Phil Keaggy

Item: Blue
Author: Brad Caviness

Blue

(1994)

Reviewed by Brad Caviness

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Label Word Records / EpicSyndicateAug 1994

blues rock hard rock pop rock

I know what you're saying. "Wait a minute, this record looks awfully familiar. Didn't it actually come out over a year ago on Myrrh? What gives?"

The giving is all by Phil Keaggy and Epic, who chose to give Crimson And Blue a re-release into the marketplace at large, in a new package, instead of just a half-hearted, half-baked distribution deal. Keaggy's Grammy nomination must have really lit a fire under someone's pants.

OK, I know what you're saying now. "Wait a minute, we bought this record last year. Why should we feel the need to plunk down more money on it?" Well, essentially because it isn't the same record. There are several differences between this release and the version released on Myrrh last year.

One, it's shorter. Five songs, mostly the Beatelesque pop numbers, have been deleted from the Epic release. Two, it has three new songs on it.

Well, OK, one of them is the improvisational instrumental jam "The Further Adventures Of ... " from the Revelator CD single, but the other two—a cover of Badfinger's "Baby Blue" and a new Keaggy original, "All Our Wishes," are fine numbers that makes you wonder what other gold nuggets are contained in the outtake tapes from this disc. Thirdly, the remaining tracks are shuffled, remixed, retracked, edited, or in some other way made to be unlike the previously released version.

Blue kicks off with yet a third published take of "Doin' Nothin'," the song that ends Crimson and Blue. This take is by far the best of the recordings commercially available. "World of Mine" has the whole second half of the song lopped off, at the beginning of Keaggy's solo. In fact, the whole arrangement of the album has been engineered to give the record a more aggressive feel. Quite possibly, this is the version of the record fans were hoping for when it was released last year.

So, what's the verdict? Is this release worthy to stand on its own? Some of the tracks, especially "Doin Nothin'," have a bigger punch than on the Myrrh release. But from many standpoints, it is still the same record: Keaggy collectors will, of course find Blue a must have, and the rest of his fans will probably find a great deal of satisfaction in this release as well.

4/5