Lead Me On [15 Year Anniversary Edition]

Kelly Joe Phelps | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 29, 1994)
• Original Release Date: July 1, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Burnside
• ASIN: B000003BMJ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,239 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #13 in Music > Indie Music > Blues > Contemporary Blues
  • #78 in Music > Blues > Slide Guitar

Track Listings

1. I've Been Converted

2. Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues

3. Where Do I Go Now

4. Love Me Baby Blues

5. Lead Me On

6. Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed

7. Leavin' Blues

8. Marking Stone Blues

9. The Black Crow Keeps On Flying

10. I'd Be A Rich Man

11. Someone To Save Me

12. Motherless Children

13. Fare Thee Well

14. We Got To Meet Death One Day (Bonus Track)

15. Ever Be Here Again (Bonus Track)

Editorial Reviews

DownBeat [****]

"With his cloudy intonation and sensually nonchalant vocal delivery in sharp contrast to the glasslike clarity of his guitar picking, Phelps puts across a strong program dominated by original tunes."

Product Description

15 Year Anniversary Edition includes two bonus tracks, "We Got To Meet Death One Day" & "Ever Be Here Again".

Not since Lucinda Williams debuted with an all-acoustic solo album of traditional country blues in 1979 has an artist appeared on the folk-blues scene with the immediate authority of guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps. Equally indebted to traditional pioneers of Delta-style country blues like Leadbelly and Blind Lemon Jefferson as well as more exploratory visionaries like Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder, Phelps sings with dusty wisdom and plays like a master.

Lead Me On opens with the traditional gospel tune "I've Been Converted" but focuses almost exclusively on magnificent originals from then on.

Engineered by Mike Moore. Recorded at Dead Aunt Thelma's.

This debut evergreen has scanned over 25,000 copies.

DownBeat [****] "With his cloudy intonation and sensually nonchalant vocal delivery in sharp contrast to the glasslike clarity of his guitar picking, Phelps puts across a strong program dominated by original tunes."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blues, yes; but entirely KJP, May 27, 2005

By 

John Lasseter "johnfl70" (Fairfield, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lead Me On [15 Year Anniversary Edition] (Audio CD)

I read a review of KJP's "Slingshot Professionals" recently that referred to his early work on "Lead Me On" as that of a "blues imitator". I've also seen more than a few reviews that talk about how successfully he channels the old-time country blues masters on this work.

Honestly, I don't understand that. There are some traditional blues numbers on here, and all the songs owe an obvious debt to the form, but the thing that makes Kelly Joe so great is that everything, _everything_ he plays sounds like his own, and like no one else in the world could even try it. He's not necessarily better than other lap-style slide performers of traditional blues (although frequently, he really _is_ better); but there's really no one else like him.

So who will like this recording? Well if you've enjoyed his other work, you. Country blues purists may actually be put off by his style at first, but I think it'll grow on you in a hurry. For what it's worth, I have a friend whose favorite bands are Tool and Primus (although he's also a fan of Bela Fleck), and even he liked this one. For what it's worth, I like Tool and Primus, too, although I'm pretty omnivorous, musically.

Now more general comments. First of all, the sound quality on this CD is possibly the best recording of an acoustic guitar I've ever heard: the sound just shimmers. Second, is the singing. Kelly Joe Phelps has a voice like good scotch -- beautiful tone, expressive dynamic range and rough in all the right places, without sounding the least bit phony.

And then there's the guitar playing. It's hard to know what to say about this except that technically, Phelps probably doesn't have any peers in this genre. But it's not even the technique, which is stunning, but his taste: in 70+ minutes of music, there isn't so much as a single note out of place.

And that's pretty much where I get off from the useful dispassionate reviewer ride and begin to gush. "Lead Me On" is by far my favorite of Phelps' recordings (and I have and love them all), and one of my favorites in my 1000+ CD collection. There is not even a weak moment on the disk, let alone a weak song. There are standouts, of course: "I've Been Converted" gets me stomping along with KJP's feet every time, and "Marking Stone Blues" just plain kicks ass. But every single track is wonderful.

This is as close to a perfect album as any I know.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you've ever known loneliness..., February 18, 2000

By 

Luke Chaput (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lead Me On [15 Year Anniversary Edition] (Audio CD)

Kelly Joe Phelp's first offering is his most simple and most formulaic...but this is not a criticism! In 'Lead Me On', KJP plays lap-style blues with frightening soul and precision, consistently hitting a husky, mournful mid-range with his vocals as he evokes memories of distant tragedies, solitude, aimlessness, fatigue and loss. Okay - not the most optimistic outlook, but the music resounds with such profound nostalgia and lonely beauty that one can't help but drown in it, occasionally glimpsing one's own reflection amidst Kelly Joe's laments. It is interesting to see that his words will often merge and blend with each other, so that he sings much of the albumn vocalising feelings and moods as opposed to words. Kelly Joe strums up a lonely place caught between the memories of the past and the morbid certainty of the future. As with every good tragedy, this place is felt so acutely and portrayed with such empathy, that one can't help but join him in there, where the pain is addictive because it is also our own... Formulaic, yes - Kelly Joe bangs out every track on the same guitar with the same voice in the same mood with the similar patterns and progressions employed every time. But when you're dealing with a formula this powerful, I think it would be worse to risk changing it. For anyone who can see beyond the gloss - an essential.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take me Lord, I'm ready now . . ., February 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lead Me On [15 Year Anniversary Edition] (Audio CD)

This is one of the most profound blues experiences possible. One smoky voiced man playing a fretless slide six string on his lap, stomping on a box . . . beautiful -- ready to go to God.