Roll Away the Stone is an album by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 singer and guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps

Kelly Joe Phelps

Kelly Joe Phelps is an American musician and songwriter. His music has been characterized as a mixture of delta blues and jazz.-Career:...

, released in 1997. It was his first release on the Rykodisc label and reached #10 on the Billboard

Billboard charts

The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...

 Top Blues Albums charts.

Phelps' notes state "All songs recorded in my used to be a hotel now it's an apartment building apartment, between airplane take-offs and police sirens, deep in the winter of 1996, except "Cypress Grove" and "Go There" which were recorded in an empty house in Northeast Portland. Same Winter. Dave Schiffman engineered "Cypress Grove". Dale Lawrence supplied the house. Mixed at The Digs by Craig Carothers. Mastered by Toby Mountain at Northeastern Digital, Southboro, MA. Production remains a mystery..."

Reception

Writing for Allmusic, music critic D. Elaine McDonald wrote of the album "Phelps continues to grow as both a musician and songwriter, and his interpretations of classic blues songs show increased imagination. Although it's based in classic blues, this music doesn't sound ancient — it sounds vital and alive, like any great music should." Thom Owen of No Depression magazine wrote "Phelps began his musical career playing jazz, and those roots are evident in his introspective, sandpapery vocals on Roll Away The Stone... The three traditional songs here would be at home on Phelps’ first record. He sticks to a simple and respectful reading of these numbers, relying on their timelessness and his silken voice for effect."

Track listing

All songs written by Kelly Joe Phelps except as noted.

1. "Roll Away the Stone" – 4:50
2. "Sail the Jordan" – 6:01
3. "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder" (James Milton Black
   James Milton Black
   James Milton Black was a composer of hymns, choir leader and Sunday school teacher.Black was born in South Hill, New York, but worked, lived and died in Williamsport, Pennsylvania...
   
   ) – 5:52
4. "Hosanna" – 8:46
5. "Without the Light" – 4:44
6. "Footprints" (Traditional) – 4:35
7. "Go There" – 4:17
8. "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
   See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
   "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" is a blues song recorded by Blind Lemon Jefferson in 1927 that became "one of his most famous compositions". Son House used the melody on his 1930 recording of "Mississippi County Farm Blues"....
   
   " (Blind Lemon Jefferson
   Blind Lemon Jefferson
   "Blind" Lemon Jefferson was an American blues singer and guitarist from Texas. He was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s, and has been titled "Father of the Texas Blues"....
   
   , Lewis) – 6:50
9. "Cypress Grove" (Skip James
   Skip James
   Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter, born in Bentonia, Mississippi, died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
   
   ) – 6:42
10. "That's Alright" (Traditional)– 3:25
11. "Doxology" (Traditional)– 2:14

Personnel

• Kelly Joe Phelps - vocals, 6 and 12 string lap slide guitars, 6 string conventional guitar

External links

• Discography at Kelly Joe Phelps official web site.