“Ask Phil Keaggy”
These three words form the punchline for the most famous legend in all of Christian rock circles. In case you live on another planet and haven’t heard it, it goes something like this:
Jimi Hendrix was being interviewed on national television and was asked “What does it feel like to be the greatest guitar player in the world?” His response: “Ask Phil Keaggy”.
I can not tell you how many times I’ve heard this. I’ve also heard different versions which included a younger guitar player like Eddie Van Halen or even Billy Corgan. Former Sony chief Don Ienner recently mentioned it in an interview. It makes for a great story, and it certainly drives home the point that Phil Keaggy is a phenomenal guitarist, but IS IT TRUE?
Like any good researcher would do, I googled it. Of course I was pointed to Snopes.com, home of all urban legends. They made some great points:
- The obvious: there is no footage of Hendrix talking about Keaggy on any TV show. While the tapes from the early years of the Tonight Show have been lost, Rolling Stone reported on his appearance and made no mention of it. Hendrix did talk about Billy Gibbons on the Dick Cavett show but Snopes didn’t think this was the source of the legend.
- There is no evidence that Hendrix had ever even heard of Keaggy before Hendrix’s untimely death in 1970. Keaggy was playing with band Glass Harp at the time. Even if he had, was there even enough of Keaggy to make Hendrix want to annoint Keaggy as “greatest guitarist in the world”?
While nobody will ever know for sure, it looks like this myth is a false one. Even though it makes for a great story…
I think the greater story, though,also happens to be why this legend endures: Phil Keaggy is a flat out amazing guitar player. He is on another level to the point that it wouldn’t surprise anyone if Hendrix HAD said the above quote.
The most amazing thing about Keaggy is his versatility. He is equally at home playing blistering blues rock and pensive fingerpicked ballads. As a result, he was a mainstay on guitar magazine’s readers’ polls through the ’80’s and ’90’s*.Anytime we have shared a bill with him at a festival, the side the stage is jam packed with young musicians of all stripes, just wanting a glimpse of what Keaggy can do.
If you’ve never heard his music before, I would recommend tracking down a great recording of each side of Phil Keaggy. For a good rock record that also features Keaggy’s great vocals, you can’t go wrong with Crimson and Blue, particularly “John the Revelator”. For the mellower acoustic side, Master and the Musician is a classic, as is Beyond Nature. I think my personal favorite is 220, because it showcases his guitar playing through many different styles.
Bottom line: you owe it to yourself to get to know the guitarist who was so indescribably good people had to construct an urban legend about it!
* I think this is a huge part of Phil Keaggy’s legacy. He was probably the first “Christian” guitarist to gain widespread acclaim because of his musicianship. This certainly paved the way for all who have followed.
If you enjoyed this post you might like these:
- Guitars in Christian music
- Links for Friday 1/16
- What was your first guitar?
- Guitar Horror Stories
- Look what I got in the mail this week: The PRS Angelus acoustic
