Tap the Red Cane Whirlwind
Encyclopedia
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.
, 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..."
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."
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."
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."
Production:
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:...
. It reached number 11 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Top Blues Albums.
History
Tap the Red Cane Whirlwind is a collection of solo live performances from engagements at McCabe'sMcCabe's Guitar Shop
McCabe's Guitar Shop is a musical instrument store and live music venue on Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, California. Opened in 1958, McCabe's specializes in acoustic and folk instruments, including guitars, banjos, mandolins, dulcimers, fiddles, psaltries, bouzoukis, sitars, ouds, and ethnic...
, Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
and Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
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..."
Reception
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." Fred Kraus of Minor 7thMinor 7th
Minor 7th is an online magazine that reviews non-mainstream acoustic guitar music. It was founded in November 1999 by Alan Fark, who claims to have created the magazine with the goal of "enabling independent or under-recognized acoustic guitarists to receive more wide-spread publicity." The website...
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."
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."
PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
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."
Track listing
All songs by Kelly Joe Phelps unless otherwise noted.- "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" (Skip JamesSkip JamesNehemiah Curtis "Skip" James was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter, born in Bentonia, Mississippi, died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
) – 9:46 - "Not So Far to Go" – 7:35
- "Jericho" – 8:46
- "Fleashine" – 6.44
- "Cardboard Box of Batteries" – 6:29
- "Gold Tooth" – 8:56
- "Tommy" – 6:47
- "I Am the Light of the World" (Reverend Gary DavisReverend Gary DavisReverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis, was an American blues and gospel singer and guitarist, who was also proficient on the banjo and harmonica...
) – 6:28 - "Waiting for Marty" – 6:26
Personnel
- Kelly Joe Phelps - vocals, guitar
Production:
- Engineered and mixed by Shawn Pierce
- Mastered by Greg Calbi
- Photography by Michael "Mick" Wilson
- Design by Gwen Terpstra