Out of his entire discography, John Fahey rarely sung on his records. Instead his guitar did. His mix of folk, blues, and 20th contemporary classical has been hailed as some of America’s best music. Combined with his own record label Takoma Records and enlisting musicians such as Robbie Basho and Leo Kottle, John Fahey helped give rise to the genre called “American Guitar Primitivism” (Based off early 20th century french primitivism). Born John Aloysius Fahey in 1939, John Fahey got into music after hearing “Blue Yodel no.7” by Bill Monroe. Fahey first released his records on Fonotone records, headed by the famed 78rpm collector Joe Bussard. In 1959 Fahey released his first album Blind Joe Death (also known as vol.1), which critics call his best record. Fahey would continue his volumes into the 60’s and would later focus on more religious music in the 70’s and 80’s. Around the late 80’s Fahey was running into some health problems, but was also being championed by those in the alternative scene. Fahey passed in 2001, 6 days from his birth day. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him 35th best guitarist ever.