John Fahey recorded his first album in 1958 with money he saved from his day job at a gas station and borrowed from an Episcopal priest. The unusual funding arrangement was reflective of the adventurous spirit and contrasting styles that made his debut such an auspicious start. This cat began as he meant to go on.
Fahey’s steel-stringed acoustic picking style was rooted in the Southern blues he was fed as a child in Maryland by his musician parents. But he considered musical borders a nebulous concept. His early solo records strayed far from the conventional folk-music form, incorporating hints of everything from Brazilian bossa nova to classical and jazz. The slower pace at which he played emphasises the unusual arrangements and deeper resonance at the heart of his music.
Having ploughed a lonely furrow as a solo artist for a decade and a half, by 1972 Fahey was ready for something different. Of Rivers and Religion is one of two records he recorded for the Reprise imprint, and the first to feature other musicians. The transformation is stunning.
The addition of clarinets, banjos, trumpets and strings brought a whole new dimension to Fahey’s explorations of traditional motifs. His distinctively languid guitar lines are still central but surrounded by such evocative orchestration they shimmer with a new-found clarity. The musicians were mostly New Orleans jazz veterans and their low-key embellishments add considerable colour and depth to the picture.
The mysterious moods that underpinned Fahey’s early solo work find new expression in the ensemble. The extra sonic layers give his soulful lines more room to breathe. There is a natural flow to proceedings. It feels like summertime in the Mississippi Delta and the living is all kinds of easy.
