Hi folks,
Since my previous post focused on bad guitar playing, I thought I'd turn things around this week and show you an example of good guitar playing. Think of it as Music Appreciation 101, Concord grape-style.
Here's a video of one of my all-time favorite guitarists, John Fahey, playing live in 1978. When you watch this clip, I want to you to be aware of the following: 1) Observe how Fahey uses a single guitar to create a complete song. Vocals and rhythm section are unnecessary and would probably detract from the quality of the music. 2) Notice that there is no self-indulgent soloing. Although he is not as technically accomplished as some guitarists, every note Fahey plays is perfectly placed and essential to the structure of the melody. 3) Listen to the way Fahey uses the techniques of traditional folk guitar fingerpicking to make music that is both highly expressive and modern-sounding. 4) Check out Fahey's hair. It is a total disaster. Even with this major distraction, the music is strong enough to hold our attention until the very end.
It is worth mentioning that I once went to a John Fahey show in Tacoma with my friend (and blog nemesis) Trevor. Fahey was in such terrible form that his playing could easily have been included in my previous post. Apparently, Fahey suffered from alcoholism and other health problems during his later years, and he died in 2001. If you want to hear more of his music, I recommend that you check out any of the albums he recorded in the 60's. These are classic records by a true musical genius.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Good guitar solos
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2 comments:
I remember that show. He wasn't in terrible form - he had no form at all. Seriously, it looked and sounded like he was tuning his guitar for more than an hour. The amazing thing was, most of the (admittedly less-than-capacity) audience stayed anyways. I think most of them knew he was way past his prime, and half-bonkos. (Brian actually warned me before the show that Fahey couldn't play anymore, but I made him go anyways.) I do remember, though, that one guy got up and said something like, "This sucks!" and stormed out of there.
Obviously, John Fahey is not the only great musician who grappled with mental illness. I also think of Daniel Johnston, who we also saw in Seattle a while back, and Wesley Willis, whose "Greatest Hits Vol. 2" I borrowed from the Madison Public Library a few weeks ago. Probably more people are familiar with the former than the latter. How can one describe Wesley Willis? I guess you could say that he does for belligerence what Daniel Johnston does for melancholy, but they're both great in their own way. And interestingly, both are talented visual artists ("were" in WW's case - he died a few years ago). It just goes to show, as anyone who has ever listened to an Inflatable Bitch song would attest, that the line between genius and madness is sometimes razor-thin ...
did he Trevor really mean to write all that? is this his blog now???
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