John Fahey was a normal lad growing up in Takoma Park MD, unless you consider getting a full scholarship to Tulane University on the strength of a philosophy thesis abnormal. John never made it to Tulane, though. One day, a radio station changed format, and when Bill Monroe’s version of Blue Yodel #7 played on John’s radio, John changed format, too, switching from philosophy to music.

John bought a guitar and his own finger picking guitar, playing tunes in which the blues, bluegrass, country and folk roots were so intertwined they could not be teased apart.

John’s music was widely known in the 60s and 70s, especially among musicians. However, John never made much money from his music and the 80s found him living in an Oregon welfare motel, beset by alcoholism, diabetes and Epstein-Barr syndrome. With help and encouragement from other musicians, he returned to recording and performing in the 90s, but he passed in 2001 at the age of 61.

During a very difficult two year period of my life, I spent a lot of time listening to music and most of the music I listened to was the music on John’s first three Takoma albums. Those tunes were one of the few things I found calming and comforting then. The music contained the terrible forces I was feeling, but those forces were expressed in a such a way that they did not seem threatening, just a part of life.

Hear it: Kenny Joe presents Pinkney Hall every Friday morning from 9 until 10.

Bob Dylan was born Robert Zimmerman in Minnesota in 1941. He was discovered in the early 60’s in Greenwich Village, and since the release of his first album in 1962 he’s been incredibly prolific and active, releasing 35 studio albums and a whole lot of live and bootleg albums. Early songs like “The Times They Are a-Changin” became anti-war and civil rights anthems, earning him the moniker “Voice of a Generation”. He’s always been understated about his talent as a songwriter and infamously denies that his songs are trying to speak for anyone or anything.

Everyone who came after him was influenced by his singing, songwriting, or both, in some way (my opinion, of course, but one shared by many others… watch the clip to see how he influenced artists like the Beatles). Bob has never held back from making the kind of music he wants, no matter who that disappoints or outrages. I’ve been a mega-fan for nearly 10 years, and the breadth of his styles and depth of his catalog have kept me busy. He has successfully explored genres such as folk, blues, jazz, country, gospel, rockabilly, rock and roll, and continues to surprise.

Since he began making music, Bob has released lots of albums worthy of your time. Here are some of my favorites– The Times They Are a-Changin, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde, Blood On The Tracks, Desire, Love and Theft, Tell Tale Signs (Bootleg Vol. 8).

That’s a lot of favorite albums… but I can’t edit my obsession with Bob Dylan’s music. If you want to talk about Bob Dylan more, I would love if you contacted me at tmoleswo@wrct.org so we can geek out together.

-Tee

A snipit of what Bob has done:

Soca, Dancehall and Grime all find their way into the tracks of London based DJ and Producer Murlo. In recent years his profile has steadily risen with an ever growing catalogue of top notch EP’s, remixes and club edits. Whether your looking to just sway and feel the vibes or dance hard all night Murlo’s mixes and tracks have something for you.