FEATURES

Eric Johnson Arrives 86 By Jas Obrecht. Acclaimed players rank him among rock 's best. With Tones, the underground legend finally surfaces. Includes Sou nd page recording and illustrated tips and techniques.

Rockin' With Earl Slick 16 By Josef Woodard. The sideman for Bowie, Lennon, and Waitejoins forces with two ex-Stray Cats in Phantom, Rocker & Slick.

Phil Keaggy Changes Course 26 By Jas Obrecht. After years at the forefront of Chris Ii an music, the world -class fusion ! rocker seeks to broaden his audience. With solo transcription.

The Alarm's David Sharp 32 By Sharon Liveten. Although raised on namenco and folk, he is now moving to the front line of British rock's new brigade.

Careers: Freelance Leaders 38 By Neil Haverstick. The guitarist as band leader and booking agent- how to improve your job prospects for all occasions.

Kevin Eubanks: Beyond Jazz 44 By Jim Ferguson. While much of his electric work isjazz influenced, his atmospheric acoustic playing leaves little doubt why he is uncomfortable with labels. Includes solo transcription.

John Patitucci, Bassist 56 By Tom Mulhern. A veteran of sessions with Manhattan Transfer and Larry Carlton moves to 6-string for his new gig with Chick Corea.

David Starobin's New Music 64 By Allan Kozinn. A leading champion of conte mporary composition is also New York's top classical freelancer.

Power, Gain, & Sound Level 78 By Mick Davis. Your amplifier: Here's a primer on where those watts reaUy go.

HalfNotes 10 Sabicas, MCA's Master Series, Sophocles Papas.

119

E blues scale form b3

IIWlrll 2 2 3

4

WORKSHOPS COLUMNS

Jeff Berlin 117 Off The Wall Sax solo for bass, II .

Rik Emmett 118 Basics: £ minor scales and shapes.

Arnie Berle Full-fretboard blues.

John Duarte

119

120 Theo ry: Phantom fifths and the harmonic series revealed.

Howard Roberts 123 Jazz Improvisation: Your arpeggio quotient.

Arlen Roth 125 Hot Guitar: Blues licks in open positions.

Tommy Tedesco 127 Studio Log: Altered {unings and the "glamour chord."

Herb Mickman 128 Bass: Scale seq uences sharpen yo ur skills.

Larry Coryell 133 Develop your own improvisational voice.

Giveaway #45 105 Win a free Kramer Barelta electric guitar worth $1,024.00.

Cover photos: Eric Johnso n by Mary Beth Greenwood; Earl Slick by Neil Zlozower.

By Teisco Del Rey. Kraft Ameri­can cheese.

Product Profile 109 By Harvey Citron. Schecter Saturn guitar.

Product Profile 110 By Keith Reinegger. Mesa Studio .22 amp.

Product Profile III By Rick Turner. Gui ld Nightbird gu ita r.

Rare Bird 114 By George Gruhn. Gretsch's Coun­try Club.

Repairs 115 By Dan Erlewine. Fixing dings, scratches, and dents.

Spotlight 134 By Mike Varney. New Talent.

Departments

Letters 6 Action 8

Sheet Music 14 Questions 104 Notational Symbols 112 It 's New 136 Albums 142 Advertiser Index 146 Crosscheck 149 Classifieds 151

MAY 1986, GUITAR PLAYER S

"M By Jas Obrecht

ANY PEOPLE I MEET HAVE said to me, 'You know, I remember you from Glass Harp days. I thought that maybe you died or joined a monastery or some outrage­ous thing like that. I dicln't realize that you were still making music. , .. Phil Keaggy, 35, is

26 GUITAR PLAYER MAY 1986

still very much in the habit of making music. For more than a decade, the world-class guitarist has devoted himself to Christian music. Now he's ready for a broader audi­ence.

Keaggy gained his first acclaim back in the late '60s. With Glass Harp, he was as famous for his highly lyrical solos as he was for his ability to conjure dazzling textures

with such simple techniques as pick scrapes, slapped harmonics, and volume-knob ma­nipulation. He crossed styles with ease, draw­ing on rock, pop,jazz, blues, and classical traditions. He even proved exceptional on acoustic guitar. Phil released three major­label albums with the Ohio-based trio: Glass

Above: Phil with custom Fernando guitar.

Titt Ltttdiff( eittiS't!dl£ rta'iOItrRpeKer k A H}orld--el/ttS' CfttiWiS't.

Harp, Synergy, and II Makes Me Glad. The guitarist's introduction to Christian­

l~ in 1970 led him to question his rock and roll lifestyle. After he quit Glass Harp in -\ugust '72, most fans lost track of him . I.eaggy retired to a small fellowship in up­ilate New York. Two years later, followers of -Jesus music" celebrated the release of his flTSlsolo album, What A Day. Keaggy has been a minstrel of the Lord ever since.

.. What A Day was mild-mannered and soft," Phil recalls, "but at the time it expressed my heart. With Glass Harp, I was striving for excellence and finding myself. I was not satisfied with the simple things; I just pushed and pushed myself. Coming into Christianity. I found that I can express things in my heart in a very simple manner, and people are in the place to receive that. But when I gave the What A Day master to a small Christian label based out of our fellow­ship, I didn't realize that from that point on, my music would only find it's way into the GMA [Gospel Music Association] market­place. The rest of the real world , in asense , didn't realize I existed anymore."

Recording for New Song Records be­tween 1976 and '78, Phil issued Love Broke Through, Emerging, and an inspired collec­tion of instrumentals called The Masler And The Musician. In 1977, he joined The 2nd Chapter Of Acts for Myrrh Records' live three-disc set, How The Wesl Was Won. He switched to Sparrow Records in 1980, pro­ducing Ph 'lip Side, Town To Town, and Play Through Me by 1982. His latest LPs-1984 's Keaggy Underground and last year's Gelling Closer- are on the Nissi label. While producing music for Christian consumption carries a built-in market, it has its disadvan­tages, too .

"From what my managers tell me," Phil offers, "a new album of mine will probably sell about 40,000 copies in two months. That 's pretty good. Some other styles of music don't reach that . But from the statistics I've seen, the purchase of gospel albums by the American public accounts for only about 2%oftotal record sales. That doesn't seem far-extending at all. 1 don't get airplay on

AItd Note IieWttIta' Titt World

70 I(MJi) It. regular radio stations, and my albums aren't that easily accessible. It's kind of discourag­ing to find your album flied under 'Religious' in an isolated corner of the record store. Nobody goes there, unless they can't find it in their Christian bookstore. The same amount of work, time, and effort go into making a project for the GMA or a mainstream label. I appreciate the marketplace in which my music has been distributed , and I'm grateful to the people who have bought my records and come to my concerts, but it's such a small segment ofthe real world . I feel isolated from the populace of peopled om. I'd like to switch to a major label to see my music have a wider range of distribution, but no one has ever asked me."

All along, Keaggy has written songs that fall outside of the gospel genre: "The major­ity of music that I listen to isn't what I would coin gospel music. I write songs that aren't gospel in their lyrical content. As a matter of fact , I have love songs that have 'darling,' 'baby,' and 'honey'[laughs].1 grew up with that kind of music , and it still has a good place. But I know for a fact that in the GMA marketplace, it 's sometimes not acceptable to express normal love songs or instrumental music. As a matter offact, I'm finding that just people in general are more accepting sometimes than the Christian audiences . Take, for instance, [singer] Amy Grant. Since she's crossed over through A&M rec­ords, she 's been criticized- not so much from the world at large, but from the people

who just want to keep her in a certain arena You know, 'Amy Grant belongs to us ... •

With Gelling Closer, Phil hopes to take his first steps towards crossing back to the mainstream. H is songs are catchy and acces­sible, his playing superb. H is solos tap the most modem techniques, from wild wham­mies to two-handed flash. He proves espe­cially adept at legato lines , volume swells, and doubling. "Passport" builds as a straight rocker, then segues into a hip funk-bass groove beneath an inspired fusion solo. The "Sounds" solos [see transcript ion, page 29] blend elements of Allan Holdsworth and Alex Lifeson. " Riverton," an instrumental, features choruses of guitar solos over lush keyboard synthesizer chords. The title track and "Where H as Your Love Gone"journey in techno-pop directions. The lyrical slant of each song is decidedly humanistic, ifnot overtly Christian.

For Keaggy, a truly magic moment oc­curred during the "Sounds" session. "We had laid the whole song down on anotherday, and I wasn 't happy with it," he recounts. "This time, it sounded really good in my headphones, so during the second solo 1 just kept on playing. I was sitting down, and I noticed that my legs were dangling and wav­ing with joy as I played. The next thing I knew, I was standing up. 'forgot that I was in a studio, and I felt like I was literally in concert . I was as free as I've ever been, and it was all done in one pass; there were no punch-ins. That solo was a gift to me, be­cause I could do everything' wanted . That doesn't always happen, especially in a studio. I usually feel inhibited because the 'record' button's on, or somebody is around who expects something of me. I just forgot every­thing but the expression itself."

Near the end of the solo , Phil smacked his whammy for a pulsing effect: "That whole bit came out of exuberance," he laughs. "The solo is in B minor, and when I landed on the A note up at the 14th fret of the Gstring, I just held the note and spanked the whammy with my hand ." For the second "Sounds" solo, Phil ran his guitar through an Ibanez U E-3oo multi-effects unit's compressor into

MAY 1986/ GU ITAR PLAYER 27

PHIL KEAGGY

a Yamaha PG-I amp. From there, his signal passed through two Roland digital delays­an SDE-2000 and an SDE-3000- and an Ibanez HD-JOOO Harmonics! Delay before finally routing to a Yamaha G-IOO-112 amp in an isolation booth.

Most of Gel/ing Closer was cut with a custom electric guitar made by Fernando Villareal [see Crosscheck, page 149, for manufacturers' addresses]. The luthier com­bined the shape ofa Strat body with aLes Paul-scale 22-fret (24~) rosewood finger­board. The guitar is outfitted with a Carvin humbucking pickUp in the bridge position and a Seymour Duncan humbucker in the neck position. The angled middle pickup is half of a Carvin hum bucker that acts as a

28 GUITAR PLAYER MAY 1986

single-coil. Its switches allow for any pickup configuration, including split and out-of­phase settings. The guitar's volume control is in a comfortable position for volume-swell effects. The Fernando is the first tremolo bar--equipped guitar Keaggy has ever owned. (On past projects, such as The Masler And The Musician and the title track and "Cher­ish The Moment"on Play Through Me, he employed half-step bends to approximate the sound of a whammy.)

"Originally, the Fernando was outfitted with a G&L tremolo unit," Phil says, " but that kept going out of tune when I pulled the strings. We replaced it with a Kahler system, and it's worked great ever since. I enjoy using the device . When I first got into this guitar, I found myself overusing it. Now, I think I've come to a point where I'm trying to use it in

its proper place. But there is a side to me that likes to come out and get a little gnarly and crazy. For the most part I have, I guess , been what you would call a reserved player over the last 10 years . But I find I have a different attitude from one guitar to the next. When I play the Yamaha SA-2000, which I've had since 1980, I feel and think differently than when 1 playa Les Paul that I've had since 1971 and hardly use anymore. The Fernando is very versatile. It can sound like a Les Paul or a Stratocaster, and it plays great." For the "Passport"solo, Keaggy used a borrowed Philip Kubicki guitar through a Howard Dumble amp.

While Phil is currently experimenting with setups for his upcoming summer tour, he's sure he'll be using his Fernando guitar and his trusty Ernie Ball volume pedal. "The volume pedal is handy for chord swells , "he notes . "For instance, if I'm tapping a har­monic chord with my right hand 12 frets above my left hand, obviously I can't use my hand down at the volume control. That's when I use the volume pedal." In the past, his main effects devices have included an E-Bow electronic bowing device, an Ibanez UE-300, a T.c. Electronic chorus! pitch modulator, and an old MXR limiter. His main amp is a six-year-old Yamaha G- IOO-112 with a cus­tom built-in effects loop. When he uses his Roland delays, he dials the SDE-3000 to 520 milliseconds and sets the SDE-2000 to pro­duce a slap.

For acoustic sets, Phil brings along two steel-string cutaway flat-tops made by Min­nesota luthier James Olson. "One is a dread­nought size," he adds , "and the other is smaller, like a 000. They have a really beauti­ful sound. I tune oneto standard pitch , and the other is a whole-step lower. .. Lodged in the sound holes of both guitars are Fender M-I condensor microphones. In addition , Phil uses a Seymour Duncan magnetic pickUp with a volume control. The Fender M-l mike goes directly to the house sound system; the Duncan runs into a smallS-band graphic equalizer, a T.C. Electronic chorus! £langer! pitch modulator that's used only for chorus or pitch modulation, and a Gallien­KruegerG K-250 M L amp. The effects-send on the back of the amp runs to a digital delay. When he's traveling by air, Phil packs his amp in a small Anvil case and stows his effects and cords in an Anvil briefcase.

The guitarist uses a pick for about half of his acoustic set. Since he's missing most of his right-hand middle finger, he relies on his thumb, index, and ring fingers for finger­picking. "1 lost the finger when a water pump fell on it when I was four ," he adds ... As a matter of fact , I've written a song about it- 'Way Back Home' [as yet unreleasedJ­just to eliminate the rumor that I chopped it off after a contest with Jimi Hendrix. People come up to me with the most absurd ques­tions about how 1 lost it. They think I was in a duelling contest."

In the past, Phil has played about 90 concerts a year. When he's working with a band, his average show lasts about three

.us and includes a solo acoustic set. In :;. 4, he took a band on the road for four ret-week tours. Last year, he only per­

ed acoustically. "We couldn't afford to e a band because of the expenses involved ~ the way things were booked through our

king agency," he explains. " But that ;eloped into a really good thing. I had t~e

'XSt year of acoustic concerts I've ever had. I t admit, though, it's most effective when

ave a well-rehearsed band that's on the edge ofthe most current and exciting music :oming out of me. When you combine that wnh a nice, solid acoustic set, you get the best )f both worlds. Someday, I hope to get a .,ennanent band together. That would bring out the ve ry best within me." Onstage, Phil 3SSCSses his main strengths to be the fact that

he's played so long and that for 18 years he's concentrated on playing his own material: "When you do it that way, you're not imme­diately compared. They don't say, 'Oops, you're just not cutting it like the original! I communicate with more confidence when I know it is my music, and people tend to receive it at face value."

During the course of his work for the GMA, Phil has encountered many outstand­ing musicians: "Dan Huff is a phenomenal Christian guitarist who has played on many people's records," he elaborates. " He's very bright and alert, and inventive with his sounds. Tom Hemby, who used to play gui­tar for the Imperials years back, is a fascinat­ing player. He's done guitar work for a lot of people. Curt Bartlett and Peter York are

"Sounds" Solo

both wonderful , supportive players, as well as fine lead guitarists in their own right. Since 1970, Peter has probably done more concerts with me than any other guitarist. He's ex­tremely inspiring. Steve Cardenas from Kan­sas City is a notable jazz guitarist who plays all styles of music; heworked with me for a period of time, too, and I learned a lot from him. Hadley Hockensmith is a California­based studio musician who's played on lots of albums and projects. He's also definitely noteworthy.

"Even though I'm 35 years old," Keaggy continues, "I'm still very much a developing musician. I listen to people, they inspire me, and I'm influenced by their styles. That's a part of growing up. I think it would be very prideful to assume that I'm a really big seller

This is a transcription ofthe first electric solo in "Sounds"from bridge pickUp. His signal ran into an original-issue Scholz Rockman Phil Keaggy's 1985 solo LP, Gelling Closer. His style here reflects the (set to full distortion and no chorus) and a Boss digital delay pedal. influence of Allan Holdsworth, particularly in its use ofhammer-ons From here, it was was split into two channels to create a slight slap. and pull-offs to achieve swift, flowing phrases. In the key of B minor, Phil adds , "When there's a slight pause on notes that begin or end a the solo is based on the Aeolian mode. In bar 3, the first beat's pick phrase, I used the whammy bar to bend up to the note. For instance, at glissando should be executed with all downstrokes. At the solo's the beginning of the solo, I bent up to the A with the bar. I also used conclusion, the high E is bent up to F#~ then, using the whammy bar, the whammy bar at the ends of bars 4 and 5. I don't keep my hand on the F# is lowered to D. the device while I play these types of lines, but it's right up there close

Phi l recorded this passage with his Fernando guitar set to the to the strings where I can quickly refer to it." IJ

By Phil Keaggy Transcribed by Mark Small

8m 7 Copyist: Art Jarvinen

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(, 7 See Notational Symbols, page III

Cl 1985 Marguerite Music/Emmaus Road Music/ ASCAP. Used by permission. All Rights reserved.

MAY 1986/ GU ITAR PLAYER 29

PHIL KEAGGY

in this one area of music sales, the G MA arena, and therefore I don't need to be influ­enced by anyone anymore. Tasay I'm king of the heap here is a very wrong attitude. As a matter of fact, I find that the older I gel, the more I realize how much I don't know. Yet, with that comes also a sense of contentment that I know I'm doing the right thing."

The guitarists who have made lasting impacts on Keaggy's musical development include Mike Bloomfield and, more recently, Allan Holdsworth. Phil explains: "When I listen to Allan play. it's like sitting down to a gourmet dinner. I take my time and try to digest it. I don't try to learn his solos or chords; it'sjust that what I hear him d oing inspires me so much. He is light years ahead of my highest ideal of myself in terms of technique. He definitely is one of my all-time favorite guitar players. When I heard his solo at the end of 'The Un-Merry-Go-Round' on Me/al Faligue [Enigma (Box 2428, EI Segundo, CA 90245), 72002-I]~the part that sounds like a soprano sax-I jwt about cried. That has to be the most beautiful elec­tric solo I've ever heard. I enjoy his emotion -not just when he's playing fast , but when he's slower and thoughtful. That's something that I've utilized in my own style.

"Another player I've become aware of lately is Eric Johnson [see page 86]. I saw his Austin City LimilSvideo, andjustsat there totally inspired by how he played and sounded. It was beautiful. Seeing him took me back to the o ld Glass Harp days- the same kind of energy is communicated through his three-piece group. Glass Harp had a sound and a unity that was really in­credible. I sometimes wonder ifl should have stuck it out. Maybe we could have arrived at a real unity of direction." While on tour in Ohio during April '81, Phil rejo ined his former Glass Harp band mates, bassist Dan Pecchio and drummer J ohn Sferra, forthe first time in nine years. Playing two nights in Cleveland and Akron, the trio recreated their 1971 Carnegie Hall set. Next fall , Keaggy hopes to do further Glass Harp concerts.

Someday, Phil says, he'd like to put to­gether a "best-or' album for guitar playe rs. His main contenders for inclusion: "Happy," "Cherish The Moment," and "Train To Glory" from Play Through Me; a remixed , fully electric version of " Full Circle" from Town To Town ; "Time"from Love Broke Through; the bluesy"Sunday School"from Ph'lip Side; "Follow Me On" and "What You Are Inside" from Keaggy Underground; and "Sounds" and "Riverton." From his projects as a sideman, he'd choose "In The Wind," a Pat Metheny-influenced cut on Paul Clark's Out Of The Shadow. Despite the presence of what he describes as an "obnoxious rhythm machine," he considers Keaggy Under­groundto be his overall best guitar project; the LP features a tribute to Allan Holds­worth called "Paid In Full."

At present, Phil is completing an acoustic guitar / vocal album (or Nissi. Titled Way

30 GUITAR PLAYER MAY 1986

Back Home, it's slated to feature original tunes and three reworkings of trad itional gospel songs. After its completion, the guitar­ist hopes to start an aggressive , band-or­iented album. " This one will be done on electric guitar," he predicts. "Its lyrical con­tent will be split, with half aimed at the GMA market, and the other half aimed at the general pUblic. I want to record something that really stretches me artistically. It's been a long time coming."

Whether he 's at home o r on the road , Phil tries to play every day. "When I put on a guitar," he says, "it becomes an outward expression of what I feel inside. It's an honest transmission, because there have been times

A SELECTED PHILKEAGGY DISCOGRAPHY

Solo albums: What A Day. New Song [dist. by Nissi , 11128 Weddington St. , North Hollywood, CA 91601], 001 ; Love Broke Through, New Song, 002; Emerg­ing, New Song, 004; The Master And The Musician, New Song, 006; Song In The Air, Star Song [365 Great Circle Dr., Nash­ville, TN 37228], 0005; Ph'lip Side, Spar­row [8025 Deering Ave., Canoga Park , CA 91304], 1036; Play Through Me, Spar­row, SPR 1062; Keaggy Underground, Nissi, EMC-4600; Getting Closer, Nissi, EMR 4Q()5. With Glass Harp: Glass Harp, MCA, 293; Synergy, Decca, 7530; It Makes Me Glad, Decca, 75358; Song In The Air(a compilation LP), Star Song, SSR 005. With Paul Clark: Good To Be Home, Myrrh [dist. by Word Records], LP 7-01-0004 10-2; Out Of The Shadow, Myrrh,SPCN 7-01-<i78606-4. With others: The 2nd Chapter Of Acts, How The West Was Won, Myrrh, MSY-<i598. Anthol­ogies:"1 Love You, Lord," on Spectrum, Marantha Music (Box 1396, Costa Mesa, CA 92628), SPCN-7-100-14782-4.

when I didn't feel so good about myself or I didn't feel so joyful or positive, and that comes through in my playing. When I feel very up and at peace with myself and the cir­cumstances around me, that comes through, too." In addition to working with the whammy bar, he's investigating left- and right-hand tapping techniques for acoustic guitar. "I wouldn't say I'm a really good tapper," he adds, "although I'm really learn­ing some new things through Michael Hedges. Just his style and technique are affecting some new acoustic mwic I'm writ­ing. Utilizing the vo lume pedal on electric, I've also found some really nice sounds created by tapping with my right-hand 1st finger for various kinds of harmonic effects. It sounds really pretty, especially when you tap a cho rd and the harmonics of it come through a nice chorus / delay and maybe a harmonizer. It sounds very angelic, if I can use the term."

Whatever directions Phil follows in the future, chances are, his devout spirituality will remain the heart of his message: "When 1 look back on my career, I feel I 've never achieved excellence in one area or one style alone. You couldn't say I'm classical or jazz, or that I'm country or folk, or even that I'm a rock guitarist. I'm just a guitar player. I love music, and I want to get better. I hope to continue to encourage people through my music to believe in the Lord and to love and enjoy this gift of life that He's given us . We need to cherish life wherever it's found . This means extending ourselves to others, helping the hungry, and emphasizing the family. I've met fantastic musicians who've told me that their home life is falling apart , and they're miserable as a result. Conversely, when your life and priorities are right, your music will be more of a blessing in return to yourself. All I really want to do is encourage people to live good lives and to trust in the God who created them." ~