attachment-bill fay still some light

Kevin Morby, Steve Gunn covering Bill Fay on new 7" companion to 'Still Some Light' reissue

Kevin Morby, Steve Gunn and other artists are covering songs by Bill Fay on a series of 7″ single to coincide with a reissue of Fay’s Still Some Light.

A double compilation album made up of 70s album demos and 2009 home recordings, Still Some Light was originally released in 2010 and this marks its first release on vinyl and comes with new cover art. Current 93‘s David Tibet, who originally released Still Some Light, says now, “Bill is the kindest, most generous, most supportive, most gentle, and most talented of men. Anyone reading this, I am sure, already knows of the profundity, and simplicity, of his work, and the intense emotional truth and honesty it carries—all of which Bill himself also has in his soul. Still Some Light, which you now are offered, was the second release we did with Bill, a collection of treasures from the Bill Fay treasure-chest, full of delights, and reality, and as real as rainbows.” You can read Tibet’s full liner notes below.

The reissue of Still Some Light will be released in two parts and Pt. 1 will be out January 14 via Dead Oceans. Also out that day will be the first of the companion 7″ singles, featuring Steve Gunn covering “Dust Filled Room” and Kevin Morby covering “I Hear You Calling.” Says Steve, “Bill Fay’s music was a revelation to me when I first discovered it: the commanding power of his words; the modest, universal language of his sorrow. And listening to his music still makes me feel as if an old friend had been lingering in the shadows, emerging at just the right time. It was a real honor to record one of my favorites of his, ‘Dust Filled Room.'” Listen to Steve’s cover below.

It must have been around 2000 that I first heard of Bill Fay. The artist and polymath, Jim O’Rourke, asked me if I had ever heard of him. Like almost everyone in the world, apart from rare-vinyl obsessives, I said I hadn’t. Jim then extolled Fay’s virtues in a fascinating pæan to him and his creations, and I was already hooked without having heard anything Bill had created.

There was a See For Miles CD which included both of Bill’s incredibly rare albums from 1969 and 1970, as well as his sole single from 1967. I bought it, put it on, and in swept “The Garden Song”. From that very first song, I knew I had discovered the artist who, for me, was the greatest singer-songwriter I had ever heard.

So I had to find Bill Fay. But there were very few leads out there; the usual comment was based on the cover of Time of the Last Persecution—“I think he’s somewhere leading a religious group”; “he’s disappeared completely’; “he’s become a Christian hermit somewhere”. Through various synchronicities I did manage to find Bill and we have been very good friends now for almost a quarter of a century, so I hope Bill won’t mind my stating he is indeed a very private man.

I spoke with Bill Stratton and Gary Smith, two of the people who had worked with him in The Bill Fay Group, and on the recording sessions which eventually became the Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow album, first released by our Durtro Jnana label as a CD in 2005.

I was honoured and delighted to get to know Bill well. Bill is the kindest, most generous, most supportive, most gentle, and most talented of men. Anyone reading this, I am sure, already knows of the profundity, and simplicity, of his work, and the intense emotional truth and honesty it carries—all of which Bill himself also has in his soul. Still Some Light, which you now are offered, was the second release we did with Bill, a collection of treasures from the Bill Fay treasure-chest, full of delights, and reality, and as real as rainbows.

– David Tibet, Hastings 18 October 2021

Still Some Light Part 1 (Piano, Guitar, Bass & Drums 1970-1971) tracklist

Vinyl 1 – A Side

Backwoods Maze
The Sun Is Bored
There’s a Price Upon My Head
Time of the Last Persecution

Vinyl 1 – B Side

Plan D
Swing Us One of Your Songs May
I Will Find My Own Way Back
Love Is the Tune

Vinyl 2 – C Side

Laughing Man
Arnold Is a Simple Man
Just to Be a Part
Inside the Keeper’s Pantry

Vinyl 2 – D Side

Pictures of Adolph
Tell It Like It Is
Release Is in the Eye
Dust Filled Room
I Hear You Calling