Christmas with John Fahey Vol. II

History

This is John Fahey's second volume of Christmas music. His first, 1968's The New Possibility, has been one of Fahey's best selling recordings, selling over 100,000 copies.

Takoma artist Richard Ruskin duets with Fahey on a few of the numbers. "Christmas Fantasy" parts 1 and 2 take up the complete side two.

John Fahey's Guitar Christmas Book, a folio of guitar transcriptions of songs from The New Possibility and Christmas with John Fahey Vol. II, was published in 1981. It is no longer in print.

A 2000 CD reissue of The New Possibility includes the entire contents of both that album and Christmas with John Fahey Vol. II.

Reception

In his Allmusic review, Jon Pruett wrote that the side-long "Christmas Fantasy" was "gives plenty of reason to search out this record. Here, he dips into his characteristic, methodical plucking that flows from uneven to dizzying before lapsing into more melodic segments. Crashing and discordant at one moment, gentle and flowing the next. It's not your typical Christmas fantasy and probably provided some nightmarish, surreal qualities to anyone hoping to inject some typical musical yuletide cheer into their holiday."

Track listing

1. "O Holy Night" (Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight) – 3:26
2. "Christmas Medley: O Tannenbaum/Angels We Have Heard on High/Jingle Bells" (Ernst Anschütz, James Pierpont) – 3:28
3. "Russian Christmas Overture" (Traditional) – 6:45
4. "White Christmas" (Irving Berlin) – 4:55
5. "Carol of the Bells" (Traditional) – 2:34
6. "Christmas Fantasy, Pt. 1
7. "Christmas Fantasy, Pt. 2" (Traditional) – 12:20

Personnel

Production notes