

Buna ziua meloman: back in the early 80's before I went to England to live, I attended a Fahey concert @ Canal St Travern in Dayton, Oh. and gave Fahey the record "Cornflower Suite" by Suni McGrath, which sites Fahey for the concecption of the art on the liner. Fahey responded by giving me his "Christmas" lp. Any interested in the music of Fahey should check out the music of Suni McGrath on my channel. This will graduate the listener to the next level of solo 6&12 string guitar.

[@guillermodeolloqui329]

increible

[@HawertyAlt]

Yup, there is classical, which uses the ring finger as well, among other styles...

[@54spiritedwill54]

fahey rules!

[@mark1800]

this video is too good to not have the sound track synchronised properly.

[@Greenalex89]

This is footage from the german TV channel WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk), I´m surprised, when was that? If it´s for that purpose I need my TV back..

[@russelsheartinacage]

this is such a brilliant song. I posted a vid of Red Pony, based on the version on the "John Fahey plays "Red Pony" 1969" vid. Check it out and let me know what you guys think! Im working on this version at the moment, so hopefully that will be up soon.

[@SkiyeSounds]

brilliant

[@FinalCurve]

@shazaaammm Go to his website, look up the tabs :)

[@rebeloj]

@moneyquickeasy I do. :) It's great music to program to.

[@genesssa]

@Adeptmind i understand his point. i still think promoting that kind of comparison, and encouraging people to go one way or another, is counterproductive. i happen to be a fan of both. i am not concerned with their different techniques. i am concerned with my enjoyment of what they do, not the relative benefits of what one does over what the other does. g

[@dantean]

@phishhead11 You are now the winner.

[@extinctlyville]

@lemonsdontcry I've played for almost 20 years now and love screwing with tunings, can't say I've broken a string tuning down to my memory. If I did, I'd be looking for a reason why, as steel strings don't break easily on a properly set up guitar. For open E, use a capo so you don't put your guitar through hell and end up doing odd things like breaking strings while tuning down.

[@je7647]

Yes this guy is just wrong you don’t break a string tuning down

[@genesssa]

@phishhead11 so no one is allowed to appreciate both of them, each for what he is, two different things, really? one has to win and one has to lose? what a warped view of music. g

[@fenderboy88]

@bjoel125 Idol has also being a competition where the contestants play thier own musical instruments not just singing ive seen a fe wof these contestants with a guitar in thier hand. The so called singer song writers on Idol that think they are the next whatever they are proclaiming to be,using idol as a quick and easy road to fame. As Tommy Emmanuel said''there are no shortcuts''

[@CfenlightenmentOrg]

@robbieborne Weren't they roommates? And Dr. Demento was his manager.

[@mwmlol]

love the people in the audience at 3:29: " O_O "

[@89kids]

If you want hear something special check out anything by Leo Kottke; he the guy that upon first hearing made fahey reply "what the "F", how did he do that?".

[@shazaaammm]

Does Fahey have any more songs that are in this tuning? (Dm tuning, right?)

[@davo171]

Some say he was at his prime in the mid 70's. The 80's were not good to him.

[@je7647]

He was still a phenomenal player up until about the mid 90s

[@SoftCouch]

Not to mention his finger style only uses Thumb, Pointer and Middle, watch closely, look at the metal finger picks on the mentioned fingers. That is mind boggling.

[@DianeRicco-no5nh]

My first picking😊

[@OMGWUNSIU]

@WildRenegade01 4 people need to discover "Q-tips". Great for cleaning the sh*t out of the ears!

[@clappzzz]

Primitive magic

[@mark1800]

good comment.

[@friendlier]

@genesssa I find so many people think that way about music. "Are you a Beatles or Stones person?" etcetera. Choosing a side like that is supposed to show that you are an expert on both. Inane and childish.

[@hyperpoesia]

ain't that the truth

[@omnirath]

If you don’t hear god at the moment man you’re deaf

[@jeannenorris]

aa6757 just stating the obviouse (sic) and missing the sublime.

[@PSLegend999]

Isn't this red pony?

[@je7647]

a few of his tracks have interchangeable song titles

[@VladTepeshu]

uh!

[@fenderboy88]

Wow,ripping introduction and so underrated,you dont see any of the American idol signer song writer wannabes play guitar like this

[@flippingbutterfly]

Is that a metal fretboard?

[@sandysuicide]

isn't this red pony?

[@bufatutuagonistes8876]

Red Pony and Wind and Roses are the same song. Red Pony is the most intense and consistently remarkable piece of music I've ever experienced. Wine and Roses too. I'm a Fare Forward Voyages boy.

[@fgldnglbs]

Unfortunately because of his bout with Epstein-Barre, his ability to play as he did was gone by the late 90's. His style by then was slow and ghostly, as when I heard him at the Khyber Pass Pub.

[@barutha]

@flippingbutterfly gay

[@BikeIntelligencer]

Unfortunate that the sound is not sync'd to the visual.

[@alcoholya]

this drunken wizard from planet Alcoholia needs a haircut.

[@studiotrans]

You must be deaf. Even Fahey said Kottke was better. I love Fahey's music and have spent many years learning to play a few of his songs. Kottke's version of Fahey's songs were always better than Fahey's original. Kottke loves Fahey too.

[@alkahol6289]

studiotrans kottke’s playing is emotionally/spiritually dead. He does not have personal relationship with the instrument. Technique wise he’s generally more skilled than fahey but that’s it, in all other aspects he falls miles short.

[@je7647]

if you actually think Kottke is better you probably dont even like music

[@Beardaux]

this guy is amasing

[@darkworld8]

fahey rules!