The Epiphany of Glenn Jones

The Epiphany of Glenn Jones

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Backed by Cul de Sac, The Epiphany of Glenn Jones represents some of the best playing of fingerstyle guitarist John Fahey in a long time. It's a perfect blend of moody, acoustic ballads, and improvised noodling, all featuring overtly simple guitar and sampler structures. Fahey fans should buy it for "Gamelan Guitar" alone--a repetitive little ditty that features Fahey accompanied by the tinkling sound effects of closely-mic'd dry beans and rice poured into bowls and over guitar strings. With Fahey's newfound status as an avant-gardist, along with his improving health, you'd think these sessions would be a cakewalk for Cul de Sac. But the liner notes present a different take. Album title namesake Glenn Jones isn't some mythical Fahey persona (such as Blind Joe Death), but rather Cul de Sac's frontman. In a detailed essay, Jones describes his follies of trying to work with his musical hero, Fahey: mood swings, arguments, personal and artistic differences, and more. Nevertheless, Cul de Sac and Fahey somehow worked their problems out and this resulting album turned out exceptionally well. --Jason Verlinde

Tracks:

Tuff
Gamelan Collage
The New Red Pony
Maggie Campbell Blues
Our Puppet Selves
Gamelan Guitar
Come On In My Kitchen
Magic Mountain
More Nothing
Nothing

Amazon.com

Backed by Cul de Sac, The Epiphany of Glenn Jones represents some of the best playing of fingerstyle guitarist John Fahey in a long time. It's a perfect blend of moody, acoustic ballads, and improvised noodling, all featuring overtly simple guitar and sampler structures. Fahey fans should buy it for "Gamelan Guitar" alone--a repetitive little ditty that features Fahey accompanied by the tinkling sound effects of closely-mic'd dry beans and rice poured into bowls and over guitar strings. With Fahey's newfound status as an avant-gardist, along with his improving health, you'd think these sessions would be a cakewalk for Cul de Sac. But the liner notes present a different take. Album title namesake Glenn Jones isn't some mythical Fahey persona (such as Blind Joe Death), but rather Cul de Sac's frontman. In a detailed essay, Jones describes his follies of trying to work with his musical hero, Fahey: mood swings, arguments, personal and artistic differences, and more. Nevertheless, Cul de Sac and Fahey somehow worked their problems out and this resulting album turned out exceptionally well. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews:

interesting.......2007-02-11

Not my favorite John Fahey...but I like the experimental aspect of this recording and overall is very good...some of the spoken word parts while the concept is good just doesn't fly...it almost seemed like Fahey was not really into that part and could have been left out.

Kill Your Idols.......2000-07-04

One of those extraordinary encounters which make the story of John Fahey so fascinating, this a fine mixture of psychological terror, straightforward Freudian psychology and of course some radical-but-cuddly music. Imagine the situation: you are Glenn Jones and for years you've idolised John Fahey. Now you're a fine guitar-player yourself, with your own band (Cul de Sac), and you get a chance to make a record with your hero. You feverishly prepare for the precious few days of studio time. You rehearse the band, and send stuff to Fahey so he can arrive prepared. On the great day everyone meets at the studio, and Fahey immediately denounces you, your music and your band as old fashioned and pretentious - wow! Major trauma! Hang on to your ego! After some fraught hours trying out this and that, JF stated bluntly that either he took over the project or he was walking. So they made this record, which is a series of abstract textures with a couple of great blues interpolations (Come On in my Kitchen, Maggie Campbell). Pretty good stuff, in the end - it won't frighten you (like "City of Refuge" might) - although it frightened Glenn!

Music Review:

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