John Fahey transformed the world of acoustic flat-top steel-string guitar by bringing it to the concert stage as a respected, solo instrument. Blind Joe Death: Volume 1 looks at the important people and genres that shaped him as acomposer. This volume focuses on Side 1 of the original 1967 Blind Joe Death LP, a collection of mostly traditional music that was adapted for solo guitar. Hints of Fahey’s early influences endured throughout his career as a composer, yet early on, and in Blind Joe Death, a unique voice is coming into focus-one that is not afraid to explore the avant-garde with journeys into collage and expressionism. Six extensively edited solos from Blind Joe Death are included in Volume 1: On Doing an Evil Deed Blues,
St. Louis Blues,
Poor Boy a Long Ways from Home,
Uncloudy Day,
John Henry and In Christ There Is No East or West. Within these transcriptions, Andrew Lardner has provided admirers of John Fahey’s body of work with the essential keys to launch their own journeys into replicating the sounds and style of Fahey’s landmark solos from Blind Joe Death.