Fare Forward Voyagers (Soldier's Choice)

History

Following the fulfillment of his two-album contract with Reprise Records and lackluster sales, Fahey was released from Reprise and went back to recording for his own Takoma label.

Fahey originally dedicated the album to Swami Satchidananda, but later said the primary reason he was involved with the "spiritual community in the mountains of Lake County, Northern California" was because he was in love with the Swami's secretary. Relating the background to the recording of Fare Forward Voyagers to Byron Coley in his article "The Persecutions and Resurrections of Blind Joe Death", Fahey recalled "Probably the primary reason I got involved with them was that I fell in love with Swami Satchidananda's secretary, Shanti Norris. So, I was doing benefits for them, hoping to score points with her, and along the way I learned a lot of hatha yoga. I could go over there and get food any time I liked. I didn’t believe in Krishna or anything. It was like being in the middle of The Thief of Bagdad.”

The album and song titles are from American poet T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets set of poems. Fahey later said the songs were "too demanding" to play live.

An earlier version of the title track was released on the 2006 reissue of The Yellow Princess. Themes from "Requiem for Russell Blaine Cooper, "When the Catfish Is In Bloom", and "Dalhart, Texas 1967" can be found in the three songs.

Reception

Fare Forward Voyagers received generally positive reviews from music critics. In reviewing Fare Forward Voyagers for Allmusic, Eugene Chadbourne compared it to Indian ragas, but diverging from ragas in that "the compositions are something in the order of unpredictable miniature symphonies, each with different sections, variations, and developments." Chadbourne also praises the engineering, writing of "... the superb sound on the guitar; the brightly ringing high strings is something that can be heard on many Fahey recordings, but the deeply rich bass string sound is distinct and particularly effective."

Record Collector reviewer Grahame Bent praised the reissue, stating "Overall, the influence of Indian ragas is clearly audible both in Fahey’s playing and his compositional approach... the supreme meditative power of Fahey’s playing speaks eloquently for itself on this stunning blend of Zen minimalism and good old fashioned virtuosity."

Reissues

Track listing

All songs by John Fahey.

Side one

1. "When the Fire and the Rose Are One" – 13:55
2. "Thus Krishna on the Battlefield" – 6:36

Side two

1. "Fare Forward Voyagers" – 23:42

Personnel

Production notes