John Fahey
Actor · 1939 – 2001 · Washington, D.C
John Fahey was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer whose style has been enormously influential and has been described as the foundation of the genre of American primitive guitar.
Movies2
Movie7.5DocumentaryHistoryIn Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey is a documentary film about the legendary American guitarist, composer and provocateur John Fahey, 1939-2001. Fahey is often considered the godfather of 'American primitive guitar'. This cinematic exploration features Pete Townshend, Chris Funk of The Decemberists and Joey Burns of Calexico. These stellar musicians, along with Fahey associates and friends such as the famous 'Dr. Demento', radio broadcaster Barry Hansen, explore the legacy of this profoundly influential artist. The film was recorded in the Washington D.C. area where John Fahey was born, along the Mississippi Delta from Memphis to New Orleans, in Los Angeles, Toronto, Austin, New York and in Oregon where Fahey spent his last two decades.
In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey
2013 · 6 votes
MovieDocumentaryMusicIt’s the Summer of 1969. The temperature hovers around 105 degrees on a humid weekend in Memphis, Tennessee. It’s only been a year since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But on this particular weekend, everyone in town, all races, creeds and colors have come out for the Fourth Annual Memphis Country Blues Festival. The lineup is the most ambitious in years, welcoming blues masters like Bukka White, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and the 106 year-old Nathan Beauregard, coupled with more notable headliners like Rufus Thomas & The Bar-Kays, John Fahey and rocker Johnny Winter. One attendee that year was Gene Rosenthal, who brought along a couple of cameras, a small crew and left with 40,000 feet of color film that was left untouched for nearly 50 years….until now. ‘Memphis 69’ is a time capsule. If you’re a blues enthusiast, watching this film feels like you’ve opened up a treasure chest and discovered that you’ve hit the motherload.
Memphis '69
2019