John Fahey: The Voice of the Turtle
performed by John Fahey (Takoma, 1996), 40 mins, 12 page(s)
Details
- Field of Interest
- American Music
- Content Type
- Music recording
- Duration
- 40 mins
- Format
- Audio
- Sub Genre
- Fingerstyle Guitar, Country/Rural Blues
- Label
- Takoma
- Page Count
- 12
- Performer
- John Fahey
- Date Recorded
- 1968
- Release Date
- 1996
- Review
- Like some of John Fahey's other projects in the '60s, this was actually recorded and assembled over a few years, and primarily composed of duets with various other artists (including overdubs with his own pseudonym, "Blind Joe Death"). One of his more obscure early efforts, Voice of the Turtle is both listenable and wildly eclectic, going from scratchy emulations of early blues 78s and country fiddle tunes to haunting guitar-flute combinations and eerie ragas. "A Raga Called Pat, Part III" and "Part IV" is a particularly ambitious piece, its disquieting swooping slide and brief bits of electronic white noise reverb veering into experimental psychedelia. Most of this is pretty traditional and acoustic in tone, however, though it has the undercurrent of dark, uneasy tension that gives much of Fahey's '60s material its intriguing combination of meditation and restlessness. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
- Subject
- American Music, Music & Performing Arts, American Studies, Folk Music, Música Folk
- Keywords and Translated Subjects
- Música Folk