Phil Keaggy inducted\Gospel Music Hall of Fame

Phil Keaggy inducted\Gospel Music Hall of Fame

I recall when musicians around Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa were talking about this new guy on the Christian music scene. Some said that he sounded a lot like Paul McCartney of the Beatles. Others said that Jimi Hendrix when asked if he thought that he was the world's best guitarist answered that a guy in Ohio named Phil Keaggy was. Snopes.com eludes that this is just another urban legend, although they have no proof that it is just a legend.

It is very likely that Jimi Hendrix had heard Phil play because the celebrated producer Lewis Merenstein produced the three studio albums recorded by Keaggy's band Glass Harp in the late '60's at Jimi Hendrix's own Electric Ladyland Studio in New York's Greenwich Village. To think that Jimi didn't hear Phil play is very hard to believe. Couple that with the fact that Glass Harp was the opening band for such well known 60's bands Iron Butterfly, Traffic, Yes and Chicago. In such a high profile position Jimi had to have seen them at one time or another.

The last time that I saw Phil play live was on the platform of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa years ago. It was a night when the then youth pastor Greg Denham (A Greg Laurie clone) was presiding.

Phil had just played a few songs and was talking about his next song which was an anti~abortion song. While in the middle of the song, Mr. Denham walks over to the plug of Phils amp and pulls it, there was dead silence. Greg walks up to a mike and tells everyone to turn to a certain page of their bibles for a study. Needless to say Phil looked at Greg in total shock as were all of us in the attendee section. Seemed to me like no one who was there agreed with Greg's rude behavior toward a guest of Calvary Chapel.

This was one of the most classless things I have ever seen at Calvary Chapel. Of course Phil never played there again because of the personal insult.

The song that offended Denham:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNCiLhoS6eQ

During the original "Tent" days of Calvary Chapel Andraé Crouch had been invited to play during one of Chuck Smith's services, I believe it was on a Monday night. After Chuck finished his bible study Andraé and his band played again. This time Andraé displayed his Pentacostal leanings. The Holy Spirit showed up as Andraé had everyone singing "There is power in the Blood." He kept repeating that over and over again until everyone got worked up emotionally.

Chuck, who is more 'middle~of~the~road," did not go over and unplug Andraé or interrupt the song even though he frowns upon such emotionalism at Calvary Chapel. Although Andraé was never again a guest at Calvary Chapel.

At least Chuck had class and didn't pull the plug...Shame on you Greg Denham!

The GMA Foundation (GMAF) will induct artists Phil Keaggy.

"Phil Keaggy has been a beloved artist and musician in Christian music for over two decades. Born and raised in Ohio in a Catholic family of 10, Keaggy always loved music and spent hours listening to singers like Elvis Presley and Johnny Ray. His first guitar was a late-'50s Gretsch Anniversary model; at age ten his father bought him a Sears Silvertone, and by the end of fifth grade, he was playing in front of his entire school. He and his longtime friend, drummer John Sferra, founded Glass Harp in the late '60s when Keaggy was still in high school. They became known as one of the most innovative power trios around, even though they only made four albums for Decca Records, Glass Harp earned a devoted fan base, thanks in great part to Keaggy's lightning-fast guitar riffs and experimental sounds. At their pinnacle, Glass Harp was opening for such major acts as Iron Butterfly, Yes, Traffic and Chicago. He left Glass Harp in 1972 and the following year recorded his first solo album, What a Day. His first instrumental project, The Master and the Musician was released in 1978. Keaggy has released well over 45 albums earning critical acclaim for both his virtuosity on guitar and his songwriting, which ranges from Beatles’ pop to more subtle instrumentals. Over the years, Keaggy has shared in the music ministries of artists such as Love Song, Paul Clark, Randy Stonehill, Barry McGuire, Honeytree and others who were pioneers in the Christian music movement.

Keaggy began professionally playing music in the late 1960s with drummer John Sferra. The two longtime friends, with the addition of bassist Dan Pecchio, formed a band called Glass Harp in 1968.[1] A major turning point for the trio was their winning of an Ohio area's "Battle of the Bands." One of event's judges happened to be an associate of the celebrated producer Lewis Merenstein, whom he alerted to the hot young threesome. At the time, Merenstein was fresh from producing albums for many successful artists including The Spencer Davis Group, Turley Richards and Van Morrison's Moondance (Merenstein produced Astral Weeks as well) and had just been voted Producer of the Year by Rolling Stone. Merenstein was persuaded to fly down from New York to see what the fuss was all about. Upon hearing the band perform, Merenstein was so inspired that Decca Records signed Glass Harp to a multi-record deal. A short time later, the band found itself in New York's Greenwich Village recording its first album at Jimi Hendrix' Electric Ladyland Studio with Lewis Merenstein as producer. As a Decca Records artist, the band began to open for such artists as Iron Butterfly, Yes, Traffic, and Chicago.[1] At one point, future James Gang and Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh was being considered to join New Hudson Exit (the band Phil Keaggy was in prior to the formation of Glass Harp) but the other members of the band felt Walsh's style was too dynamic. Years later, Amboy Dukes guitar player Ted Nugent was quoted as saying "I don't know what happened to that Phil Keaggy, he could have saved the world with his guitar" in Guitar Player Magazine."

Phil is one of a kind. A true gift to the Body of Christ.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5675934522286425257&q=Phil+Keaggy&total=231&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0