JOHN FAHEY Pre-TAKOMA METAL ACETATE FONOTONE MD FOLK LP

$

535

John Fahey: "Guitar Solo's" 198?, USA/Fonotone 70001. Disc is in beautiful EX to M- shape, it's like new. Labels are typed and hand-applied. This is an expertly-made 12" metal acetate LP that was hand-cut on a lathe. The sound is excellent, it's comparable in fidelity to a standard vinyl pressing. It has a manila slipcase for a cover.

Frederick, Maryland musicologist Joe Bussard, Jr. recorded several local artists in his home studio, including John Fahey. The Fahey recording sessions began in 1959, and continued until 1962. Fahey left these early masters with Bussard, asking only that if he was going to make the music available to collectors, he do it himself, and never license the material to a label. Bussard had the equipment for making acetates at 78 rpm, and this was how he shared Fahey's early recordings with interested collectors for many years. These were usually 7" acetates, with one song on each side. They were expensive to produce, and correspondingly they were expensive for Fahey collectors to purchase from Bussard. As a result very few were ever made. A small number of these 78s have turned up on ebay and have fetched considerable sums.

By the 1980s, Bussard had upgraded his cutting equipment to be able to produce a 12" disc at 33 1/3 rpm. He only made one "official" 12" disc available to Fahey fans, Fonotone 70001, labeled "Guitar Solo's". The fourteen instrumental tracks were recorded in 1962. Song titles were not provided with the disc, as they had long been lost. Only a handful of these discs were ever made, as they were prohibitively expensive to purchase. The item on offer here is one of these rare handmade acetate LPs. Fourteen tracks with no titles, recorded privately by John Fahey in 1962, and subsequently transferred to metal acetate by Joe Bussard in the mid-1980s. Despite being made "available" to John Fahey fans for a period of several years, I'm quite sure no copy of Fonotone 70001 has been offered publicly before.

The winning bidder will also receive copies of Bussard's mid-1980s catalog of early recordings of Fahey and several other artists.

John Fahey fans should keep an eye on my auctions, as next week things will get even more interesting.

Look below for a picture or two of the actual item up for auction.

All my records are guaranteed. I try to grade strictly enough to please all potential bidders and will note any found flaws with the disc or cover specifically. If you need any more information, feel free to e-mail me at iamthewitch at earthlink.net.

I pack/ship once a week, usually on Friday. I use sturdy cardboard boxes designed for shipping records, and I remove the disc from the cover to prevent seam splits during shipment. This disc will require double-boxing, hence the higher-than-normal shipping rates. I'm required by ebay to offer a $4.00 shipping rate. If you opt for media mail on this rare/fragile item, I would seriously question your sanity!

IF YOU ARE IN THE USA: I can ship this LP by Media Mail for $4.00, or by Priority Mail for $10.50. Insurance or Registered delivery is available on all shipments at my cost.

IF YOU ARE IN CANADA: I can ship this LP to you by Airmail for $10.00. Registered service is available for an additional fee.

IF YOU ARE IN MEXICO: I can ship this LP to you by Airmail for $15.00. Registered service is available for an additional fee.

IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA: I can ship this LP to you by Airmail for $20.00. Registered service is available for an additional fee.