Christmas Guitar
John Fahey is a visionary, an iconoclast, and a plain old American weirdo. He's also a brilliant acoustic guitarist, whose earnestness is matched only by his oblique sense of humor. These performances--ranging from the cheery "Joy to the World" and "We Three Kings" to the thoughtful "Bells of St. Mary's" and "In the Bleak Midwinter"--are pretty straightforward though. Some tend toward the academic, but all are quite beautiful in their own reserved way, making this the perfect unintrusive album for a quiet Christmas gathering or an evening by the hearth. The notoriously squirrely Fahey might be the last guy you'd invite over for eggnog, but you'd be foolish not to let his exquisite music into your home.--Michael Ruby