John Fahey, while not exactly a household name, inspired a rabid cult following with his unique music. A guitarist who began his recording career in the late 50s and spent most of his career playing solo, Fahey resisted the easy classifications (folk, blues, etc) with which some might attempt to write him off. His preferred term for his mostly instrumental, mostly acoustic music was "American primitive," a simultaneous reference to his deep connection with the roots of American music and the fact that he was self-taught. But what does American primitive really mean--and what sort of musician would self-apply such a term? This is the question that In Search Of Blind Joe Death: The Saga Of John Fahey, which opens at Criterion Cinemas at Movieland on Friday, attempts to answer--and over the course of its one-hour length, it paints a fascinating picture of a man just as unique and hard to pin down as the music he played.
An old-time music fan who began collecting records in the late 50s, at a time when doing so meant going door-to-door through rural areas of the old South, Fahey was profoundly influenced as a musician by the pre-WWII blues 78s he eventually discovered. Knowing that the music he was writing was unlikely to find acceptance at major record labels, Fahey began releasing albums on his own Takoma label (sometimes under the name Blind Joe Death). He also tracked down and signed some of the still-living musicians who'd made blues records in the 30s, eventually locating and reviving the careers of Bukka White and Skip James, among others. His interests dovetailed with those of the collegiate folk revival of the early 60s, which helped him establish his own recording and performing career. However, Fahey's own music did not fit neatly under the folk music umbrella, and his love for sonic exploration led him to pioneering experiments with Eastern music and found sound collages.
In Search Of Blind Joe Death does a great job of illustrating all of this through a somewhat impressionistic narrative. Other than occasional passages from Fahey's prose writings, read in voiceover by director James Cullingham, there's no narrator guiding the viewer through this story. Instead, interviews with Fahey's friends, peers, and fans (including members of The Decemberists and Calexico, as well as none other than Dr. Demento, a longtime Fahey associate) are mixed with archival interview and live performance clips to create an easily-understood flow of ideas and events in Fahey's life. You hear lots of his music, often set to footage of rivers and trains--two of Fahey's perennial fascinations--and learn of his mercurial, nomadic ways and his intense, wide-ranging musicological studies (Fahey's study of 20s and 30s blues musician Charley Patton in particular). The overall impression given is of an intensely creative and passionate man who saw financial stability and organization as far less important priorities than following his interests wherever they would take him.
Sadly, towards the end of his life, this approach backfired on Fahey, as failing health and disorganized personal affairs left him living in welfare hotels and pawning his guitars to make rent. In a fascinating parallel with his own earlier rediscoveries of blues musicians from previous eras, Fahey was eventually hunted down by younger fans of experimental music, including Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore. He enjoyed a creative revival in the late 90s, leading up to and continuing beyond his death in 2001, that found him extending his sonic explorations farther than he ever had before. In Search Of Blind Joe Death could be seen as an element of that revival, and its exploration of John Fahey's life and music is fascinating, entertaining, and invigorating--my response after seeing it was to spend an evening hunting down and listening to as much of Fahey's music as I could. Though the film is only an hour long, it doesn't feel like it's missing any elements of Fahey's story. And although it only scratches the surface of the prolific guitarist's career, it will pique your interest enough that you'll hunt down plenty more on your own.
In Search Of Blind Joe Death: The Saga Of John Fahey is coming to Criterion Cinemas at Movieland starting this Friday, September 6. It's one half of a double feature called Guitar Innovators, the other half of which is a documentary called Approximately Nels Cline. I didn't get to see that film, but Cline, an experimental jazz guitarist who has been a member of Wilco for the past decade, has a pretty interesting story himself. The entire double feature should be well worth your time. Show times and ticket ordering information can be found here: http://www.bowtiecinemas.com/locations/criterion-cinemas-at-movieland/