Search - John Fahey :: After the Ball

Surprisingly Distinctive

jimnypivo | west of Chicago, USA | 08/23/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I became interested in John Fahey while in college through the credit Leo Kottke gave to Fahey in liner notes and in covering several Fahey tunes. Between Kottke releases, hungry for more of this type of music, I sought out Fahey and Peter Lang to satisfy my lust. Some Kottke fans can't make the transition to Fahey's slow tempo, and sometimes weird offerings. But I kept on listening because I heard an inner voice in the eccentricity of Fahey's music.Among Fahey fans, this disc is not particularly popular because as with 'Rivers and Religion' (my Fahey favorite) he uses a Dixieland/ragtime orchestra on several cuts. But he uses it well, and sprinkles it judiciously throughout the recording. Now that bands like Squirrel Nut Zippers have risen in popularity, there might be a new audience for this disc. Fahey was always trying to do something interesting with his music. Here he's picked the tunes, the musicians and the arrangements and pulled it off. New Orleans Shuffle (2) in the Squirrel Nut Zippers instrumental style, with solos of guitar, clarinet, and cornet. I wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free (5) is played with the reverence and precision a church hymn should. After the Ball (10) evokes images of the last number in a long night for 30's dance band.But there's plenty of classic Fahey for the purists, and it's quality stuff. The acoustic tunes on *After The Ball* are more up-tempo than the funereal sound many people think of when Fahey's name comes to mind. Horses (1) is a jaunt with a bouncy, happy canter and a few flashes of Fahey's fancy fretwork. Beverly (3) starts out beautifully sinister and slow, then quickening in tempo and alternating again until it rises to satisfying finish. Om Shanti Norris (4) is my all-time favorite John Fahey tune for its intricacy of musical patterns. It's a delicate, blusesygrass mantra, done like a vocal round. It is like what a musical Jackson Pollack painting would be--- banjos providing a basic melodic drop cloth upon which slide guitars dribble ever so lightly, and Fahey's finger-pickin' good licks embroider their own patterns over all. When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose (6) A pleasant, happy song that evidences the influence Fahey's style had on the early Kottke. Hawaiian Two-Step (7) It's a shame this song is on such an obscure record, because it undoes the damage to ukulele music by Arthur Godfrey and Tiny Tim. Bucktown Stomp (8) acoustic guitar, with a little calliope/organ thrown in for good measure. Why didn't somebody use this for a TV commercial backdrop? Candy Man (9) A happy-go-lucky interpretation of the traditional tune. Richie Unterberger wrote the interesting liner notes to the Collector's Choice Music CD, adding historical anecdotes of the production and marketing response to this recording and are worth reading. And if you like American music, this disc is well worth purchasing."

Pure enjoyment!!!

A. D. Lewis | Blackwood, S. Wales | 02/06/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was Fahey's second REPRISE album following OF RIVERS AND RELIGION. Those who know that album will want to have this one too. All the merits of RIVERS AND RELIGION are here....wonderful playing and glorious arrangements and production. Where RIVERS AND RELIGION was relaxed and mellow in mood, this album is more varied and, perhaps more memorable. Fahey plays solo on three tracks: the thoroughly characteristic HORSES with that muscular thumb work getting the album off to a flying start, a beautiful rendering of WHEN YOU WORE A TULIP, and the finest account of BEVERLY, a truly exceptional composition worth the purchase price on its own. Other tracks bring in a small band featuring clarinet, trumpet, trombone, mandolin, fiddle, guitars etc. We hear lovely arrangements of NEW ORLEANS SHUFFLE, I WISH I KNEW HOW IT WOULD FEEL TO BE FREE and AFTER THE BALL. BUCKTOWN STOMP, CANDY MAN and HAWAIIAN TWO-STEP (a familiar Fahey theme), feature strings without brass....a feast of acoustic fun! And this brings me to OM SHANTHI NORRIS, a truly lovely, wistful, nostalgic 6 minutes of sheer bliss, with Fahey's slide guitar singing the lovely theme (an Indian melody) over the most wonderful string arrangement, including plucked banjo and a gorgeous tremolo mandolin played by Allen Reuse. I think this is one of the most beautiful and captivating pieces of music I have heard. Any record with eight excellent tracks, and two tracks of outstanding perfection in BEVERLY and OM SHANTHI NORRIS has to have a 5 star recommendation. I can't see how anyone could fail to enjoy this honest, delightful record, full of melody, invention and first rate musicianship."

Before buying this particular item...

greyhoundude | Corvallis, OR | 12/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is another of Fahey's finest albums. Some tracks solo, some with a small "orchestra."



BUT...do yourself a favor and purchase the 2-fer on Rhino UK of OF RIVERS & RELIGION and AFTER THE BALL. Really, you'll be much happer. The albums are stylistically similar, making it a seamless collection of tunes. It has Rhino's terrific re-mastering, courtesy of Bill Inglot (Collector's Choice seems to have done a simple transfer with no re-mastering), much more complete liner notes, courtesy of Sid Griffin, and a slipcase. At this writing it's available right here on Amazon USA -- you don't even need to pay the import shipping."