Phil Keaggy: Ph'lip Side (1980)

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Tracks:

1. A Child (In Everyone's Heart)
2. Little Ones
3. Spend My Life With You
4. I Belong to You
5. In Your Keep
6. Just a Moment Away
7. A Royal Commandment
8. Sunday School
9. Pulling Down
10. Send Out Your Light

After recording the deep and expansive The Master and The Musician, Phil took a couple of years off from the studio, relocated to Kansas City, and entered into what he himself referred to as his "middle period," an apt if humble description of his work during the greater part of the 1980's.  There was some great work during these years, and a good portion of it has stood the test of time and stands as some of his best work.  But more often than not it was just decent, well-played, tame gospel pop, nothing really impressive or mind-blowing.  And really, it makes sense when you consider the man was settling down, starting a family, and generally putting his music, if not on the back burner, at least on medium heat.  

The first product of this epoch was Ph'lip Side, something of a spin on Neil Young's Rust Never Sleeps in structure, in that the record featured both sides of the Keaggy style: This Side featured gentle, melodic acoustic ballads and mellow soft rock, and That Side contained heavier rock and light funk tunes.  It's an interesting approach, and like the corny title, shows Phil's strength for deft fretwork, fast and soaring solos, and bright, singable melodies--and also his tendency toward folksy cuteness.  Hey, nobody's perfect!

The album starts off with the pretty but precious "A Child," which is basically is the theme song for everybody's inner youth.  Sure, it's got a huge melodic hook, but it's also cloying and a little silly, and features nothing special on the six-string.  The next song is even gentler, but a hundred times more resonant--Phil's pro-life statement song, "Little Ones."  With just a vocal and beautifully recorded and played acoustic guitar, he takes a stand for the voiceless victims of abortion.  He manages to sing an emotionally-charged song  without being preachy or heavy-handed.  Whatever one's view may be on the issue, if any man had a platform to "speak up," it was Phil, given the struggles he and Bernadette had with carrying a child to full term.

The other major highlight from the acoustic side is "Spend My Life With You," built around a repeating but melodic arpeggio, with some great longing lyrics about Phil being on the road away from his love.  The soloing on the extended coda is some of the best on the record, and the piece is fluent and emotionally-resonant.  Phil would re-visit the song in an adapted form on his 1996 instrumental album Acoustic Sketches.  

When Phil "flips over" to electric, things get a little deeper and more challenging.  "Just a Moment Away" is decent whitefunk with back-talking vocals ("What You Say"), a strong chorus, and a sinewy solo.  "A Royal Commandment" is complex, anchored by the heaviest riff on a PK song yet, but it's counterbalanced by some mellow synths, quiet verses and a jazzy break.  "Pulling Down" a fast-moving rocker about spiritual warfare with a bluesy feel.  

The most memorable track on That Side is the slow-moving but bluesy "Sunday School."  This is not a kiddie singalong by a long shot; he's telling a sad story of rebellion against God's deliverance by people that need it the most.  Starting with a very twangy, angular pattern on what sounds to be a Telecaster, the song unwinds and slithers along until it comes to an abrupt and unhappy ending.  Quite a distance from the lost and "found, found, found."

Ph'lip Side has some great moments of brilliance in the midst of some light pop sparkles, and succeeds in its mission of showing the artist's range and depth.  It would set the tone for the next several albums by setting a few gems in the midst of several average pieces and the occasional sappy duffer.  Still, this album at least has a thematic structure that makes finding those gems worth the effort of digging through the rest.