Takoma Records was a small but influential record label founded by guitarist John Fahey in the late 1950s.[1] It was named after Fahey's hometown, Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
History
Takoma Records began with a custom pressing of 100 copies of John Fahey/Blind Joe Death, an album of Fahey's fingerstyle guitar playing released around 1959.[2] Fahey had no distribution and sold the pressing to friends and at music parties. A copy of this record sold on eBay for several thousand dollars.[citation needed]
Takoma expanded to include other guitarists, such as Robbie Basho, and other types of folk music. The compilation Contemporary Guitar was recorded in 1966 and featured Fahey, Basho, White, Max Ochs, and Harry Taussig. It demonstrated Fahey's interest in diverse guitar styles, from plantation blues to raga. Although at the same time Takoma released the avant-garde album The Psychedelic Saxophone of Charlie Nothing, its concentration was on acoustic guitar music, especially Fahey's.
When Denson became manager of the rock band Country Joe and the Fish, Fahey became the sole owner of Takoma.[3] He moved the label to Los Angeles where he was studying for his master's degree at UCLA under D.K. Wilgus. The album 6- and 12-String Guitar by Leo Kottke was a surprise hit, and the profit funded an expansion of the label, which now had a staff.
In 1970 Jon Monday joined the label as promotion manager, eventually becoming general manager. The label grew as radio stations played new releases by Fahey and other Takoma artists. In 1973 Charlie Mitchell became Takoma's president. Takoma was one of the founding companies of the National Association of Independent Record Distributors (NAIRD).
Takoma's bestselling album was Kottke's 6- and 12-String Guitar, often called "The Armadillo Album" because of the cover art.[3] Another influential album was the 1974 Leo Kottke, Peter Lang & John Fahey.
ED Denson co-founded and managed Kicking Mule Records, which also featured acoustic guitarists.[1] In 1995 he left the music business and became a criminal defense lawyer. Robbie Basho died in 1986, John Fahey in 2001, and Charlie Nothing died of cancer on October 23, 2007.
^According to The Rolling Stone Record Guide (1st ed., 1979), only 95 copies of the record were available for distribution. The Guide gave the record 5 out of 5 stars.
