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Topic: Kelly Joe Phelps... Music will carry on |
Tim Toberer
From:
Nebraska, USA
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Posted 1 Dec 2022 7:40 am |
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I searched the forum and haven't seen that much posted about Kelly Joe recently. His music really blurs the lines between folk, blues and singer songwriter. His lap steel playing is completely unique and I put him in the highest level of musicians. Thank you to the several forum members who led me to his music. I feel inspired in a way that is rare for me. For anyone who did not know, he passed away in May of this year. Apparently he had been absent from the music scene and the circumstances are unknown it seems and the family is understandably keeping it private.
I listened to this live performance the other day, down in the basement workshop, working on my ridiculous pedal steel project. If you want to skip to some amazing lap style playing, Hobo's Son is is completely mesmerizing! When you listen to the whole performance, you really get a sense of how incredible of a performer he was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbDNpHbVqPM |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 1 Dec 2022 7:47 am
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| A fantastic performer who I think got bored with his signature style and tried to change. Unfortunately, the audience wanted what they originally fell in love with. As good a performer as he was, and I loved his first big record with Roll Away the Stone on it, he wasn't a great teacher. His homespun video teaching tape was one of the worst I ever bought (as a warning to those like me who loved his stuff and bought it). |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 1 Dec 2022 7:53 am
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I really loved his music, regardless of what he played. I totally understand his artistic restlessness.
His death was a tough one to hear about. He inspired me to play the guitar on the lap back when all I had was an NRP Polychrome Tricone and a nut raiser. But like every great blues artist, it was about much more than the guitar playing. He was a deep soul.
I would never expect him to be a good teacher, but the best lesson from would be "just listen and watch me do it."
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 1 Dec 2022 9:16 am
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| Actually I find very few performers I love to be good teachers. The only exception was Dave Van Ronk, who was a great and demanding teacher and a phenomenal performer. But, back to the topic: Kelly Joe was great player, inspired many, including me, to play lapsteel and as Mike said, a deep soul who died too young and a career that should have been bigger than it was. |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 1 Dec 2022 9:25 am
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Just wanted to add that most of his music that I love most is him playing Spanish style, not lap. Shine-Eyed Mister Zen is a masterpiece to me. It really moves me. But House Carpenter is absolutely amazing to me. It's like he left it all out on the field on that one, one of his last lap style performances on record that I know of.
https://youtu.be/2h2D8MYpysk
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links
Last edited by Mike Neer on 1 Dec 2022 10:36 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 1 Dec 2022 10:28 am
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Kelly Joe had that very rare ability to communicate his soul through music and regardless of instrument, he always blew me away with whatever he played. The toll that his art took from him was not always obvious, but is perhaps implied by his absence from the limelight these last few years. He was not limited by genre and fully inhabited a song the way few performers do. His lap steel playing was mind bogglingly good and has a forward flow that sounds easy but is devilishly difficult. Bill, I agree that he was not a good teacher but the lessons in his playing are there for anyone with ears. Mike, he left it all there indeed on that tune. I love Peggy Seeger's 1950s recording of that tune but KJP's may be the best ever - even over Tony Rice's version, and that's saying something.
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Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Tim Toberer
From:
Nebraska, USA
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Asa Brosius
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Posted 1 Dec 2022 2:49 pm
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Loved that guy. Such a player and such a singer, with a unique voice as each. 'sky like a broken clock' was my introduction, still one of my favorites, with an excellent band. His 'goodnight irene' led me to steel guitar, and still motivates me to develop a pedal steel voice that's more grounded than the traditional big high-fi sound.
I remember that home-spun vid- pretty foundational for me. He mined that open E/D tuning to death accompanying his vocals. No tricks, no pizzazz-he seemed a little depressed on camera- decidedly not a salesman. |
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Tim Toberer
From:
Nebraska, USA
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Posted 2 Dec 2022 9:14 am
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Thanks for the responses. It is great to hear that his music means so much to so many people. It is odd to" discover" someone so close to their passing, I feel like I went through the initial exuberance in listening for the first few times. Now I feel a sense of grief in an existential way that is confusing, because I never knew the guy, but feel like I do when listening to his music.
In regards to his legacy, I have to mention Lead Me On. I have listened through this album a few times and it is just a masterpiece. Every song is perfect. It is not as technically profound as some of his later stuff, but in my experience simpler is often better for this type of music. For most musicians the first album is special in so many ways, because they were working on it their whole life up to that point. Then when they find some success, they are expected to produce a new one every couple of years. All while touring and promoting and giving up the chance of having a grounded existence. These themes flow heavily through his music, as well as a greater purpose through faith. (that I personally have a hard time relating with) For most the artistic palette dries up at some point. I have only gotten through the first few albums and I am just scratching the surface here cause I know I will be going back to his recordings for the rest of my life.
In my own musical journey (cliche of the day!) I feel like I am drawing so much inspiration from his music. He occupies the same space for me as my favorite neo-folk geniuses as Bert Jansch, Davey Graham, Merle Travis, Steve Mann (check him out!) Karen Dalton, Lenny Breau etc. All these musicians could breathe fresh life into the dusty old folk tunes, ballads and blues that are the soul of American music. All of them tied themselves to this tradition in some way. All of them brought a jazz sensibility to this music. It is a rare ability to be able to accompany yourself in the way these musicians did. I have begun to explore the lap steel guitar and up to this point, Cliff Carlisle is one of the few solo lap steel troubadours I have found. Some people would write off Kelly's playing as just bottleneck played on the lap, and I will acknowledge he is drawing heavily from that tradition. However I hear a whole other dimension to his playing. He has the overall sense of a jazz musician, treating every song as framework for improvisation. This gives his songs a fresh feel every time they are played, not just hammering them out like an assembly line. To do this live on stage takes a deep intimate understanding of every song. I also hear the E9 pedal steel as well in his playing, wether intentional or not. There is a Celtic influence in his use of suspended chords. It really gives his playing a sweetness and sentimentality that is lacking in most bottleneck playing. I am planning to explore the open D tuning thoroughly and I will look to his playing for guidance. He seems to have figured out many ways around its limitations, doing subtle modulation, faking minor chords and exploring some modal sounds. Sorry for the long post, I just love this guy!! |
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