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| WHAT A DAY by Phil Keaggy (1973) New Song (NS-001) |
He’s been voted one of the top “finger-style” guitarists in music today by Guitar Player Magazine.
He’s won 7 Dove Awards and is a 2-time Grammy nominee.
He’s one of the most admired guitarists in the world.
And yet he is known for his humility.
It’s ironic when you think about it – being famous for being humble. And yet he is. His skills as a guitar virtuoso are without question, but he eschews the stereotypical gunslinger, “guitar hero” persona. He always has. His gentle personality, unpretentious nature and humble spirit leave an indelible impression on everyone with whom Philip Tyler Keaggy comes into contact. And those qualities were evident from the time he recorded his very first solo album…before we even had a name for “Jesus Music.”
Phil Keaggy grew up in a large, Catholic, Midwestern family. He was the 9th of 10 kids and grew up in an old farmhouse in Hubbard, Ohio. Needless to say, resources were stretched and money was tight. Which is probably a good thing in hindsight. Because if money had been no object for the Keaggys, Phil might’ve grown up to be a drummer.
“I asked my dad for a set of drums for my tenth birthday but he came home with a Sears Silvertone guitar,” Phil told Speed of Sound magazine in 1993. “I had wanted a set of drums, but my folks couldn't afford them, so I got the guitar.”
By the end of his fifth-grade year, he was playing guitar in front of the entire school. He was off and running.
Keaggy’s guitar playing was not at all hindered from an earlier childhood accident that actually caused him to lose part of a finger. While climbing on a large water pump at age four, Phil lost half of the middle finger on his right hand when the pump broke and some of its metal parts came crashing down on him.
“I remember it very vividly,” Phil told Harmony magazine in 1976. “I can see my Dad running down the hill, rescuing me, and taking me to the hospital. I can recall having a white cast and bandage; it was gigantic! As a young kid, I was embarrassed about it a lot, especially when I was beginning to get into guitar.” He tried to convince the interviewer that as a result of the accident he’s not really great at finger picking. “I use my thumb, my forefinger, my ring finger, and my little finger, and I try to put them to use the best that I can,” Keaggy offered.
I “try to put them to use the best that I can?” There’s that humility talking.
Christian faith in the Keaggy household was a bit of a mixed bag. It was complicated. “My mother was a very devout Catholic, but my dad was just sort of hangin' in there,” says Phil. “He was raised a Lutheran, but he didn't really commit his life to Jesus. He was a hardworking man, an ironworker. He put all his time and efforts into supporting the family.”
Phil remembers his mother as a generous, loving woman who gave all of her time to her children. “She brought joy into a lot of people's hearts, so I put wanted to please her as well as I could as far as going to church,” Phil remembers. “My dad didn't go. He'd just drop us off and then come back and pick us up, so there wasn't a spiritual unity in our family. My dad drank, which was a hardship for my mom, and all of us, too, and scared us kids a lot with the things that go along with drinking. Some people, they can't drink without being kinda mean sometimes. But I'm not talking down on my dad, because I know it was just the fact that he wasn’t born again then. He is now. He just didn’t have a personal knowledge of Jesus then, and so he became a slave of drink and it would take him over.”
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| Phil Keaggy (bottom center) with The Squires |
From age 13, Phil played in various bands in the Youngstown, Ohio area: the Keytones, The Squires, New Hudson Exit, and others. As eleventh graders, Phil and longtime friend, drummer John Sferra formed a power rock trio called Glass Harp with bassist Dan Pecchio. After winning an Ohio-area “Battle of the Bands,” Glass Harp landed a multi-record deal with Decca. Keaggy’s guitar skills and the group’s experimental sound helped Glass Harp develop a growing and devoted fan base.
As the Sixties gave way to the Seventies, Phil Keaggy’s musical future was bright, as Glass Harp released their self-titled debut with Decca, and began to open for such established groups as Iron Butterfly, Yes, Grand Funk Railroad and Chicago. But his personal life was very dark. “I was into drugs by now,” Phil said in the Harmony interview. “I knew my mom was concerned about me. My dad didn't know anything; if he did, he'd have hit the ceiling. The unity and discipline weren't happening in our home, the Bible was not openly read. That was something you heard about in church. I was experimenting with LSD. I had done some trips and it was terrible. I thought it might enhance my creative ability in music, but it didn't. I once heard a tape of me playing when I was high and it was awful. The things that people do under the influence of drugs are incredible! It was like a nightmare. I had ‘peace’ written on my wall and I went around giving the peace sign, but I didn't experience peace in my life.”
Things were about to go from bad to worse.
“On February 14, 1970, my dad and mother were on their way to take my sister to her girlfriend's house,” Phil remembers. “At the time I was down in Maryland playing with the group and was high as usual. When I returned I received word from my brother Bill that they were in an accident, a head-on collision. The steering rod had punctured my dad's lung; mom was in critical condition and, as a result, members of the family came from Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, and all over. Dad was going to be all right but he was shattered. His world, his whole life was crumbling. Mom looked very bad but I thought she would snap right out of it, I was very insensitive to the reality of what was going on. I was living in my own world, trying to do my own thing, not really caring about people, just myself. I remember visiting her at the hospital and saying, ‘Don't worry, mom, you'll be okay.’ A week later she died.”
Phil recounted the details of that traumatic event: “I was in Mansfield that weekend playing. I came home at 5 in the morning and the lights were on as I entered the house. They told me Mom had died at such and such a time and I remember that I fell right to floor in despair. My whole world was shattered, too, because I had really loved Mom and I knew that she prayed for me and wanted the best for me. I began now to experience an emptiness in my life--right down deep, gut level, right where my spirit is. I felt I was lost and needed help.”
A close family member was about to steer Phil toward an encounter that would change his life forever.
“My sister, Ellen, who I hadn't seen for about three years, told me she had an experience that changed her life completely, a born-again experience,” said Phil. “She had met Jesus Christ and her life was changed. I just listened to her as she shared her experience with me. And as I looked at her, I saw that she had hope. I could see that she was reflecting peace in her life, and joy, and love. Mary Ellen was sharing with me and my younger sister, Geri, about how we both could come to know the Lord and have our lives changed. She invited us to an Assembly of God service one Sunday morning while she was in our area. I heard the Gospel preached and I responded with my need, I went forward, knelt down and said, ‘Jesus, come into my life.’ I knew I'd tried a lot of other things; I'd seen the other side. I wanted to see what God had to offer me. I knew Jesus was the answer.”
Phil Keaggy surrendered his heart and life to Jesus Christ on a Sunday morning, just two weeks after his Mom had passed away. He recalls, “I experienced a joy that morning; a burden was lifted from my shoulders and something new took place.” Phil also tells of having been baptized in the Holy Spirit in 1970 at a Kathryn Kuhlman service. “It was a beautiful experience,” he says.
“My life began to change -- even my desires that very day that I accepted Jesus were different.” Needless to say, life in Glass Harp was different as well.
“The rest of the band just couldn't figure out what was going on,” Phil recalls. “I liked them; we got along well and were united in our goals for the band. But something had happened to me. I began to refuse their dope.”
Phil began to incorporate his new-found faith into Glass Harp song lyrics. After a couple more albums, Phil gave the band notice that it was time for him to go.
Fresh out of Glass Harp, Phil began to search for what he called "a kingdom of God in the flesh." He found Love Inn, a Christian community in upstate New York. [We’ll have more to say about Love Inn in a future post.] He also spent a brief period of time as an official member of the band Love Song.
In the meantime, Phil says it had been the desire of his heart for about two years to record some fresh songs the Lord was giving to him. Unbeknownst to him, God was at work, gathering the people, the funding, and orchestrating the circumstances that would result in an album called What A Day.
Phil returned to Youngstown and met a recording engineer by the name of Gary Hedden, who suggested that Phil record some of his songs at Motion Picture Sound in Cleveland. Meanwhile, a man named Al Stevenson agreed to back the album project financially. Stevenson advanced Phil the kingly sum of $2,800 and agreed to be reimbursed from the sales of the album.
On January 2, 1973, the What A Day sessions began.
“I spent six days in the studio with Gary,” Phil remembers. “Sessions were from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Everything flowed; there was no striving. Gary and I became good friends, and I didn't preach at him; I just showed him how Jesus had changed me and let him know how I felt about the Lord when he asked me. The Bible says if any man asks you to give the reason for the hope that lies within you, do it. I was able to do that, and a week later Gary accepted Christ on his own. Both he and his wife became Christians.”
While Keaggy was at Love Inn, he and radio disc jockey Scott Ross had discussed starting a record company that would be “totally for the Lord” and “guided by spiritual principles.” It was to be called New Song records. Phil sent the What A Day masters to Ross in Freeville, NY with a note that said, “This is the album and if New Song wants to release it, I'm all for it.”
In his Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, author Mark Allan Powell writes:
What A Day was one of Jesus Music’s first super albums – a phenomenal masterpiece that everyone (in the Jesus Movement) owned and that no one would dare disparage.
The album was co-produced by Keaggy and Hedden, and Phil Keaggy sang all the vocal parts and played all of the instruments on the record, a fact that certainly made What A Day unique. But what really made the album special was the spirit behind the music. There is no escaping the sense that you are listening to the joys and wonder experienced by a new believer in Jesus. Phil Keaggy was born again. And he was obviously thrilled about it. One reviewer called it “an unpretentious, from the heart, expression of a love affair between the Creator and one of His sons.” “Effortless” is another adjective reviewers have used to describe What A Day.
Some of the earliest “Jesus Music” efforts exhibited a naivete that comes across as dated and, at times, embarrassing. Not true with What A Day. The “first love” nature of the songs on this album give it a purity and a simplicity that has worn well over the years. The simple yet profound lyrics are wedded to masterful melodic vocalizations, richly layered melodies, and chord structures that are certainly more interesting and complex than what Keaggy’s peers were offering at the time. Musically, acoustic guitars take top billing, while the more subtle electric guitars play a supporting role.
In the liner notes of the 1990 Myrrh re-issue of What A Day, Chris Willman wrote, “There’s a naiveté in the mostly acoustic What A Day that’s wonderful to re-experience nearly two cynical decades later.” Well, four decades have now passed, and the album remains an important touchstone from the early Jesus Music period that always brings a smile. If anything, the “naivete” (as Willman calls it) should challenge us to put away the negativity and the distractions of life in the digital age and refocus on the simple joy of knowing Jesus.
Joy is also reflected in the photos on the album’s cover. Keaggy appears to be dancing, praising God, worshiping the Lord and leaping for joy with an acoustic guitar in hand. The photos were taken by Bob Combs; Linny Cobb designed the cover.
The album opens with one of its stronger cuts, This is What the Lord Will Do for You. It’s a gentle, toe-tapper with enough electric guitar runs to keep things interesting. Lyrically, Phil discusses the seasonal “life anew” that takes place in nature and compares that to “life anew” that is available to those who are “born of the Spirit.” Phil also invites the listener to accept this free gift, available to all who believe.
The following track also presents the Gospel and describes Jesus as King of the Jews…One who is faithful and true…always by our side…always near.
Walking With Our Lord takes its cues from Psalm 94 and Isaiah 59 when it asks…
Is the inventor of the ear unable to hear?
The Creator of the eye unable to see?
Is His arm so short that it cannot save in your time of need?
The song concludes with Phil in full-throated praise as he sings…
Thank You, Lord!
Thank You, Jesus!
Bless You, Lord!
The next track, A Time and a Place also borrows heavily from Scripture. Ecclesiastes 3 comes to mind (“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”) as well as Jesus’ words in Matthew 6 concerning God’s care for the birds of the air, and for us as His children. This song also brings a smile due to the carefree, very-70s verbiage:
And we can sing songs and play guitar
And shoot the breeze
And we can talk about the human race
After all, we are a part of it all.
Side One of What A Day concludes with a now-classic song titled Rejoice. It is yet another song with a Biblical foundation, echoing the words of Jesus in Luke 15…
Now the time of the harvest is near,
Don't be blind and take heed how you hear.
Now there are many saying which way to go,
And you listen but still you don't know.
He is the Shepherd that will give you rest
All ye heavy laden.
He who asks will receive and
All who seek will find Him
Can you dig what this means?
All the angels in Heaven above
Rejoice when there's a soul saved.
All true saints of Jesus Christ
Rejoice when there's a soul saved.
Rejoice would become a bonafide classic when the iconic 16-minute version of the song was recorded and released several years later as part of the 3-album live set How the West Was One. But this initial version on What A Day certainly whetted our appetites.
When we get Home, our Eternal Home
There'll be no more sick and dying.
No one is sad, no one is alone
And there will be no more crying.
He will wipe away every tear
From His children's eyes
And put a smile upon their faces.
What a happy day when we see
Our Lord in Paradise
Crowned as King of Kings.
What a day that will be
Oh, what a day that will be!
What a day, what a day,
What a day that will be
What set this song apart from many of the “second coming” songs popular among Jesus Music artists was the tone and focus of the lyrics. While songs like I Wish We’d All Been Ready took a much darker approach, Phil’s outlook was one of sheer joy at the thought of being in his “Eternal Home” with his Lord. What A Day remains a staple of Keaggy’s concerts to this very day.
“Now I Can See is a song that really speaks what my heart is saying,” Phil told Harmony magazine in 1976. The 5-minute track is, like several of the preceding songs, filled with Scripture.
Next up was a short instrumental piece titled Behold, All Things Become New that foreshadowed Phil’s 1978 instrumental masterpiece, The Master and the Musician.
Hallelujah is another standout track and another song that was repeated on How The West Was One. The lyrics contain a single word – “hallelujah” – while the musical accompaniment is a rich tapestry performed on Keaggy’s acoustic guitars. It was worship music before worship was cool.
The album concludes with I Will Sing, a song that has proven to be prophetic…
I will sing, I will play to my King.
His right hand is my strength
I will stand.
There is an undeniable anointing on this album. ‘Anointing’ is a word that is mystical to many and, frankly, it scares people. But here’s how Phil Keaggy described it to Harmony magazine in 1976:
“When life goes into an album, life comes out,” Phil said.” There is a lot of music that is fantastic technically, but it lacks life and spirit. Jesus said, ‘The flesh profits nothing, but the Spirit gives life.’ I've got music that's fantastic musically, but then there's music that the Lord ministers through. He anoints it. The input that you receive is also your output. Its roots go back to influences in a person's life that have been good and pure. You know, when it comes to anointing, that's something only the Lord can do. He can use someone who isn't as talented or someone who is much more talented than I am. I encourage people to get into music, but I remind them to remember who's the Author and Giver of that gift. I discourage people from getting a guitar just to be like me. When someone is given a gift from the Lord, the Lord will accomplish that which concerns that gift. It's all for the purpose of glorifying Him, to build up the Body, to edify the Body, and to bring news to the fainthearted -- to those who are lost -- and to set the captives free.”
Phil Keaggy married his wife Bernadette in the summer of 1973, and then spent a period working and recording with other artists such as the 2nd Chapter of Acts, Paul Clark, and Honeytree, before settling in for a lengthy stay at Love Inn, effectively putting his music on hold for a period of about 3 years. Once free from that entanglement, he was off to the races.
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| Phil Keaggy today |
Unlike all but a very small handful of early Jesus Music artists, Phil Keaggy continues to record and tour today, keenly aware of a Divine calling to share the Gospel through his music. God obviously blessed him with an extraordinary talent, and he’s has been faithful to offer it back to the Lord over the past 40 years. All the while, he remains a man of genuine humility.
He’s a rare breed.
Amazing Man & Talent! My FAVE!!!
ReplyDeleteExcellent and Comprehensive review Scott!
What A Day stands as not only a Classic,
but a TimePiece and BenchMark for all the ages!
Thanks so much for the kind words.
Delete"What A Day" was given to me before I was a Christian because my future-wife's friend, Judy, thought I would dig the guitar :) Not sure I ever listened to it before I was saved at a campus Christian meeting some time later... but what an instrumental (no pun intended) influence in my early Christian life. Thank you for your blog... really bringing me back through my Christian walk by anchoring personal life events with so many Christian artists that God used along the way!
ReplyDeleteWow. That's great to hear. Thank you for the kind words and I'm glad you're enjoying the posts. I agree...so many of these albums formed the soundtrack of my life during important milestones and formative events. So thankful for that.
DeleteI became a believer in 1974 and What A Day was my introduction to Phil's music and I have been deeply moved by his skill, authenticity, and humility over the passing decades. Some of my friends have kidded me because I'm such a fan ( I've seen him 57 times in concert .. since I first saw him in 1978 ) but I know where his gifts originate. God is a miracle worker and Phil's abilities are just one of His miracles. I've been playing guitar since 1974 and have learned as much from brother Ph'lip as I'm able, but it's his consistent walk with his Lord that truly humbles me. "Well done, good and faithful servant" is a true statement about this beautiful brother. I wish that I were half the Christian man that he is.
ReplyDeleteFIFTY-SEVEN TIMES?! That's got to be a record! I totally agree with you regarding Phil's humility and the origin of his talent.
DeleteIn May 1999, I did local set-up/tear-down for a Keaggy/Stonehill concert and took this album and Stonehill's "Welcome to Paradise" with me to get autographed. Phil borrowed a word from the Stonehill album cover when he signed "It was 26 years ago!! ZOWIE God bless you"
ReplyDeleteGREAT story...
DeleteLate to the comments but I can't imagine there were 65 CCM (JM) albums in the '70s that were better than this one. I'd say top 10
ReplyDeleteThere are some artists in rock history that in my opinion have simply been overrated. They have a reputation that is out of proportion with the actual music they've produced.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion of course.
If I was pushed to name names, the James Gang would be one of those bands. The Boomtown Rats would be another. Another would be Glass Harp.
Yet, Glass Harp should have been a band that at least musically, hit the heights. Guitarist Phil Keaggy was clearly a superb guitarist and he had a really good singing voice. The drummer John Sferra also played guitar and sang, while the bassist Danny Pecchio played flute. So they had some good elements in place, as well as a great band name and some useful songwriting ability as well as the kind of instrumental prowess that many bands would dream of possessing.
But they just never really got going consistently, somehow.
And fortunately for Keaggy, I'd never come across Glass Harp in the days before I knew the Lord. If I had, I might not have bothered checking out his stuff. As it happens, Phil was one of the earliest Jesus rock artists I came across. After my first visit to the library after I'd decided to listen to music again, had netted me “Soulfully” by Andrae Crouch and the Disciples, my 2nd visit brought me albums by songwriting, singing lead guitarists from both sides of the Atlantic, Bryn Haworth and Phil. That album by Phil was Ph'lip Side ~ an album I dug right from the start. In fact, I remember being pretty well gobsmacked that there were albums like these {Haworth's one was “The Gap”} and players like these. So when I came across a “Twofer” that had “What a day” backed with “Love broke Through,” I snapped it up without even thinking about it. It was one of my most instinctive pieces of album buying back in the day !
At the moment, the LP is up in its entirety on YouTube and the channel gives its genre as “Christian soft rock” and I suppose it is, but......
2/2
ReplyDeleteI've never thought of it in that way. In fact, until today, I'd never really given much thought to what kind of music it is, which is unusual for me. I've always been against that notion that separating music into genres is stupid or pointless, that “music is just music.” I've long made the argument that the music of Bob Marley and the Wailers, Jethro Tull and Gladys Knight are all music, but they are clearly not the same kind of music and in order to give a potential listener a clue as to what sort of thing they can expect or if what you are suggesting to them to listen to is the sort of thing they are looking for, then separating into genres makes abundant sense. After all, if you were attacked by a tiger, you wouldn't just say “an animal attacked me !” or even “a cat mauled me...” Yet the fact remains that with the “What a day” album, for 35 years, I've just thought of it as “music”, a Phil Keaggy album. It never even occurred to me that there's barely a drum kit on the album. It does make a couple of appearances and there's quite a bit of almost “homemade” percussion cropping up here and there.
Yet what a thing of beauty this is.
Believe it or not, after about a year, I transferred the cassettes to cassette”, so as to preserve the original cassette because I could never find it anywhere on LP and my running order since 1988 has been:
Behold, all things become new
Hallelujah
King of the Jews
That is what the Lord will do for you
I will sing
Walking with our Lord
A time and a place
Rejoice
What a day
Now I can see
Phil's guitar is prominent on every track and such is his invention with the acoustic guitar, with electric accompaniment here and there, that it takes a while to acknowledge this is a largely acoustic album.
3/3
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm going somewhat over the top, but it is just so creative. I was already a fan of his music because of “Ph'lip Side,” but when I heard “What a day”, it was like being thrown off a cliff into a very cold, yet refreshing river. Once over the initial experience, it's like “I've got to do that again !” Hooked good and proper doesn't even begin to hint at it !
Given the traumatic events in Phil's life in the 4 years leading up to the album, it comes across as a really happy and joyous set of songs, replete with the charming innocence of someone in a good place with the Lord, perhaps before some of the major storms of the trouble Jesus promised his followers. This is also reflected on the cover in the way he's smiling and looking so relaxed and the pictures elsewhere on the sleeve of him jumping for joy. The music reflects a relaxed exuberance. Even where the sound is mystical, it's a joyful mysticism, saturated with a wistful reflectiveness. I have the 3 albums Glass Harp did and while I like them and the songs, not one of them across those three albums trumps what Phil comes up with here. And even the dynamic interplay and excitement of that trio pales in comparison to “What a Day,” all the more surprising as Phil handled most, if not all the instrumentation himself, something he was to do again, a few years later on “Underground.” Would this have been an even better album if |Pecchio and Sferra had handled bass and drums ? I doubt it. Part of what makes the album what it is is the fact that Phil's approach is what it was and he was unencumbered by any democratic, collaborative group issues. It's his music all the way.
Whether vocally or instrumentally, the album stands out big time for me in the melodic stakes. Phil always knocked high quality melodies and this album really carries on that trend that began in his previous band ~ every one of the songs is easily hummable with some of the most arresting melodies to be found in the first 20 years of Jesus music. There are lines, verses and choruses that are impossible to get out of my head, even all these years later. The title track being a wonder to behold, on that front. But it's not the only one.
And lyrically, though things are generally kept simple, none of the songs feel trite although I suspect they might have in the hands of other artists of the period.
4/4
ReplyDelete“Behold, all things become new” is actually an instrumental but is a beautifully reflective piece and not at all out of place, with its cymbal washes and arpeggio strumming to back the almost violin-like guitar sounds.
“Hallelujah” has only that word in it, repeated over and over again, but it never gets boring because the melody and musical interaction work so well together. It's almost like his take on the Gregorian monk chants, but set to music and transported to the early 1970s.
“King of the Jews” would be a fairly controversial song if released now; it was veering in that direction in 1973 but because Phil wasn't exactly a global superstar with a McCartneyesque reach, it barely ruffled a feather. It's simple but nicely put together, the melody remaining memorable. The simple percussion actually works better than drums would have.
On my original cassette, “That is what the Lord will do for you” was the first song and I really liked it when I first heard it, thinking to myself that this was a promising start. Phil's guitar skills were immediately evident, as was his penchant for melody and a good vocal. I'm not one for songs or statements declaring what God will do for a person {that's for God to decide in real time, according to his relationship with that person and what he deems best for the situation}, although it can be appropriate in some instances. But as a fairly new believer, it's easy to get into that strand of thinking as Phil does here. But he does it so earnestly with great music to match and it's a good representation of where much of the mindset of the early Jesus movement was at. After all, even a long time stalwart like Larry Norman was singing in his songs about Jesus taking all one's problems away at that point in time.
“I Will Sing” has a mystical air to it sonically and melodically, and sounds kind of how I'd imagine a biblical psalm to sound if one was able to eavesdrop on Asaph or David as they were writing or gently singing God's praise.
ReplyDelete5/5
“Walking with our Lord” was the third one on the original cassette that I had so it was the first of the tunes on here that stepped out of the more laid back feel. A gorgeous pronouncement of faith, both in its opening lines and generally lyrically, it carries that beat and swagger that, at least for me, is not possible not to shake my head to. And its exuberant cry at its climax of “Thank you Lord, oh thank you Lord ! Bless you Lord !!” is not in the slightest bit corny. It is beautiful and heartfelt and a fitting conclusion to a great song. The gratitude flies out of the speakers and it's one of those pieces that one unconsciously sings in moments of praise.
“A Time and a Place” bounces along at a brisk pace with its barely audible drums and like all that has preceded it, is beautiful. Cleverly weaving old and new testament scripture, poetry based on sayings of Jesus and a bit of hip jargon allied to some nifty chording and electric picking, Phil succeeds in creating one of those clever “reminder” songs, that if anyone is listening with both ears, can apply to their lives. A Muslim friend of mine at work was telling me recently, how she'd given up smoking after 30 years as a smoker. When I asked her what had made her give up, she explained that she'd seen a video in which the maker had talked about how they were slaves to the habit and it had so gotten to her that she said to herself that she was not going to be a slave to a vegetable and quit. That was about a year ago. A similar thing had happened to me back in the 90s, the look on a friend's face as I smoked {I wasn't even a regular smoker !} and his sarcasm spoke volumes....I've not been anywhere near anything smokable since; what this points to is the power of reminders and Phil's quoting of the poem about the sparrow and the robin has long served as a powerful reminder to me not to get panicky and anxious, even in the most haranguing of times, and to remain sure and confident of and in God's love and secure that he'll always provide, not just materially, but with the necessary wisdom, means of escape or insight in making decisions.
Songs can carry that level of reminding power. “A Time and a Place” with its simple little parts does just that, with the “after all, they are part of it all” bit being one of my melodic highlights.
6/6
ReplyDeleteIf there is a jewel in a star studded crown on this album for me, it is “Rejoice.” In the months before I heard this album, my friend Shirley, who played the guitar, had written this song that had the same strident guitar strokes. It wasn't influenced by “Rejoice” {in that church we were in, at that time, even music like Phil's would have been seen as “secular” and of the Devil, with its electric guitars and “rock beats” !}, but when I first heard “Rejoice” it really reminded me of Shirley's piece, even though I couldn't've remembered Shirley's piece if you'd held a gun to my kneecap ! And “Rejoice” is such a great song. Like a huge slice of Christian popular music at the time, it wasn't so much emphasized that one should be permanently ready, as per Jesus' instructions to his apostles, but rather that Jesus could come at any moment and that “any moment” was likely to be sooner than it would take to sell 40,000 records ! Listening to a number of songs of the time, one would almost get the impression that Jesus was probably going to turn up in the middle of the next week, hence, the urgency in telling everyone about him, pronto. The song accurately catalogues the confusing nature of the times, with religions and philosophies competing for the attention of everyone with ears and a questing nature, but simply and accurately presents Jesus as the solution. In the sort of pre~chorus, for years, I've thought Phil sings “Jesus shared that I will give you rest, all ye heavy laden.....” which I always thought was a great way of putting it. I only recently discovered it is actually “He is the shepherd that will give you rest” !
But I still sing “Jesus shared....” ! Can you dig what this means ?
The verse melody is so simple, yet so effective, as is the pre~chorus and the chorus. They're not earth shattering, yet the way they work with the chords is, at least to my ears. I slightly disagree with Phil over what Jesus said {shared !} about the angels. I think they rejoice over every sinner that repents. Perhaps one may think it's splitting hairs, but I did a lot of thinking about this over a lengthy period and Jesus was making the point that repentance isn't a singular one time action, rather, it's a continuous road that one continues down, after an initial decision. So it can be seen pretty clearly if one has repented because one has clearly changed direction and there are actions, continual actions, that bear this out.
However, this is a minor quibble to level in such a song.
7/7
ReplyDeleteIf the song had stopped at the end of that second chorus, it might not be my favourite on the album, but it would still be one of the top highlights on this highlight of an outing. But it is the instrumental run-out that transports this from merely a great song to a momentous one. Instrumentally throughout the album, Phil is on another level and he has the chops to do it ~ anyone familiar with his Glass Harp playing, {even if the band are overrated !} can attest to that. There is a superb interplay between acoustic, electric and bass guitars in this run-out, all the parts intricately carrying their weight and adding to the overall texture without stamping on any other part. The E~bow guitar sound isn't flashy, none of the strumming is heavy-handed, the picking is nifty and colours so skilfully, the bass is barely noticeable except when it comes in at one point with its “roo-doo-doo-doo-dood”, almost as though it recognized it has but one moment to shine and makes the absolute most of that second or two; melodies and harmonies dance, intertwine and circle each other like the earth orbiting the sun while the moon orbits the earth and space debris flies past the moon and the overall effect is, in a word, mesmerizing. As a man that loves jazz, avant~garde, progressive rock, folk, psychedelia, soul, reggae, Indian, classical, hymns, soundtracks and much south American music, among others, and is equally at home with instrumentals as well as instrumental breaks of great and short lengths, solos and ensemble playing, that little piece in “Rejoice” is without any doubt, one of my favourite instrumental flourishes. I never get tired of it and even if I don't listen to it for a couple of years, I know it's on repeat play on my ipod. I don't even have to look ! Who knows why a particular piece of music appeals to an individual ?
Who cares ?!
It's acted as something of an ideas blueprint in my own song recording, in bringing together different colours in an instrumental portion of a song, especially as the song is coming to a close. Go out with a memorable bang !
8/8
ReplyDeleteThe title track not only emphasized Phil's wonderful melodic sensibility and ability to build beautiful and harmonious songs, it also pointed to his sense of humour too, as he shows that he's been reading the bible and can be quite light-hearted about what he finds in it. It is interesting that he references only the holy men he's read about, but that's probably a 21st century observation !
I'm not generally a great fan of songs that look to the end of the world and our gathering before the throne, but there are some that stand out, like Bryn Haworth's “Grand Arrival” and certain lines or verses from some of the great hymns like “Amazing Grace” and “How Great Thou Art.” But “What a day” fits snugly into that category and is a lovely song. I've been getting my fill because it's not a song we'll be singing then. It'll do in the meantime though.
Its imitation brass sounds segue nicely into “Now I can see” which is in the same sonically mystical vein as “Behold...” and “I will sing” but double+. The song is so relaxing and as ever throughout the album, beautifully sung. Phil Keaggy has been so renowned for his sterling guitar wizardry, that his singing has long been overlooked. But for me, it has always been equally important to the sound of his songs, much as I dig his innovative guitar playing. Even his harmonies and backing vocals are deft, simple and to the point, but ever so enhancing.
His guitar playing throughout this LP is pretty hot and lovely though. I've never needed rumours about the praises of Hendrix or Ted Nugent to keep me sold on Phil and what he does on the fretboard.
The brilliance and beauty of “What a Day” cannot be overestimated. It is relaxed, joyful, earnest, naïve, but not in a predictable or negative way, and it is quite uncompromising. It would have been quite easy to release an album of compromised mush, unchallenging and message laden. This album carries a definite message, but is first and foremost an album of songs. If you didn't speak English, you could still get off on what is presented within.
If I'd never heard this album, I'd never have known what I missed or if indeed I'd missed anything at all. But having heard it, I'm glad that I know what I would have missed if I hadn't heard it !
Thanks for such thoughtful comments...you should really consider starting your own blog on this subject! I'm serious. Thanks again...
DeleteI've just for the first time read Scott's review on this album and I'm fascinated that we noticed many of the same things.
ReplyDeleteLovely album - youthful and heartfelt. At the same time in the secular arena, progressive rock was at its peak, and Phil could have easily fit in there, but left it (and his jam rock band Glass Harp which had a few prog touches) for something deeply personal and pure, especially with this album. His 1970s albums are my favourites.
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