The Best of the Vanguard Years (1999)

About this title: Though only encompassing two albums, The Yellow Princess and Requia and Other Compositions for Guitar Solo, the latter of which appears almost in its entirety, Best of the Vanguard Years is 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 ... read more

Tracks:

1. The Yellow Princess [Fahey]
2. View (East from the Top of the Riggs Road B and O Trestle)
3. Lion [Fahey]
4. March! For Martin Luther King [Fahey]
5. The Singing Bridge of Memphis, Tennessee [Fahey]
6. Dance of the Inhabitants of the Invisible City of Bladensburg [Fahey]
7. Charles A. Lee: In Memoriam [Fahey]
8. Irish Setter [Fahey]
9. Commemorative Transfiguration and Communion at Magruder Park [Fahey]
10. Requiem for John Hurt [Fahey]
11. Requiem for Russell Blaine Cooper [Fahey]
12. When the Catfish Is in Bloom [Fahey]
13. Fight on Christians, Fight On [Fahey]
14. Requiem for Molly, Pt. 3 [Fahey]
15. Requiem for Molly, Pt. 4 [Fahey]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.