| The Best of the Vanguard Years | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | July 7, 1999 | |||
| Recorded | 1967–1968 | |||
| Genre | American Primitivism, New Acoustic | |||
| Length | 72:14 | |||
| Label | Vanguard | |||
| Producer | John Fahey, Samuel Charters | |||
| John Fahey chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Best of the Vanguard Years is a compilation album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1999.
The Best of the Vanguard Years contains the complete album The Yellow Princess and all of Requia except for "Requiem for Molly, Pt. 1" and "Requiem for Molly, Pt. 2". Vanguard had previously released both albums with modified track listings in 1974 on The Essential John Fahey (both differing LP and CD versions) and would again in 2007 with a different combination of tracks on Vanguard Visionaries .
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
| PopMatters |   [3] |
In the PopMatters review, the staff wrote the CD "can, with the ensuing years’ recognition of difficult popular artists, be set next to such crowd-pleasers as Leo Kottke and not seem that out of place... His performances for Vanguard are challenging, but in a way that we have now assimilated." [3] Andy Battaglia of Salon.com called the compilation "an adequate, though limited, introduction to John Fahey" while also stating "His music can be placed neatly within an indigenous folk tradition, but also alongside the most carefully considered examples of harmony's inherent power. As a great folk-song writer, Fahey was a great composer." [4]
Matt Fink, writing for Allmusic called the compilation "an excellent overview of Fahey's tenure on the Vanguard label and also documents an impressively innovative period for the experimental guitarist. Mysterious, groundbreaking, mind-bending, and nearly disorienting, Fahey's unique genius is on display throughout the 70-plus minutes of mostly solo acoustic tracks. Taking country blues on a dizzying and occasionally unsettling journey, this is pretty revolutionary material, even if it all doesn't rank with the very best in his catalog." [1]
All songs by John Fahey.
Production notes
Alexander "Sandy" Bull was an American folk musician and composer. Bull was an accomplished player of many stringed instruments, including guitar, pedal steel guitar, banjo, and oud. His early work blends non-western instruments with 1960s folk revival, and has been cited as important in the development of psychedelic music.
The Yellow Princess is the ninth album by American folk musician John Fahey. Released in 1968, it was his second and last release on the Vanguard label.
The Dance of Death & Other Plantation Favorites is the third album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1965. The 1999 reissue contained four previously unreleased tracks.
Old Fashioned Love is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1975. It is credited on the cover to John Fahey & His Orchestra.
The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party & Other Excursions is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1966. The cover simply labels the album Guitar Vol. 4 while the liner notes label it The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party & Other Excursions. The title never appeared on the record labels themselves. It marked the beginning of Fahey's interest in his recording of experimental soundscapes and sound effects. Despite Fahey's distaste for the 1960s counterculture, it is his release most often referred to as psychedelic.
Requia is the eighth album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey. Released in November 1967, it was the first of Fahey's two releases on the Vanguard label. It originally received hostile reviews from music critics, particularly for its musique concrète experimentation. It has since been recognised as precursor to new-age music, and has been re-released multiple times, including by Terra in 1985, Vanguard in 1997 and 1998 and Ace in 1998.
The Best of John Fahey 1959–1977 is a compilation album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1977. The songs are collected from four of Fahey's dozen or so releases up to that point.
God, Time and Causality is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1989.
The Return of the Repressed: The John Fahey Anthology is a compilation album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1994. Fahey's career, health and personal life had been in decline. The release of The Return of the Repressed, along with an article in Spin magazine by Byron Coley served to provide a renewal of his career.
The Essential John Fahey is a compilation album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1974.
City of Refuge is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1997. It was his first original release in over five years and helped start his career resurgence.
Womblife is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1997. It was one of three releases by Fahey that year.
The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick is a live album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released posthumously in 2004.
The Best of John Fahey, Vol. 2: 1964–1983 is a compilation album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 2004.
On Air is a live album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, recorded in 1978 and released posthumously in 2005.
Vanguard Visionaries is the title of a compilation recording by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 2007.
Vanguard Visionaries is the title of a recording by American folk music artist Ramblin' Jack Elliott, released in 2007.
Twilight on Prince Georges Avenue: Essential Recordings is the title of a compilation recording by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 2009.
The Restful Mind is an album by jazz guitarist Larry Coryell. It was recorded at Vanguard Records' New York City studio, and was released by Vanguard in 1975. It features Coryell on acoustic and electric guitars, along with three of the four members of the band Oregon, who were also recording for Vanguard at the time: Ralph Towner appears on guitar, Glen Moore on bass, and Collin Walcott on percussion. The album includes improvisations on two compositions by the French Baroque composer Robert de Visée, an adaptation of Maurice Ravel's "Pavane pour une infante défunte", and four Coryell originals.
Terry Robb is a Canadian fingerstyle guitarist, composer, arranger and record producer living in the United States. He plays electric and acoustic guitar, and is associated with the American Primitive Guitar genre through his collaboration with steel string guitarist John Fahey. He is a member of the Oregon Music Hall of Fame and Cascade Blues Association Hall of Fame, and was honored with the eponymous "Terry Robb" Muddy Award for Best Acoustic Guitar in 2011. His original compositions draw on the Delta blues, ragtime, folk music, country music and jazz traditions.