Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho

A feature-length documentary on the extraordinary life and visionary music of the American guitarist and singer Robbie Basho.

Before his bizarre death at the hands of a chiropractor, Robbie Basho was sure that his compositions would not outlast him. Orphaned during infancy, diagnosed with synaesthesia (a union of the senses that caused him to interpret sound as colour) and claiming to be the reincarnation of a 17th century poet - the Baltimore-born guitarist and singer's musical output was equally as outlandish as his persona.

In his brief and troubled life he laid the foundations for radical changes to the musical landscape of America during the 1960s and 70s but reaped little more than a sparse (if fervent) following during his lifetime.

Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho is a journey into the heart of an artist's lifelong struggle - designed to illuminate and satiate existing fans while serving as a perfect starting point for the uninitiated.

Featuring interviews with Basho's former students, contemporaries and few close friends; the documentary will integrate new information and anecdotes on Basho with previously uncovered visual material, abstract employment of archive footage and photography of the natural phenomena and landscapes that informed his work.

With the resurgence of interest in Basho growing and a more widespread revival a tangible possibility, it is surely an auspicious time for his unique music and life story to be evoked through documentary.

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BOB BROZMAN - Finland radio Session 1 July 1996

It is with great sadness that I post this set of Bob Brozman music.  What a great musician.  He will be missed.
NYT obit
Bob Brozman site


BOB BROZMAN
Finland radio Session 1 July 1996
"Ulvovvat Sudet" ( Howling Wolf) radio program

1 intro
2 Bob talks
3 Ovious Blues with Natinal Tricone
4 Bob talks
5 Carabian Blues With national Style
6 Bob talks
7 Bob talks
8 Love in vain
9 Bob talks about his book
10 Bob plays
11 Hula girl
12 Zonkie
13 Bob talks
14 Hawaina Blues on Lap Steel
15 Bob talks about Weissenborn
16 Whoopie Blues with Weissenborn

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A Robbie Basho Tribute Concert and Documentary Film Benefit

Berkeley Arts presents

A Robbie Basho Tribute Concert and Documentary Film Benefit

When: May 8, 2013 8PM
Where: Berkeley Arts, 2133 University Ave. Berkeley, CA
Cost: $10-20 Suggested donation

Details
Berkeley Arts presents a concert in tribute to the late guitarist and Berkeley resident Robbie Basho. The event is also a benefit to raise funds to complete the first ever documentary film about Basho - titled Voice Of The Eagle: The Enigma Of Robbie Basho - currently in the works by London-based filmmaker Liam Barker.

The lineup includes several Bay Area performers whose work has been inspired in some way by Robbie Basho's music, including two guitarists who personally knew Basho: fingerstyle guitarist Rich Osborn and renown improvisor Henry Kaiser.

The concert will include short sets by:

Henry Kaiser
Rich Osborn
Bill Orcutt
Chuck Johnson
Danny Paul Grody
Aaron Sheppard
Andrew Weathers

We think this will be an historic event, and a fitting tribute to Basho's legacy - in the same spirit as the John Fahey memorial concerts that took place at the Freight And Salvage in 2002.

About Robbie Basho
Robbie Basho (1940 - 1986) was a Berkeley-based composer, guitarist, and vocalist and one of the foremost proponents of steel string acoustic guitar as a solo concert instrument. Along with John Fahey and Leo Kottke, Basho was part of the triumvirate of pioneering guitarists on the Berkeley-based Takoma label in the 1960s. Basho went on to record for Windham Hill, and was an important influence on the label’s founder, guitarist William Ackerman. His innovative guitar compositions incorporated American folk, European, and Eastern influences, and he is credited for developing the improvisational “American raga” style.

About the Film
Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho is a journey into the heart of an artist's lifelong struggle - designed to illuminate and satiate existing fans while serving as a perfect starting point for the uninitiated. Self-funded entirely to date by director Liam Barker, Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho features interviews with Basho's former students, contemporaries and few close friends; interspersed with abstract employment of archive footage and photography of the natural phenomena and localities that informed Basho's work. Basho claimed to paint America with music; the film will attempt to transfigure Robbie Basho with sound and images.

Principal photography began on Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho in October 2012, with the filmmakers shooting (and intermittently battling superstorms) in Vermont, Massachusetts, Maryland, Colorado and California. A Kickstarter campaign is set to launch in spring 2013 to enable the film's continuing production and subsequent post-production costs.

Liam Barker - Writer, Director, Producer, Editor
Justinas Vabuolas - Director of Photography
Robbie Basho Film.com

       

John Fahey - Aurora, Oregon 1999

This is from Fahey's electric phase,  not eclectic, that would be his whole career, eh?  Death Don't have no Mercy in This Land has some classic Fahey chatter just before the tune.  So actually at the end of track two, where he starts off telling us how he stole this song (sound familiar?) but recants on a technically, hilarious   Then tells us the difference between spirituals and gospel songs concluding with, "...hardly anybody knows that, I hardly know it myself."  Ha!!
Another gem from Damian.

01 Untitled
02 Song By Route 99
03 Death Don't Have No Mercy In This Land
04 Juana
05 Son House _ Marylin _ My Prayer

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John Fahey - Louisville 1977

01 Steamboat Gwine 'Round De Bend
02 How Green Was My Valley
03 Worried Blues
04 Poor Boy Long Ways From Home
05 The Red Pony
06 Ann Arbour _ Death By Reputation
07 It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
08 Stomping Tonight Fantasy _ In Christ There Is No East Or West _ Beverly
09 The Dance Of The Inhabitants Of The Palace Of King Philip XIV Of Spain
10 Some Summer Day
11 Medley_ Candy Man _ Brenda's Blues _ Spanish Dance
12 St. Louis Blues
13 Mark 1.15

Thanks again to Damian for taking so much time to get these files to me.  Are your ears exploding yet?

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John Fahey - Blind Joe Death Unreissued 1959 Versions

On Doing an Evil Deed Blues
In Christ There Is No East or West
The Transcendental Waterfall
Desperate Man Blues
West Coast Blues.

Here are some notes on these titles from JohnFahey.com
Rather than simply repressing the original "gas station" edition of the album, Fahey felt his playing had improved enough to warrant recording anew several tracks he was no longer satisfied with, which he did in April of 1964. Though the cover of the reissue would declare that Fahey had newly recorded five songs for the second edition ("On Doing an Evil Deed Blues," "In Christ There Is No East or West," "The Transcendental Waterfall," "Desperate Man Blues," and "Uncloudy Day"), a comparison of the tracks made in '59 and '64 reveals that "Uncloudy Day" is the same recording. "St. Louis Blues" was slightly edited from the 1959 original, eliminating the song's opening verse. Dropped altogether was Fahey's version of Blind Blake's "West Coast Blues." (John was never pleased with his recordings of the song. He later claimed he couldn't use the original version because the only surviving copy of the album had a bullet hole through the track!) To compensate for the missing song Fahey recorded a nearly 11-minute take of "The Transcendental Waterfall," expanding the length of the original version by some four minutes. This song is important as an early example of Fahey's stretching of musical form and harmony. His experimentation with noise and meaningful dissonance was still coming into focus. "'...Waterfall' was premature," notes John; "only now can I play that kind of stuff."

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Once again Damian has sent these files my way, thanks!!!
 

John Fahey - Live at Stoneybrook 1972

John Fahey - Live at Stoneybrook 1972
01 Medley - Sunflower River Blue - Revolt of the Dyke Brigade - Requiem for John Hurt
02 Steamboat Gwine 'Round de Bend
03 The Death of the Clayton Peacock
04 Fare Forward Voyagers
05 On the Sunny Side of the Ocean - Spanish Two Step
06 Lion
07 The Dance of the Inhabitants of the Palace of King Philip XIV of Spain
08 In Christ There is no East of West Fantasy

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Another one from Damian!!  Thanks!!