Kelly Joe Phelps...revisted.

Andre Marc

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Mar 14, 2012
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I have owned 3 Kelly Joe Phelps CDs and listened to them often, but it is has been a while.

I noticed he just released a record recorded in mono, with just his voice and guitar.
I ordered it and several that I did not have. Unfortunately, no FLAC downloads, which
would have been my preference.

Mamma mia. The depth of feeling and the sheer artistry of his finger picking, slide, and
and blues styles are mind blowing. Haunting stuff.

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/kelly-joe-phelps-mn0000073181
 
I have owned 3 Kelly Joe Phelps CDs and listened to them often, but it is has been a while.

I noticed he just released a record recorded in mono, with just his voice and guitar.
I ordered it and several that I did not have. Unfortunately, no FLAC downloads, which
would have been my preference.

Mamma mia. The depth of feeling and the sheer artistry of his finger picking, slide, and
and blues styles are mind blowing. Haunting stuff.

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/kelly-joe-phelps-mn0000073181

I have Roll Away The Stone and Shine-Eyed Mr. Zen. I guess I need more. Let us know which ones you think are the best. I'm with you, though, in spite of the diminutive collection. You just rarely find that kind of raw emotion mated to that level of technique. The 2 records I have are remarkable, like Robert Johnson crossed with Steve Howe and with the voice of Paul Rogers. I fell in love with his manic, improvisational slide playing. Then I saw him in a small, intimate venue, playing with just drums and standup bass. He didn't play a lick of slide all night. Just fingerstyle acoustic guitar. I should have been disappointed, but it was just too good for that.

Tim
 
---Wow, I just stumbled into this thread accidentally.

Kelly Joe Phelps is one of my favorite music artists. :b ...Paul Rogers too. :b

* Do you guys know Paul James?

<<<>>> It's all Blues man! :cool:
 
I have Roll Away The Stone and Shine-Eyed Mr. Zen. I guess I need more. Let us know which ones you think are the best. I'm with you, though, in spite of the diminutive collection. You just rarely find that kind of raw emotion mated to that level of technique. The 2 records I have are remarkable, like Robert Johnson crossed with Steve Howe and with the voice of Paul Rogers. I fell in love with his manic, improvisational slide playing. Then I saw him in a small, intimate venue, playing with just drums and standup bass. He didn't play a lick of slide all night. Just fingerstyle acoustic guitar. I should have been disappointed, but it was just too good for that.

Tim

Hey Tim:

Man, talk about think across parallel lines..just this morning as I was listening to a live Phelps show I downloaded from Dime, I said
to my self..this guy is the modern Robert Johnson...I swear.

I really love Slingshot Professionals, Tunesmith Retrofit, and Sky Like a Broken a Clock. I think they are bit
more accomplished than the earlier work..by a matter of small degree.

I listened to samples of his new one, Brother Whale & the Sinner and was blown away. I ordered that and Tap the Red Cane Whirlwind ( live), and an album he
made with a singer songwriter Corinne West called Magnetic Skyline.

You might be interested to know he made an instrumental album called Western Bell in 2009.
 
---Wow, I just stumbled into this thread accidentally.

Kelly Joe Phelps is one of my favorite music artists. :b ...Paul Rogers too. :b

* Do you guys know Paul James?

Don't Paul James, but will investigate!



<<<>>> It's all Blues man! :cool:


While we are at it..I really am impressed with John Mellencamp's last few records. He hooked up with T Bone Burnett and is recording all
analog, trying to recapture that dustbowl, depression era blues feel. Same for some of Chris Whitley's mid period output.
 
---Hey Andre, you do that; check Paul James. :b
{Big Chris Whitley's fan here.}

* And by the way, in your thread's title, should it be revisited instead of revisted? ;)
 
---Hey Andre, you do that; check Paul James. :b
{Big Chris Whitley's fan here.}

* And by the way, in your thread's title, should it be revisited instead of revisted? ;)

Yes, will do!

Whitley was a rare talent.

Yes, sorry for the typo!

BTW, in my opinion..there has NEVER been a better time to be a music fan..with artists like Phelps, etc who are totally unconcerned
with mass appeal, and the internet as a tool to find these great regional artists...what else can you ask for?
 
Yes, will do!

Whitley was a rare talent.

Yes, sorry for the typo!

BTW, in my opinion..there has NEVER been a better time to be a music fan..with artists like Phelps, etc who are totally unconcerned
with mass appeal, and the internet as a tool to find these great regional artists...what else can you ask for?

I agree with this completely. With all our bitchin' about the record industry - totally justified, by the way - there is a sub culture of American roots music that has grown up marketing itself through internet, social media and the good old fashioned road, recording in small studios, sometimes at home, and distributing through independent labels. While they will never achieve the fame and fortune of the great artists of the 70s, they are managing to make a good living without selling their souls to the major labels. The results can be stunning. As good as the 70s were -- and they were very, very good. Imagine anything like Led Zepplin one charting today, anyone like the young Bob Dylan becoming a household name -- I'm not so sure we don't have a greater abundance top quality, uncompromised music being released today than we did then. There is great music in abundance. It's just gone underground.

Now, if we could just get them all to exit the loudness wars. Let's start with Steve Earle and Springsteen, please.

Tim
 
I agree with this completely. With all our bitchin' about the record industry - totally justified, by the way - there is a sub culture of American roots music that has grown up marketing itself through internet, social media and the good old fashioned road, recording in small studios, sometimes at home, and distributing through independent labels. While they will never achieve the fame and fortune of the great artists of the 70s, they are managing to make a good living without selling their souls to the major labels. The results can be stunning. As good as the 70s were -- and they were very, very good. Imagine anything like Led Zepplin one charting today, anyone like the young Bob Dylan becoming a household name -- I'm not so sure we don't have a greater abundance top quality, uncompromised music being released today than we did then. There is great music in abundance. It's just gone underground.

Now, if we could just get them all to exit the loudness wars. Let's start with Steve Earle and Springsteen, please.

Tim

And I in turn agree completely too.

The fact is there are a number of working artists, and I DO mean working..as they bust their asses on the road, playing any gig they can get, like Martin
Sexton, Ryan Bingham, Ryan Adams, and even John Hiatt. These guys would not get recognized walking down the street for the most part but they sell out each and
EVERY gig they play and sell a decent amount of records to those in the know.

This is ABSOLUTELY a golden age, not just for roots music, but for contemporary singer songwriters.

Now, as far as the 70's..as glorious as they were..there were many, many iconic and exalted artists who actually never made much money..they did not sell many records,
but their music was immeasurably influential. I have tons of live recordings of Fairport Convention, Gram Parsons, etc, where there maybe 20 people in the audience.

Tim Hardin (what an old soul), Tim Buckley (was he even human?), Nick Drake (could not get arrested), John Martyn (WAY ahead of his time,, Roy Harper(from another planet), Rory Gallagher (what a god!), and many,many others.

There were actually relatively few that made the fortunes that Cat Stevens, Rod Stewart, CSN (Y) or Bob Dylan did, or sold out stadiums as they did.

I hear ya on the loudness wars. Man, I love Earle. On bad ass "hard core troubadour". His last one with T Bone, sounds pretty good.
 
I agree with this completely. With all our bitchin' about the record industry - totally justified, by the way - there is a sub culture of American roots music that has grown up marketing itself through internet, social media and the good old fashioned road, recording in small studios, sometimes at home, and distributing through independent labels. While they will never achieve the fame and fortune of the great artists of the 70s, they are managing to make a good living without selling their souls to the major labels. The results can be stunning. As good as the 70s were -- and they were very, very good. Imagine anything like Led Zepplin one charting today, anyone like the young Bob Dylan becoming a household name -- I'm not so sure we don't have a greater abundance top quality, uncompromised music being released today than we did then. There is great music in abundance. It's just gone underground.

Now, if we could just get them all to exit the loudness wars. Let's start with Steve Earle and Springsteen, please.

Tim


Let me throw in Dr John, Townes Van Zandt, and Gatemouth Brown as a few others who toiled away and made modest livings.
 
While we are at it..I really am impressed with John Mellencamp's last few records. He hooked up with T Bone Burnett and is recording all
analog, trying to recapture that dustbowl, depression era blues feel. Same for some of Chris Whitley's mid period output.

I think T Bone is overated as a producer/engineer. I have that dreadful LP of Mellencamp recorded on a cheap Ampex mono R2R with John singing through the walls. I think that recording is just horrid. If they wanted to go for a good mono recording from the period, why oh why didn't they use a mono Ampex 300 R2R at 15 ips?? I also have that CD that T Bone produced for Mellencamp that had his new whiz-bang version of recording digital that was supposed to be just like hearing it in the studio. I think that recording blows too.
 
And I in turn agree completely too.

The fact is there are a number of working artists, and I DO mean working..as they bust their asses on the road, playing any gig they can get, like Martin
Sexton, Ryan Bingham, Ryan Adams, and even John Hiatt. These guys would not get recognized walking down the street for the most part but they sell out each and
EVERY gig they play and sell a decent amount of records to those in the know.

This is ABSOLUTELY a golden age, not just for roots music, but for contemporary singer songwriters.

Now, as far as the 70's..as glorious as they were..there were many, many iconic and exalted artists who actually never made much money..they did not sell many records,
but their music was immeasurably influential. I have tons of live recordings of Fairport Convention, Gram Parsons, etc, where there maybe 20 people in the audience.

Tim Hardin (what an old soul), Tim Buckley (was he even human?), Nick Drake (could not get arrested), John Martyn (WAY ahead of his time,, Roy Harper(from another planet), Rory Gallagher (what a god!), and many,many others.

There were actually relatively few that made the fortunes that Cat Stevens, Rod Stewart, CSN (Y) or Bob Dylan did, or sold out stadiums as they did.

I hear ya on the loudness wars. Man, I love Earle. On bad ass "hard core troubadour". His last one with T Bone, sounds pretty good.

Andre, we are exactly the same breed of geek. :) Love Fairport. Everything RT has done since, and most of what you mentioned.

Tim
 
I think T Bone is overated as a producer/engineer. I have that dreadful LP of Mellencamp recorded on a cheap Ampex mono R2R with John singing through the walls. I think that recording is just horrid. If they wanted to go for a good mono recording from the period, why oh why didn't they use a mono Ampex 300 R2R at 15 ips?? I also have that CD that T Bone produced for Mellencamp that had his new whiz-bang version of recording digital that was supposed to be just like hearing it in the studio. I think that recording blows too.

Mep, as with just about every other topic, we are diametrically opposed in our views. I could not possibly disagree with you more
about Burnett and the Mellencamp album.

I have only heard one Burnett album I did not care for, and that was Elvis Costello's National Ransom. It sounded so-so to my ears.

I agree with you that Life Death Love Freedom was no revolutionary delivery medium, it was simply 96/24 PCM. I do not however, think
it "blows".

For me, the most tin eared producer of our time is Dave Stewart.
 
Andre, we are exactly the same breed of geek. :) Love Fairport. Everything RT has done since, and most of what you mentioned.

Tim

RT illustrates yet again how lucky we are. A artist of his stature is totally unknown to the public at large, yet plays guitar and writes songs with the blessing of the gods.

Sandy Denny...what can you say?
 
---I also find that Annie Lennox lost her inventive touch.
She always repeat herself (same refrains over & over).
And her performance at the Summer Olympic Games 2012 in London was mediocre, with the worst sound!
 

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