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KRIS DOLLIMORE PRESENTS A TRIBUTE TO THE LATE GREAT JOHN FAHEY On December 4th The Bullfrog Blues Club are holding very special night in The Gun Room of The R.M.A. Tavern, when Kris Dollimore, who you'll know as a superbly talented guitarist in his own right, is taking on a massive undertaking in presenting a tribute to the late great American primitive guitarist John Fahey. For those of you who don’t know who John Fahey is, check out Youtube, which has some great clips - try “Poor Boys Long Way From Home” for starters! John Fahey was born in Washington D.C. in 1939 and he purchased his first guitar for $17 in 1952 . Fahey discovered his love of early blues upon hearing Blind Willie Johnson’s "Praise God I'm Satisfied". In 1959, using some cash saved from his job as a gas station attendant, Fahey started Takoma Records, and issued his first album, which he attributed to "Blind Joe Death" - a nickname given to Fahey by his fellow blues fans. Just a hundred copies were pressed, but it took him three years to sell them all - often to people who thought Blind Joe Death was an old living blues singer… In 1964 Fahey went attended UCLA, Los Angeles, where he took a master's thesis on the music of Charley Patton , with the assistance of his friend Al Wilson, later of Canned Heat. Around this time Fahey and Ed Denson tracked down blues legend Bukka White, who recorded the first non-Fahey Takoma release. Fahey relea sed a second album in 1963, called Death Chants, Breakdowns and Military Waltzes. To their surprise the Fahey release sold better than White's, but still Fahey did not begin playing in public for another year. His releases during the mid-1960s employed odd guitar tunings and sudden style shifts rooted firmly in the old time and blues stylings of the 1920s. Later albums from the sixties, such as Requia and The Yellow Princess found Fahey making sound collages from such elements as animal and bird cries and singing bridges. Fahey then expanded the Takoma label, discovering guitarists like Leo Kottke, Robbie Basho & Peter Lang. Kottke's debut release on the label, 6 & 12 String Guitar was the most successful, selling more than 500,000 copies. Other artists with albums on the label included Michael Bloomfield. The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Maria Muldaur, and Canned Heat. In 1979, Fahey sold Takoma to Chrysalis Records. By the mid-1970s, Fahey suffered chronic fatigue syndrome and had a serious drink problem. He was married three times, and when he divorced for the third time he became homeless and his life spiralled downward. Fahey spent much of the early 1990s living in poverty, mostly in cheap motels. Gigs had dried up and he paid his rent by pawning his guitars and selling rare records he found in junk shops. He made his last album in 1990. Following a 1994 entry in Alternative Record Guide, Fahey learned that he now had a whole new audience, which included US band Sonic Youth . A double -CD retrospective called "The Return of the Repressed" was released, and Fantasy Records reissued of all the early Takoma releases which relaunched Fahey on an unsuspecting public. New releases appeared in rapid succession, but showed Fahey had changed. Gone were the melodic dreaminess meditations of the 60s and 70s, now his music was harsh, grating, and confrontational, although his passion for traditional roots music did not subside. After coming into some money upon the death of his father in 1995, Fahey used the inheritance to form another label, Revenant Records, to focus on reissuing obscure recordings of early blues, old time music and anything else he took a fancy to. Revenant's most famous release - a seven disc retrospective box set of Charley Patton and his contemporaries - won three Grammy awards in 2003. Fahey last performed in the U.K in Autumn 1999, including a show at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, in September. His life appeared to be spiralling out of control. Old fans often walked out of these concerts - but Fahey didn’t care…. In February 2001, just a few days before what would have been his 62nd birthday, John Fahey died after undergoing a sextuple bypass operation. Currently, six John Fahey tribute albums have been recorded - a testament to his reputation as a "giant of 20th century American music" . Fahey himself released a staggering 45 albums of his own music. We won’t see the likes of him again. A 30 minute documentary feature on the life of John Fahey entitled "John Fahey: The Legacy of Blind Joe Death" is due for release in February, 2009. A trailer for the film is currently posted on Youtube. Kris Dollimore’s tribute to John Fahey is in the gun room of The R.M.A. Tavern, Cromwell Rd., Eastney, Portsmouth on Thursday 4th December. Tickets (£5) available via Paypal from www.barkingspider.abelgratis.com or from the R.M.A. Tavern at any time. in Autumn 1999, including a show at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, in September. His life appeared to be spiralling out of control. Old fans often walked out of these concerts - but Fahey didn’t care…. In February 2001, just a few days before what would have been his 62nd birthday, John Fahey died after undergoing a sextuple bypass operation. Currently, six John Fahey tribute albums have been recorded - a testament to his reputation as a "giant of 20th century American music" . Fahey himself released a staggering 45 albums of his own music. We won’t see the likes of him again. A 30 minute documentary feature on the life of John Fahey entitled "John Fahey: The Legacy of Blind Joe Death" is due for release in February, 2009. A trailer for the film is currently posted on Youtube. Kris Dollimore’s tribute to John Fahey is in the gun room of The R.M.A. Tavern, Cromwell Rd., Eastney, Portsmouth on Thursday 4th December. Tickets (£5) available via Paypal from www.barkingspider.abelgratis.com or from t he R.M.A. Tavern at any time. www.barkingspider.abelgratis.com or from the R.M.A. Tavern at any time.