Consumer Guide Album

John Fahey: Return of the Repressed: The John Fahey Anthology [Rhino, 1994]
The catch-phrase I like best for his deliberate acoustic style gets its '50s-collegiate pretensions and folk/not-folk ambivalence: "existentialist guitar." A record collector who bases many songs on treasured blues and string-band obscurities, he also cops from Saint-Saens, rock 'n' roll, Christian hymns, Hindu hymns, and what-have-you to construct a late-night music untouched by lyrics or speed: spacy and contemplative, yet with an implacable common touch. True enough, Fahey's pioneering DIY label, named after Takoma Park, the D.C. suburb he called home, was where George Winston got his start. But after two decades of asking myself why he's any better than Leo Kottke I've decided it's a spiritual thing--he's maintained a direct line to his inner amateur. For two whole CDs, definitely not boring. Just close enough to make you question the category. A−