Genre: Jazz
Label: Pure Pleasure
Size: 12"
Format: 33RPM,

Share:

Phil Upchurch Tell the Truth! 180g 2LP

Phil Upchurch

$60.99
 
Availability: In Stock
In Stock An In Stock item is available to ship normally within 24 business hours.
Preorder A Preorder is an item that has not yet been released. Typically the label will set a projected release date (that is subject to change). If a projected release date is known, we will include this in the description in red. Other Preorders are set to release 'TBA.' This means that release date is yet 'To Be Announced'. The Preorder can be released anywhere between weeks, months or years from its initial announcement.
Backordered An Out Of Stock item is an item that we normally have available to ship but we are temporarily out of. We do not have a specific date when it will be coming.
Awaiting Repress Awaiting repress titles are in the process of being repressed by the label. No ETA is available at this time.
Expected On When an item is Out Of Stock and we have an estimated date when our stock should arrive, we list that date on our website in the part's description. It is not guaranteed.
Special Order A Special Order item is an item that we do not stock but can order from the manufacturer. Typical order times are located within the product description.
 
SKU:
PPRLP22222
UPC:
5060149623701
Adding to cart… The item has been added

Limited Edition High Quality 180g Vinyl Double LP!
Re-Mastered by Cicely Baston at Alchemy/Air Mastering!

Phil Upchurch is the kind of guitarist who makes a strong point by what he chooses not to play. There are speedier chopsmeisters, players who undertake more daring intervallic leaps, those who navigate trickier lines, but it would be hard to imagine a more soulful guitarist than Upchurch. From his laidback phrasing on Nat Adderley's bluesy boogaloo "Jive Samba" to his buttery-smooth vocal inflections on Steely Dan's "Jack of Speed" and on the bluesy title track, Upchurch's understated approach on Tell the Truth! is more about pure feeling than technique. And yet he's holding in that department too, as he so capably demonstrates on Roland Vasquez's "Long Gone Bird" and on his own stunning arrangement of Paul Desmonds' "Take Five," done up in a similar fashion to his arrangement for that tune on George Benson's crossover smash hit from 1976, Breezin'.

Natalie Cole's "La Costa" is a lovely change of pace, allowing Upchurch to flaunt his affinity for flamenco music (and the late Lenny Breau) on nylon string acoustic guitar. On Eric Johnson's "Manhattan," he shows a command of Wes Montgomerystyle thumbed octaves. He creates an infectious groove with wah-wah rhythm guitar bubbling underneath his soulful reading of the gospel-flavored '70s R&B anthem "(Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again," while his earthy soloing on a gorgeous reading of "Girl Talk," the Neal Hefti/Bobby Troup vehicle for Count Basie, is a blue-tinged thing of beauty. But for straightforward, real-deal blues, nothing here surpasses Upchurch's loping, down-home "She's Alright."

His unaccompanied rendition of "St. Louis Blues" is another guitaristic highlight, showcasing what Upchurch calls his stride guitar technique: incorporating bass, chords and melody lines simultaneously, a la Joe Pass. The prolific studio guitarist covers a lot of basses and blows his own horn in fine style on his Evidence debut.

–By Bill Milowski

Soulful, bluesy, alternately dazzling, crying, and shouting, there is simply nothing to dislike about this music and it's good to have it available again both for new listeners and for those like me who missed it back in 2001. This is feel-good music of the very best and gives pleasure from the first notes to the last.
-Alan Musson, UK VIBE, 5/5 stars

Features

  • Limited Edition
  • High Quality 180g Vinyl
  • Double LP
  • Re-mastered by Cicely Baston at Alchemy/Air Mastering
  • Recorded at The Bakery Recording Studio, North Hollywood, 2001
  • Standard Sleeve
  • Made in the UK

Musicians

Phil Upchurch guitar, harmonica on "She's Alright"
David Arnay piano
Kevin Axt bass
Vince Wilburn Jr. drums
Mike Smith percussion

Selections

Side A:

  1. Jive Samba
  2. Jack Of Speed
  3. La Costa

Side B:

  1. Manhattan
  2. Take Five
  3. Home Again

Side C:

  1. Long Gone Bird
  2. Tell The Truth
  3. (Every Time I Turn Around) Back In Love Again

Side D:

  1. St Louis Blues
  2. Girl Talk
  3. She's Alright
  4. Misty

Customers Also Like