Learned it in college, 1973. Incredibly beautiful harmonic effects. Fahey's attack and the way he raises the volume for some parts and then lowers again for the foundational parts are unique. Even the sound of his fingerpicks on the guitar strings.
He loved classical music, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he picked this up from the dynamic change rules used in repetitive phrases of classical compositions.
It must be nice to be old and not have much time left on this crazy earth. I'm only 32 and have a long time left. I don't want to be in this woke world. I want to live how people did in the old days when things weren't so politically correct.
@@totallyrufusI am 54. Creating your own reality exclusive of the dull bars and hammers of society is a survival skill. Trends come and go. To thine own self be true, and all that. And work on learning some songs in open C tuning. It's fun to swim around in once ya get the hang of it
He may have borrowed a harmonic idea here and there perhaps in the same way Elmore James would use parts of Robert Johnson songs. But the major difference is this song is in an open C tuning and Elizabeth Cotten's Vastapol is in open D. The chord fingerings are different. Also, they aren't exactly identical when you listen to them back to back Who wrote the Midnight Special? Was it Leadbelly because his is famous? Or Crying Sam Collins because he recorded it first? I think there's room enough in the world for interpretation
@@BlindArthurBlake been listening and enjoying blues and jazz for about six decades. Dad had a fair amount of jazz records which i benefited from greatly. I started my record collection with Leadbelly and i think he remains very relevant today ( wash dc is a bourgeoise town- i lived there, and his Titanic echos down the years, with the latest victims to arrogance being the teflon bullet, the Titan, which self imploded within the last two years killing 5.). No one totally invents music; everything rests on what came before. There's an interesting 2 min youtube video Donovan put out a couple of years ago, remarking on the genesis of music from his area (Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and England), making the journey to America, becoming American country and folk (blues on a separate track), then all of the above being rolled into the British invasion, and rolled back to England and the rest of the world. I think his point is well taken. I always respect the originators and those that play their hearts out, even without getting famous. But we all borrow. Mostly the writers remain obscure, and an artist may receive extra credit. But i would ask if the music comes from us, or from some place beyond us.
Dogfight movie, saw it in full for the first time today. I saw it twice in a row. Never done that with a movie, finish it and start it again.. at least not as an adult haha. Pure passion and love, leading with your heart and eventually finding an opposite attraction. luck and passion in it's purest form, may we all be so lucky in this rare form.
@@riverbanzachamploo9725 Better late then never!. Some things speak to us, in our own timeframe. The art/material is timeless, just depends on us when we soak it up
I just saw it on TCM a couple of days ago for the first time ever. When it first came out I passed on it because I didn't care for the premise, but I gave it a shot when I found it on TCM. Wow, great movie with great acting and chemistry between River Phoenix and Lily Taylor. It will remain in their archives for a couple of weeks. I've seen it four times in the last two days.
I agree with Elizabeth an John, I really like the photos of them together they seemed like they got along well. John is a sweet man an Elizabeth a sweet woman:)
First Fahey tune i learned, open C, and there's a great bit where you don't have to fret and you can slide your finger along the the low E string which is now tuned to C
John had that Leo Kottke style maybe before Leo Kottke? lol Early i was playing him and Jansch and Renbourn and Joe Pass and Grant Green and Gabor Szabo licks ...big influences
@@whiskeyman2112 If you think soulfulness has nothing to do with what makes good music "great", you're either an android or fucking stupid. Get out more. It'll help.
I don't hate it when Kottke sings (his voice is way better than he describes it!) but it just turns him into any old singer-songwriter where the guitar is downgraded to mere accompaniment, and doesn't show what he can really do. So it's a waste of space on his albums.
vestapol is an old tune. elizabeth cotton didnt write it either. I dont think john fahey ever claimed ownership of it. though there is obviously the dirty history of rich white artists taking old folk tunes of unknown origin, played by black blues artists, and recording them thereby acquiring copyright. I dont think thats the case here. it comes from a tune called the Siege of Sevastopol about the crimean war. john faheys 'Poor Boy Long Way From Home' is also a take on Vestapol I believe.
Yes, 'Poor Boy' has a lot in common with Vestapol, not least for being in the same open tuning, usually known as Vestapol tuning. But Sunflower River Blues is quite different, in Open C, where the low string is a C, giving it a really deep bass feel, and the intervals between strings are different to Open D/Vestapol.
Total ripoff of Elizabeth Cotten's 'Vestapol', too. Wait, she admits she learned it from others. Could be a ripoff of "Poor Boys Long Way From Home' by Mississippi John Hurt, which sounds awfully similar to this. Poor Boys, Poor Tom, just who ripped who off here? or are they just evolving the song...?
I love how the person who uploaded this is still liking comments 12 years later🫶🏼🫂
Because some pieces of great music will be passed onto generations to come.
Not yours though.
@@vvoof2601 sadly. I tried lol
I love how Fahey created his own universe with his music. It is a place I want to live in forever.
Be careful
@@bustermot temper expectations with alcohol...
Nicely put
its called america
Yessir
This song gets me all choked up. So beautiful
I would not be surprised if this song inspired some of Going to California has a similar feel
I love when that tune comes in at the end of dogfight, it's such a great movie.
Such a pity they didn't use it for any actual scene in the film, but it was still a great surprise to hear it
I just finished watching it and had to hear this song again. Wonderful! 😍
Just saw it! Had to shoot right over. Powerful version
me too.
Check out Elizabeth Cotton - Vastopol. I believe John ripped off that song
John Fahey : #35 on the Rolling Stone list of top 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
Learned it in college, 1973. Incredibly beautiful harmonic effects. Fahey's attack and the way he raises the volume for some parts and then lowers again for the foundational parts are unique. Even the sound of his fingerpicks on the guitar strings.
What was the tuning on this song? I am guessing it isn't standard.
@@guitarmuse2 it is open C
He loved classical music, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he picked this up from the dynamic change rules used in repetitive phrases of classical compositions.
It must be nice to be old and not have much time left on this crazy earth. I'm only 32 and have a long time left. I don't want to be in this woke world. I want to live how people did in the old days when things weren't so politically correct.
@@totallyrufusI am 54. Creating your own reality exclusive of the dull bars and hammers of society is a survival skill. Trends come and go. To thine own self be true, and all that.
And work on learning some songs in open C tuning. It's fun to swim around in once ya get the hang of it
I saw Fahey in Bellingham in the early eighties, he was epic.
beautiful...the music that he's able to create out of these alternatve tunings is truly inspiring.
glad to hear this, and glad Mr. Fahey is being remembered.
Pretty sure he may have ripped this song off of Elizabeth Cotton - Vastopol
He may have borrowed a harmonic idea here and there perhaps in the same way Elmore James would use parts of Robert Johnson songs. But the major difference is this song is in an open C tuning and Elizabeth Cotten's Vastapol is in open D. The chord fingerings are different. Also, they aren't exactly identical when you listen to them back to back
Who wrote the Midnight Special? Was it Leadbelly because his is famous? Or Crying Sam Collins because he recorded it first?
I think there's room enough in the world for interpretation
@@BlindArthurBlake been listening and enjoying blues and jazz for about six decades. Dad had a fair amount of jazz records which i benefited from greatly. I started my record collection with Leadbelly and i think he remains very relevant today ( wash dc is a bourgeoise town- i lived there, and his Titanic echos down the years, with the latest victims to arrogance being the teflon bullet, the Titan, which self imploded within the last two years killing 5.).
No one totally invents music; everything rests on what came before.
There's an interesting 2 min youtube video Donovan put out a couple of years ago, remarking on the genesis of music from his area (Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and England), making the journey to America, becoming American country and folk (blues on a separate track), then all of the above being rolled into the British invasion, and rolled back to England and the rest of the world. I think his point is well taken. I always respect the originators and those that play their hearts out, even without getting famous. But we all borrow. Mostly the writers remain obscure, and an artist may receive extra credit. But i would ask if the music comes from us, or from some place beyond us.
@@mikehawkertz9237 Welcome to the blues, first time here?
@@BlindArthurBlake This guy gets it.
Dogfight movie, saw it in full for the first time today. I saw it twice in a row. Never done that with a movie, finish it and start it again.. at least not as an adult haha. Pure passion and love, leading with your heart and eventually finding an opposite attraction. luck and passion in it's purest form, may we all be so lucky in this rare form.
me too. i first saw it 2 days ago. time. i watched it three times, then went to sleep, then woke up again and watched. it's my new favorite movie.
@@riverbanzachamploo9725 Better late then never!. Some things speak to us, in our own timeframe. The art/material is timeless, just depends on us when we soak it up
@@kamacazi8 Agreed
I just saw it on TCM a couple of days ago for the first time ever. When it first came out I passed on it because I didn't care for the premise, but I gave it a shot when I found it on TCM. Wow, great movie with great acting and chemistry between River Phoenix and Lily Taylor. It will remain in their archives for a couple of weeks. I've seen it four times in the last two days.
My greatest musical inspiration.
Simply unbelievable. Endless tone & emotion in his playing.
One of my favorite films. The soundtrack is very nostalgic and on point with the Era and scenes.
Wonderful beyond words.
Warm greetings from the Netherlands🇳🇱.
What a mood
Sends me chills
Love it , the part where he go's down kind of sounds like the Led Zeppelin song "Poor Tom "
So groovy like pastoral folk like youth and summer
I can hear where jimmy page got his acoustic licks ! Very led zeppelin ish !!!! Fahey 🤘 space ace ron ⚡️⚡️⚡️
Jiimmy Page , Elizabeth Cotton and Mississippi John Hurt are dancing to this i feel
I agree with Elizabeth an John, I really like the photos of them together they seemed like they got along well. John is a sweet man an Elizabeth a sweet woman:)
Also this is very reminiscent of honey babe your papa cares for you, that one certain part you can hear it
@@nathanael8612 Sure is
The Sunflower River flows next to Indianola, Ms. where BB King reigned.
Riiiight...
I am currently trying to learn some Fahey pieces to do a tribute show. So influential for me.
Grab the best of fahey tab pdf from delta slider blog.. It's so good man. This is the first song in the book.
First Fahey tune i learned, open C, and there's a great bit where you don't have to fret and you can slide your finger along the the low E string which is now tuned to C
Open C, the poor man's 12-string!
I love open C I have even tuned my bass into open C for that really low sound
beautiful
Clockwork Fahey 🥳
This scene in Master of None always makes me cry
Guess I'm gonna have to rewatch it.
Which scene???
@@jonathanmauldin8801 Season 2 episode 9 Storm King Art Center
I can't help but imagine Jimmy Page being influenced by this.
He was on the 3rd album Led Zeppelin 3
Bron-Yr-Aur always makes me think of John Fahey personally
@@PimBataille same here
@@JPhil1961 there are parts of this that sound like "poor tom"
First thing i thought of too!
For Eddie Birdlace and Rose!
Simplesmente maravilhoso
The Yellow Princess !!!
some parts remind me of Led Zeppelin´s Poor Tom so very much
isnt this the same as Poor Boys Long Way From Home?
whfs 102.3 bethesda, maryland brought me here. (marhalo, cerphe )
holy damn
John had that Leo Kottke style maybe before Leo Kottke? lol Early i was playing him and Jansch and Renbourn and Joe Pass and Grant Green and Gabor Szabo licks ...big influences
Wow cool thanx...
Fahey & Jansch were both such absolute originals.
Fahey discovered Kottke.
Leo Koke, playing a Fahey song, said onstage..."...John Fahey made my life. The best friend I ever had."
Good stuff
Excellent
Oh yeah...
No denying that 12 string, You can hear where Leo borrowed some licks, not to mention the rest of us...
+paul levine in America yes but not here
You can hear Kottke's Busted Bicycle in there
I'll get flamed if I say how much more soul I think Fahey has than Kottke, so I won't say it.
i agree so hard with this lol my dad gets pissed off at me whenever i say the same thing
@@stephstilley1305 And I truly hate it when Kottke sings, lol.
Soul? Who cares? Both great pickers in the same league.
@@whiskeyman2112 If you think soulfulness has nothing to do with what makes good music "great", you're either an android or fucking stupid. Get out more. It'll help.
I don't hate it when Kottke sings (his voice is way better than he describes it!) but it just turns him into any old singer-songwriter where the guitar is downgraded to mere accompaniment, and doesn't show what he can really do. So it's a waste of space on his albums.
It's alright
Master of None
I hear a lot of Fleetwood Mac in this.
You mean Lindsey Buckingham?
@@saki14james sorry no, I was thinking of Peter Green.
eestupendo unico,,
This sounds ALOT like Vastopol by Elizabeth Cotton who is a lot older I believe... did He rip that song off ??
vestapol is an old tune. elizabeth cotton didnt write it either. I dont think john fahey ever claimed ownership of it. though there is obviously the dirty history of rich white artists taking old folk tunes of unknown origin, played by black blues artists, and recording them thereby acquiring copyright. I dont think thats the case here. it comes from a tune called the Siege of Sevastopol about the crimean war. john faheys 'Poor Boy Long Way From Home' is also a take on Vestapol I believe.
@@Oliv3rb Obviously it had nothing to do with musical talent and professionalism.
The section after the main riff sounds an awful lot like Jackson by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash while we're on the topic
Yes, 'Poor Boy' has a lot in common with Vestapol, not least for being in the same open tuning, usually known as Vestapol tuning. But Sunflower River Blues is quite different, in Open C, where the low string is a C, giving it a really deep bass feel, and the intervals between strings are different to Open D/Vestapol.
Dog Fight brought me here
jeff tweedy brought me here
Dogfight!
My Michelle, guns N roses intro???.......
Open G again...yaaaaawn
It’s actually open C CGCGCE
not quite...... yawn
Total ripoff of Poor Tom by Led Zepplin.
Fahey released this long before Zep
Yeah, nice try. This came out in 63, zep in the 80s. So poor Tom is the rip off. I love zeppelin but they ripped off a lot of other artists
I see you've already been schooled twice, so I'll just say, yeah, what these two said.
Total ripoff of Elizabeth Cotten's 'Vestapol', too. Wait, she admits she learned it from others. Could be a ripoff of "Poor Boys Long Way From Home' by Mississippi John Hurt, which sounds awfully similar to this. Poor Boys, Poor Tom, just who ripped who off here?
or are they just evolving the song...?
@@clarissasamina900 Blues musicians are constantly borrowing- it's what we do and very much part of the style :)