| Tap the Red Cane Whirlwind | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | February 1, 2005 | |||
| Recorded | 2004 | |||
| Genre | Blues, country blues | |||
| Label | Rykodisc | |||
| Producer | Lee Townsend | |||
| Kelly Joe Phelps chronology | ||||
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Tap the Red Cane Whirlwind is an album by American blues singer and guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps. It reached number 11 on the Billboard Top Blues Albums.
Tap the Red Cane Whirlwind is a collection of solo live performances from engagements at McCabe's, Santa Monica, California and Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, California in 2004.
In an interview regarding his first live release, Phelps said, "My passion lies in performing live, in the sense of 'no net' string grabbing and 'lord knows what' singing and flying by my seat and watching the songs come alive (hopefully) in a way that I could have never predicted beforehand. I've wanted to have a recorded representation of that for some time..." [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| Minor 7th | (no rating) [3] |
| No Depression | (Favorable) [4] |
| PopMatters |   [5] |
Music critic Thom Jurek praised the release in his Allmusic review, writing "Phelps is a dynamite guitarist who adds, subtracts, and morphs figures onto the original fingerstyle lines, and uses his voice to offer evidence of the timelessness of the lyric. And as moving and virtuosic as these two performances are, it's his own songs that offer the true prize of this collection... if there is one recording that captures the sum of the magic, power, and poetry that is Kelly Joe Phelps, this one's it." [2] Fred Kraus of Minor 7th wrote: "His slices-of-life verses provide character insight without being self-confessional, and just enough detail to be recognizable without being self-focused. His observations are such that they open up our world rather than reduce it. Phelps definitely has it going on." [3]
David Greenberger of No Depression praised the album with reservations, writing "After exploring the studio possibilities with a shifting but sympathetic group of players, Phelps turns, on this record, to a form that has been his mainstay: live, solo performance... His music is so tied to a sound that the songs can roll into one another, as well as disappear into themselves. Granted, some of those issues can be chalked up to creative subtleties, but there are times when you just want him to change registers and head into the truly unknown. That said, Phelps is a riveting performer, integrating his singing into his playing with results that exude fully committed emotional character... Phelps’ singing goes down so smooth I just want him to even let out a cough to rough up the flow at some point." [4]
PopMatters critic Robert R. Calder is equally equivocal, giving the album 5 of 10 stars: "He seems hardly to have combined verbal inspiration into any very conventional sort of song.... In some respects Phelps lets himself off easy. The lack of straight sequential meanings simply spreads words and phrases across the virtuoso guitar music... The result is probably good in parts, but I wonder how the real oddness of some lyrics might disquiet listeners after a little longer than a critic can allow himself/herself to relisten to a review copy before writing. There's a cause of disquiet at odds with the gentle and often beautiful music. I'll declare no conclusion but advise potential listeners that they might find something incoherent and unlikeable. It's worth suggesting that while there's impressive evidence here that Kelly Joe Phelps is an exceptionally talented musician, guitarist, and performer, he has perhaps not distinguished himself in words." [5]
All songs by Kelly Joe Phelps unless otherwise noted.
Production:
The Gun Club were an American post-punk band from Los Angeles that existed from 1979 to 1996. Created and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce, they were notable as one of the first bands in the punk rock subculture to incorporate influences from blues, rockabilly, and country music. The Gun Club has been called a "tribal psychobilly blues" band, as well as initiators of the punk blues sound cowpunk – "He (Pierce) took Robert Johnson and pre-war acoustic blues and 'punkified' it. Up until then bands were drawing on Iggy & The Stooges and the New York Dolls but he took it back so much further for inspiration."
Amos Leon Thomas Jr., known professionally as Leon Thomas, was an American jazz and blues vocalist, born in East St. Louis, Illinois, and known for his bellowing glottal-stop style of free jazz singing in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Michael Kelly Finnigan was an American keyboard player and vocalist, his speciality being the B3 Hammond organ. Working primarily as a freelance studio musician and touring player, he played with a wide variety of musicians in pop, rock, blues and jazz.
Kelly Joe Phelps was an American musician and songwriter. His music has been characterized as a mixture of delta blues and jazz.
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Sky Like a Broken Clock is an album by American blues singer and guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps, released in 2001. It reached #8 on the Billboard Top Blues Albums charts.
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Roll Away the Stone is an album by American blues singer and guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps, released in 1997. It was his first release on the Rykodisc label and reached #10 on the Billboard Top Blues Albums charts.
Lead Me On is the debut album of American blues singer and guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps. It is his first release on the Burnside label before moving to Rykodisc Records.
Beggar's Oil is an EP by American blues singer and guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps, released in 2002.
The Best of John Fahey, Vol. 2: 1964–1983 is a compilation album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 2004.
On Air is a live album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, recorded in 1978 and released posthumously in 2005.
Western Bell is an album by American blues singer and guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps, released 2009. Unlike his previous albums, Western Bell is entirely instrumental. After five discs on Rykodisc and one for Rounder, Phelps joined Black Hen Music, a small independent record label founded in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Twilight on Prince Georges Avenue: Essential Recordings is the title of a compilation recording by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 2009.
Brother Sinner and the Whale is an album by American blues singer and guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps, released in 2012. It was recorded in mono with only voice and guitar.
Live at New Orleans House: Berkeley, CA 09/69 is an album by the American rock band Hot Tuna. As the name suggests, it was recorded live at the New Orleans House music venue in Berkeley, California in September 1969. It was released in April 2010.
Live at Billy Bob's Texas is the fifth live album and first video album by American country band Asleep at the Wheel. Recorded on April 18, 2003, at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth, Texas, it was produced by the band's frontman Ray Benson and released on October 14, 2003, by Smith Music Group, as part of the Live at Billy Bob's Texas series. The album is the band's first release to feature fiddler and guitarist Haydn Vitera, and features former steel guitarist Cindy Cashdollar as a guest.
