Phil Keaggy - A (not so brief) Discography

Ethan25

Ethan25

Super Member
I have had several people ask me to do this thread, and until we have a biography category of some sort, I will just post it here as that's where I was encouraged to post.

I know many of you have wondered what my fascination is with Phil Keaggy - some of you don't wonder as you also find his music to be quite remarkable. The purpose of this thread is to get you acquainted with Phil's music and provide a list of what he has out there for those interested. I will do my best to provide this in a chronological sequence the best I can. My plan is to post one album per post and share the release date, what label it was produced by, and a song or two from the album if it is available through youtube. I am not going to set a time limit on the thread to finish, as I don't have internet at home and will have to do this on my break while at work.

Please by all means reply and ask questions. I am not concerned with having all 100 (or thereabouts) posts in some sort of immediate sequential order in the thread. Phil, while somewhat famous, is rather not famous considering his extensive catalog and amazing abilities, at least in my opinion. So, please be patient with me as I get this done in my spare time. I do not intend to focus on his religious beliefs, although those come through in his music (along with Bob Marley's, Nirvana's, and others). Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

PK+Press+1_Lo+Res.jpg
 
Last edited:
Phil was born on March 23, 1951 in Youngstown, OH, the ninth of ten children. In a childhood accident with a water pump, Phil lost the middle finger on his right hand. On Phil's 10th birthday, his brother, Dave returned home with a Sears Silvertone guitar. That's when the magic began as Phil began practicing. At the age of 13, he joined his first band, the Keytones. Later on he would participate in groups like The Squires, and New Hudson Exit. Here's a sample of one of his early songs with The Squires, at age 16. I apologize for the poor sound quality as I do not have a way to download a decent copy of this song as an MP3. This was off an album titled HIGHS in the MID SIXTIES, volume NINE - OHIO. Small Ohio bands were included on this LP.

Highs in the mid 60s.jpg

 
Here are Phil's two best songs with New Hudson Exit, in my opinion. I believe these are from 1967. From what I gather, he left New Hudson Exit as management felt he was too young for the challenges of a band tour. Not sure 100%, as this was told to me by a friend.

 
elcoholic said:
Nice, I'm a PK fan as well. Looking forward to a deeper dive into his catalog. Thanks for doing this.

John
Click to expand...

Glad to John! If you have any questions feel free to ask! I have met only one person who has more of his music than I do - so if I can't figure something out, I am going to ask him. I am rather young - 36, and so my experience with Keaggy started in 1987 when I first heard The Master and the Musician, an album he released in 1978. The year after my dad purchased his new album Sunday's Child and I was hooked.
 
Phil Keaggy, John Sferra and bassist Steve Markulin formed the band Glass Harp in 1967....later Markulin left the band to pursue other interests while Daniel Pecchio joined to form the amazing band that took Ohio and the surrounding area by storm in the late 60s to early 70s. Their first successful single was the song Where Did My World Come From released on a 45 through United Audio. I believe this was from 68', and prior to their first self-titled LP.

 
Glass Harp was very good with doing covers of larger band's songs. Here is a cover of Season of the Witch Suite, from a concert in Buhl Park in 69' just before their first album released with DECCA.

 
Glass Harp recorded their first album in 69, released on the DECCA label. It was recorded at Electric Lady Studio. The album included 10 songs including key releases CAN YOU SEE ME, CHANGES, and WHATEVER LIFE DEMANDS. Glass Harp would often extend the length of their songs in concert by having improvisations for guitar, drum, and even flute solos as Daniel Pecchio was an accomplished flute player.

Here is the lead single from the album titled Can You See Me, written by Phil Keaggy. Many questioned that they only had three band members as Keaggy was able to make different sounds with his guitar that resembled other instruments. He has only expanded on this ability in recent years.

 
Last edited:
In late 70 to 71 the band worked on the album Synergy, with producer Lewis Merenstein. This was also recorded at Electric Lady Studio. After getting their first album released in 70, they were opening for bands like Yes and Alice Cooper, and finding some fame not just locally but regionally. Phil Keaggy was being talked about by fans everywhere as his guitar playing was drawing comparisons to the greats of the time. Later that year, they would open up for the Kinks at Carnegie Hall...more on that in a bit.

Synergy had two powerhouse songs called Never Is a Long Time which had Daniel Pecchio as lead singer, as well as leading off with One Day at a Time. Since this thread focuses on Keaggy, I'll post the link to One Day at a Time...

 
Ethan25 said:
I have had several people ask me to do this thread, and until we have a biography category of some sort, I will just post it here as that's where I was encouraged to post.

I know many of you have wondered what my fascination is with Phil Keaggy - some of you don't wonder as you also find his music to be quite remarkable. The purpose of this thread is to get you acquainted with Phil's music and provide a list of what he has out there for those interested. I will do my best to provide this in a chronological sequence the best I can. My plan is to post one album per post and share the release date, what label it was produced by, and a song or two from the album if it is available through youtube. I am not going to set a time limit on the thread to finish, as I don't have internet at home and will have to do this on my break while at work.

Please by all means reply and ask questions. I am not concerned with having all 100 (or thereabouts) posts in some sort of immediate sequential order in the thread. Phil, while somewhat famous, is rather not famous considering his extensive catalog and amazing abilities, at least in my opinion. So, please be patient with me as I get this done in my spare time. I do not intend to focus on his religious beliefs, although those come through in his music (along with Bob Marley's, Nirvana's, and others). Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

View attachment 915961
Click to expand...
You have my interest as well. Excellent guitarist and songwriter. Under played on radio for sure.
 
In 1971, after Glass Harp released Synergy, they were asked to open for The Kinks at Carnegie Hall. They were asked to provide a 45 minute concert (which ended up going 9 minutes over due to Glass Harp's improvisations). Per the Glass Harp website, here's their take about the concert from their website www.glassharp.net:

Plans were put in place to produce a third album-a live project-to be recorded at Carnegie Hall. It was to be a high point for the threesome. "Here we go!" says Keaggy, remembering the event. "All the way to the big town."

"All musicians-even we '70s anti-establishment rock 'n' rollers," adds Pecchio, "are aware of the mystique of Carnegie Hall. For generations, a performance at Carnegie Hall was a banner that proclaimed, 'You have arrived!' All of this was not lost on us, or our producer Lewis Merenstein, who made arrangements to record the event. This was the gig of our lives-and it was going to be recorded, too!"


The Kinks had top billing that night. The Glass Harp were to open the evening with a 45-minute set, which would actually run eight minutes overtime. Although the band had developed visual and verbal cues to keep up with each other's improvisations-"it was like calling audibles on stage," says Pecchio-things still sometimes got away from them at times. "Phil never could end a song!" he adds, laughing.


backstage.gif


"I remember being very nervous," says Sferra, "wondering if the audience would accept us and our music. Friends told me that if we played half as well as we had in other concerts, we would be fine. I hoped they were right. This was a New York City audience! They were notorious for letting a performer know just what they thought. No polite applause here. If they didn't like you, you got booed off the stage."


Putting the pressure behind him, Sferra decided to try enjoying himself. "After all, many musicians strive for a long time to play this venue. But I was only 19. That didn't help! It made me feel even more insecure. Was I really up to this? Did I even deserve this privilege? Thank God I didn't have to go this alone. I had my 'brothers in arms,' Daniel and Phil. Whatever happened, the humiliation could only last 45 minutes, our scheduled playing time."


Sferra loosened up a bit upon hearing of Dean Bassett's (Daniel's father-in-law) activities around the hall. "He was recording everything he could get a microphone on: the hotel kitchen sounds, cabbies, even toilets flushing! 'For posterity,' you see. And it's with thanks to Mr. Bassett's archival foresight that this release was even made possible."


Finally, zero hour had arrived. Al Pethal, one of the band's road managers, announced the group, and they got down to it. "Halfway through Look In The Sky," says John, "I forgot my nervousness, and had a wonderful time making music with Phil and Daniel."





dan2.gif
Pecchio, not having much experience playing symphony halls, had expected Carnegie Hall's size to be more on par with its legendary status. "I was surprised at how small it seemed to be," he says. "After all, we were used to playing venues of ten- to twenty-thousand people. We were given a private tour, and to compare Carnegie Hall to the large venues we played would be like comparing a Faberge Egg to a drug store knick-knack."


Standing on one of the balconies, Daniel imagined Caruso, and every great artist before and after him, performing on that stage. "It was a profound experience," he says, "equaled only to playing that first note at the beginning of our set."


Pecchio adds that Glass Harp was a unique live band, and playing Carnegie Hall certainly qualified as a unique experience. "Together they provided a wonderful evening, preserved on tape. We were truly blessed, as members of Glass Harp, to be given the opportunity to know each other personally, and to have shared our gifts with each other and our friends. Carnegie Hall was one of many spiritual evenings we had together."


The experience was a sobering one for Keaggy, as well. Following the soundcheck, he walked off by himself to an upper tier of the hall where he found a vacant room. "I went in and knelt down and prayed there in the dark," he remembers. "I asked God to bless the concert. It was strange, because I didn't know how I felt about it all. On one hand, I was excited; on the other hand, I was a bit scared. I didn't know where this whole thing was headed. We had recorded two albums up to that point, and this was to be our live album. And there was a lot of pressure with that, so I was just trying to compose myself. I had been a Christian for just a year, and the thing that was most on my mind, as a youngster with this newfound faith and his heart lifting up to God was, 'What can I do to please You tonight with my instrument? I had mixed feelings about it all."


Anxious as the preliminary events were, they didn't interfere with the performance, which was quintessentially Glass Harp. "It was us playing like we really could play on a good night," says Phil. "You can hear our nervousness in the music at the beginning; we were a bit on edge. But that soon passed, and we got down to business. I think the concert also captured the quirky personality of Glass Harp's music-and we were a quirky threesome. Dan was a very percussive bass player, and John was like a wild horse. He had that kind of strength and energy, and thankfully, he always found a way to come back to 'one.' We were able to work within each others' musical styles in large part because we grew up playing together. We were a good group for our time-and for our years. We were very experimental; we explored a lot of places. Whenever I took off into exploring the galaxy, they just went along for the ride. And they would contribute to my music very generously. That's what we had. People sensed something of Glass Harp that we were very generous with each other, and we enjoyed each others' playing. We knew that each of us could not do the others' part. That's what makes good bands good bands."


With the set behind them, Phil seized the opportunity to take in the Kinks' performance. "They had really big amps," he remembers. "Hi-Watts, I think. They just dwarfed our equipment. Dan had his Traynor bass amp with 8" speakers, and I had my Les Paul and two beefed-up Twin Reverbs. But the sound of our equipment was really good. I think the audience really enjoyed it; they responded really well, and I was quite pleased with the evening."


Following the concert, the trio made their way to the mobile recording unit parked outside to hear the result. Says Keaggy, "Lewis Merenstein, our producer, was there, and we listened to it as it was playing back. It sounded wild. We were really excited about it."
Click to expand...
 
Of all Glass Harp's recordings, this is by far my favorite to listen to. Please take a listen when you have time as you can listen to the whole thing here. If you have not heard it before, you have missed some of the best music from that era.

 
I have Phil's discography as well.
I've met Phil and seen him live 25-30 times when he travels the east coast,...going back prior to 2nd Chapter of Acts / "How the West was One" and "What a Day".
Looking forward to your posts and thoughts on PK! :thumbsup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Ethan25
Phil Keaggy discography - a tour
2 3 4
Replies
62
Views
2K
Ethan25
Ethan25
Ethan25
Phil Keaggy discussion
Replies
16
Views
483
8xlaxx
8xlaxx
Ethan25
Phil Keaggy - Cajon Pass
Replies
8
Views
366
Pio1980
Pio1980
Ethan25
New up and coming album by Phil Keaggy
Replies
3
Views
187
Ethan25
Ethan25
Ethan25
Happy 66th Birthday Phil Keaggy!
Replies
4
Views
105
pmsummer
pmsummer
Back
Top Bottom