Of Rivers and Religion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Of Rivers and Religion | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 15, 1972 | |||
| Recorded | 1972 | |||
| Genre | Folk, jazz | |||
| Length | 37:40 (Original LP) 34:49 (Reissue) | |||
| Label | Reprise | |||
| Producer | John Fahey, Denny Bruce | |||
| John Fahey chronology | ||||
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Of Rivers and Religion is an album by American folk musician John Fahey, released in 1972. It was his first recording on a major label (Reprise Records) and is credited to John Fahey and His Orchestra. It marked a significant change from Fahey's previous releases, incorporating a backing band and performing songs and arrangements in a Dixieland jazz style. Although Time picked it as one of the Top Ten albums of 1972, it was also a difficult album to market and had little enthusiasm at Reprise.[1]
Of Rivers and Religion was the first album Fahey recorded with producer/manager Denny Bruce. Bruce had negotiated the contract with Reprise after failing to negotiate with Fahey's previous label, Vanguard Records.[1]
Bruce arranged for the musicians, beginning with Jack Feierman who wrote the majority of the arrangements.[1] Many of the New Orleans session players had previously contributed to Walt Disney's soundtrack for Song of the South.[2] Some of the same musicians would appear on Fahey's second release for Reprise, After the Ball.[1] Multi-instrumentalist and session musician Chris Darrow later commented, "I remember the first time I ever heard him, I thought they'd turned the record from 45 to 33 or something, 'cause I couldn't believe how slow he played."[3] The session band appeared on "Dixie Pig Bar-B-Q Blues", "Texas and Pacific Blues" and "Lord Have Mercy".[4]
Speaking of both Of Rivers and Religion and After the Ball in a 1998 interview for The Wire, Fahey recalled, "I don't understand why they got bad reviews. It's like every time I wanted to do something other than play guitar I got castigated."[5]
The album cover featured a photo staged at Disneyland's Tom Sawyer's Island.[4]
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | A[6] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [7] |
| The Great Folk Discography | 8/10[8] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [9] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 6/10[10] |
Time picked Of Rivers and Religion as one of the top ten albums of 1972.[1] In his 1972 review for Rolling Stone, Bob Palmer praised the change in direction and said that Fahey "uses traditional motifs to construct pieces of dazzling contrasts, counter-balancing their deep feelings and dark undertows with a dry but devastating sense of humor ... it's Fahey's show most of the way and the guitarist makes the most of what is surely his finest hour."[11]
In his AllMusic review, critic Brian Olewnick called it "a fine effort and certainly something that belongs on the shelves of any fan of the late, very great guitarist",[3] while music critic Robert Christgau said that it is "not for everyone, but I think this is his best" and gave it an A rating;[6] later, Christgau would rank it as the twenty-fifth best record of the decade.[12]
Reissues
- Of Rivers and Religion was reissued on CD in 2001 by Collectors' Choice.[1]
- Of Rivers and Religion was also reissued along with After the Ball in 2003 by Warner Bros. Records.[2]
