Phil Upchurch - The Way I Feel flac album

“The Way I Feel” by Philip Upchurch is a record that fills about five bags, each completely. Here’s the list...1. Jazz2. Rock3. Folk4. Pop5. Funk. How about that?Upchurch embraces folk rock and translates it to jazz guitar better than any other player. This is not a slight. He hears the minor key melodies of Lightfooot, Carole King, Jesse Colin Young and turns each tune into a beautiful animal that’s different from the original while possessing its most tuneful quality.The way Upchurch interprets Gordon Lightfoot on the two tracks here, this writer wishes he’d given If You Could Read My Mind the same treatment. Tasty is the the adjective that best describes him and never tied down to any single style. The arrangements allow him to riff on blues chords, jazz runs, of course, also rock and pop. Recorded in November 1969, The Way I Feel is a great guitar record. Easily as good as “Darkness, Darkness”. I like it better; there are more surprises and with Charles Stepney’s arrangements, you have an album that does not get boring after repeated listens. This record is a showcase for the variety of guitar sounds Upchurch can produce. There’s a little Hendrix here, some funk, real jazzy rhythm guitar and emotionally-rendered melodies. No one familiar with his body of work should be surprised at the amazing eclecticism he displays in this record.In his career, Phil Upchurch supported some of the greatest jazz and blues guitarists ever by making their lead guitar work sound better in front of his great rhythm and fills. The variety of great artists he backed up is impressive. They don’t all have a lot in common musically except they are great and Upchurch made them better. The partial list includes includes B.B. King, George Benson, John Lee Hooker, Ramsey Lewis and Donny Hathaway, Stan Getz and Dizzy Gillespie. I can’t think of another sideman who played with so many musical greats in such a variety of styles. Hathaway returns the favor here, credited with playing the piano parts, which are spare but potent.Left to his own devices and augmented by the great production on this solo record, he’s never less than tasty, often surprising and takes jazz/rock in an original, exciting direction.Charles Stepney’s production and arrangements are to the fore on half the tracks. All are terrific. Background voices are usually a negative on jazz records, but not here. Neither cloying or dominant; they fit as you’d expect from this guy who arranged some of The Dells best records (“Sing Dionne Warwick”.) His stamp is fairly complete on The Way I Feel. Stepney was a busy man most of his career and the records he produced for mostly Chicago-based artists like The Dells, Rotary Connection and Minnie Riperton, Ramsey Lewis and Earth Wind and Fire are almost all records that still sound great and many are quite collectible in their original vinyl pressings. He collaborated with Ramsey Lewis on some of his best work like Sun Goddess then later with Maurice White and Earth Wind and Fire as they conquered the world touring and playing the great Charles Stepney arrangements on That's the Way of the World, Gratitude and Spirit to name a few. On The Way I Feel, he demonstrates his fluency with jazz explorations into rock, funk, pop, and folk/rock. Stepney’s arrangements can go anywhere and Phil Upchurch interprets them with amazing smoothness and deep feeling. Unlike so many great session players who play spot on but without bringing much emotion, Phil Upchurch on this record adds something tasty and often beautiful to each tune. Track one is neither the best or most memorable song here, but it’s a real production tour de force featuring Upchurch. It begins with a Martin Denny “Hypnotique” vocal arrangement that goes into a guitar solo that’s straight up rock. Just cool. Track two is a Phil Upchurch composition, “Wild Wood” that lets him stretch out with a lead and rhythm that’s a cruise into jazzy shoobydoodoowaa. Then a lovely ballad composed by Quincy Jones, “Time for Love” followed by the best cut and title track, a jazzy reworking of Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Way I Feel”. Never a hit for its originator, but a great album cut. Upchurch transforms it into a quasi-“Summertime”, casting a jazz light on the melody’s beauty and bringing the rhythm up front. The background vocal arrangement from Stepney is all jazz. A simple pleasure inside the complex, sensitive guitar reading.That each track sounds completely different is one of the treasures of this record. But how did they pull it off? That’s where Charles Stepney’s adept hand comes in with bright arrangements and settings. It may sound counterintuitive, but great as Phil Upchurch plays lead guitar on this record, his rhythm is bad ass. I suppose that’s why he was such a busy sideman. This may not be the best jazz guitar record ever; but it may be the best Phil Upchurch record, which is close. This record is fairly hard to find. There are only two iterations according to Discogs. The original Cadet pressing and a 2014 Japanese CD, remastered. Either runs about $20. There are reputedly cassette and 8 track versions, as well.In his liner notes for this record by his favorite guitarist sideman, Ramsey Lewis said, “Phil has put together some sounds and rhythms that defy categorization. He demands the ear of all music devotees regardless of what ‘bag’ they may think they’re in...”If you’re a fan of any of the artists mentioned above or enjoy guitar played in any of those styles, you will want to hear this record, perhaps repeatedly.-Monty Orrick, February 2019