Phil Keaggy & band wanted to re-create the sound of albums from the mid-'60s à la The Beatles, using only vintage guitars played through vintage amps. They even used Ringo's old drum kit!
A wonderfully detailed look at Sunday’s Child and its Beatles-inspired roots. I especially enjoyed your recounting of Keaggy's encounter with Paul McCartney, adding a personal touch to the album's story.
Thanks, Jon! I was excited to find those Paul/Phil pix, myself, I must say! I had no idea Phil knew somebody in Paul's extended family, and I have to imagine there were nerves performing at a wedding knowing Paul & Linda were in attendance! I'm glad someone was there to capture the bedroom meeting between the two, but I guess I'll have to reel in my consternation that no one had a tape recording running!!😁
An underrated musician, for sure! I knew he was religious, but his earlier music never came across as preachy. I also didn't know this backstory, nor did I know he felt that way about his earlier work. I don't know anything from his lengthy solo catalog, but I love Glass Harp's first three albums (S/T, Synergy, and It Makes Me Glad).
I also have some Glass Harp rarities on a CD-R, which I was sent decades ago via a mega collector. In it are demos from 1969 where they sound much more like a West Coast acid rock band, like Quicksilver, rather than what they would later become. This may be the period he is talking about earlier in your post (that he says he doesn't like), and bands all change; however, he clearly knows more about the story than our ears do because I love it! On that same CD is also an early (and longer) demo of "Coming Home" (from 'Synergy') that is brimming with West Coast-sounding slide guitar and brings to mind Stephen Stills. It's so crisp and fluid, and at the ending where he says, "I Love You," Keaggy's guitar just howls, but it also has a very cool funk to it.
Finally, there is a 2nd disc in the set I was sent that includes the entire rare live set from Pacific Highways Recorders from 1971 that has a monster 32-minute jam of Glass Harp's "Can You See Me?" It sounds like Led Zeppelin meets the 70s Canadian band, Triumph. It's tremendous and helps complete the story of early Glass Harp.
Thanks, Michael.....yes, Keaggy is vastly underrated (particularly as a guitar player), only really, as I hinted, because he's virtually completely unknown in the Top 40/popular/"secular" music world! You have such a rich point of reference (Glass Harp), Michael, to dip further into Phil's solo career (if you choose).
And, that's similar to how I view this "Sunday's Child" album! On its face, "it has no business existing," but I mean that only in the context of simply where it came from!! Given Phil's guitar-forward, hard psych-rock '60s beginning, how on earth does THIS album come from THAT pedigree?!? But, the fact that it does makes it all the more fascinatingly incredible!
We "expected" a Beatles-inspired album out of Rundgren (or, certainly weren't all that stunned when he and Utopia came with "Deface")!
I love your first-paragraph litany of "I didn't know"s, Michael (and I appreciate your candor)! That's virtual music to my ears, and is exactly the response from readers I was kinda hoping for, because that has been my suspicion for the last 30-plus years....that the album is on its own island, quite distanced from the mainstream "way" the general public who'd dig it could/would hear it!
I'm also anxious to hear from our community of Beatles collectors/fans/experts to not only hear their reaction, but, again......were they even aware this loving "tribute" even existed! I wonder if any of them ever feel "insulted" or otherwise reject albums like this or Todd's, or if they're able, generally, to accept works like this for what they are....aural "love letters" to their heroes/inspirations. We'll watch together!
What an infectiously cool track, this Tell Me How You Feel gem. Also, Brad was married? 😱😱😱 Or did I misinterpret? In any case, very cool recollection, and I particularly liked how you go into detail about Keaggy's conversations with McCartney. Thanks for uncovering all these great gems from the most unexplored corners of music history!
Thanks, Andy! And, yes, I entered into holy deadlock at one point. And, no, you didn't misinterpret.....in fact, you nailed her name: Miss Interpret. What seemed like an eternity was actually only 6 months. And, they said it wouldn't last! HA! We showed them (and, kept the gifts)!
Thanks for your endless appreciation of the process and product, too! I love not only doing it, but the fact that my odd twists and turns in life and the record biz helps uncover these gems, and I get to write about it all! I can't believe those Paul'n'Phil pix have existed for decades, and like, you, I'M just now seeing them for the first time, too! It's finding stuff like that that only accelerates "the need to get this stuff out there"!! And, I'm happy you're aboard for the ride!😉
A wonderfully detailed look at Sunday’s Child and its Beatles-inspired roots. I especially enjoyed your recounting of Keaggy's encounter with Paul McCartney, adding a personal touch to the album's story.
Thanks, Jon! I was excited to find those Paul/Phil pix, myself, I must say! I had no idea Phil knew somebody in Paul's extended family, and I have to imagine there were nerves performing at a wedding knowing Paul & Linda were in attendance! I'm glad someone was there to capture the bedroom meeting between the two, but I guess I'll have to reel in my consternation that no one had a tape recording running!!😁
An underrated musician, for sure! I knew he was religious, but his earlier music never came across as preachy. I also didn't know this backstory, nor did I know he felt that way about his earlier work. I don't know anything from his lengthy solo catalog, but I love Glass Harp's first three albums (S/T, Synergy, and It Makes Me Glad).
I also have some Glass Harp rarities on a CD-R, which I was sent decades ago via a mega collector. In it are demos from 1969 where they sound much more like a West Coast acid rock band, like Quicksilver, rather than what they would later become. This may be the period he is talking about earlier in your post (that he says he doesn't like), and bands all change; however, he clearly knows more about the story than our ears do because I love it! On that same CD is also an early (and longer) demo of "Coming Home" (from 'Synergy') that is brimming with West Coast-sounding slide guitar and brings to mind Stephen Stills. It's so crisp and fluid, and at the ending where he says, "I Love You," Keaggy's guitar just howls, but it also has a very cool funk to it.
Finally, there is a 2nd disc in the set I was sent that includes the entire rare live set from Pacific Highways Recorders from 1971 that has a monster 32-minute jam of Glass Harp's "Can You See Me?" It sounds like Led Zeppelin meets the 70s Canadian band, Triumph. It's tremendous and helps complete the story of early Glass Harp.
Thanks, Michael.....yes, Keaggy is vastly underrated (particularly as a guitar player), only really, as I hinted, because he's virtually completely unknown in the Top 40/popular/"secular" music world! You have such a rich point of reference (Glass Harp), Michael, to dip further into Phil's solo career (if you choose).
And, that's similar to how I view this "Sunday's Child" album! On its face, "it has no business existing," but I mean that only in the context of simply where it came from!! Given Phil's guitar-forward, hard psych-rock '60s beginning, how on earth does THIS album come from THAT pedigree?!? But, the fact that it does makes it all the more fascinatingly incredible!
We "expected" a Beatles-inspired album out of Rundgren (or, certainly weren't all that stunned when he and Utopia came with "Deface")!
I love your first-paragraph litany of "I didn't know"s, Michael (and I appreciate your candor)! That's virtual music to my ears, and is exactly the response from readers I was kinda hoping for, because that has been my suspicion for the last 30-plus years....that the album is on its own island, quite distanced from the mainstream "way" the general public who'd dig it could/would hear it!
I'm also anxious to hear from our community of Beatles collectors/fans/experts to not only hear their reaction, but, again......were they even aware this loving "tribute" even existed! I wonder if any of them ever feel "insulted" or otherwise reject albums like this or Todd's, or if they're able, generally, to accept works like this for what they are....aural "love letters" to their heroes/inspirations. We'll watch together!
What an infectiously cool track, this Tell Me How You Feel gem. Also, Brad was married? 😱😱😱 Or did I misinterpret? In any case, very cool recollection, and I particularly liked how you go into detail about Keaggy's conversations with McCartney. Thanks for uncovering all these great gems from the most unexplored corners of music history!
Thanks, Andy! And, yes, I entered into holy deadlock at one point. And, no, you didn't misinterpret.....in fact, you nailed her name: Miss Interpret. What seemed like an eternity was actually only 6 months. And, they said it wouldn't last! HA! We showed them (and, kept the gifts)!
Thanks for your endless appreciation of the process and product, too! I love not only doing it, but the fact that my odd twists and turns in life and the record biz helps uncover these gems, and I get to write about it all! I can't believe those Paul'n'Phil pix have existed for decades, and like, you, I'M just now seeing them for the first time, too! It's finding stuff like that that only accelerates "the need to get this stuff out there"!! And, I'm happy you're aboard for the ride!😉
Holy deadlock 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I’m glad you kept the gifts, and if this comments section allowed, I’m sure you would illustrate with the most hilarious gifs!
Thanks again for uncovering these gems and for wrapping them all up with all these interesting stories. You rock, in every single respect!