H - 'red cross disciple of christ today' (2003)

fahey week day three

so here we have red cross disciple of christ today from fahey's first posthumous album of the same title from 2003. the title is lifted from a sermon recorded for paramount records by the reverend moses mason (released january 1928).

'rev. moses mason was reportedly from lake providence, louisiana, although no birth date is available. whether or not mason was actually ordained is unknown. his life is a complete mystery, other than the fact that he recorded eight songs for paramount records in 1928 in a chicago studio. whether or not he came to chicago specifically to record is unknown.' says a commenter on a youtube video. 

fahey seems to know more. chuckling he tells the interviewer that moses mason also recorded secular blues music for paramount under a different name.

and it's not the only title he lifts for the album. 

charley bradley's 1066 blues lift's its title from a charley patton tune that is named after the way engine driver charley bradley blew the whistle of his train. there's a recording somewhere of fahey interviewing son house about it. fahey had written his master’s thesis in folklore at the university of california at berkeley on charley patton (al 'blind owl' wilson had helped him with it). 

stewart lee in the times (mostly paywalled but click through as far as you can) reviewed red cross... at the time (feb 23rd 2003).

'john fahey was an american acoustic guitarist who used the blues music he grew up with as a doorway into a world of abstract, impressionistic sound...' 

which is a pretty fair summation. except that john fahey didn't grow up with the blues he grew up in the suburbs. it was an effort of research for him to find out about it. as a teenager he went door to door in black neighbourhoods collecting the old records and then sat down to work out how they were played. towards the end fahey was playing electric guitar (it was just easier). 

this season horsemouth is concentrating more on fahey's later years. giving them a listen.

-------------------------

it's a grey rainy morning out. supposed to be sunshine in the afternoon. last night horsemouth watched ombre (1980) a giallo(ish)/ ghost story  thing with tarot cards. as it is not a straight ahead giallo he would have expected the  fragments of fear podcast to have covered it (both the double and autopsy recommended by them were excellent). horsemouth supposes it is not an actual giallo because of the supernatural elements (and because, for once, nobody gets slashed or stabbed).