BILL PHILLIPPE
GHOSTS
ARKANSAS STREET RECORDS
COME ON IN MY KITCHEN–FATHER’S LAMENT–WEDDED HEART–BROKEN CUP–KEEP YOUR LAMP TRIMMED AND BURNING–TIGHTROPE–BIG BILL’S DREAM–MOTHERLESS CHILDREN–THE BALLAD OF BLIND WILLIE–GOD DON’T NEVER CHANGE–IN MY TIME OF DYING–DEATH LETTER–YOU’RE GONNA NEED SOMEBODY ON YOUR BOND
Bill Phillippe has spent the last twenty years playing and singing throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, altho when one listens to him, you’d swear he grew up in the Mississippi Delta. His latest release is entitled “Ghosts,” and consists of a mix of thirteen originals and covers, that shows how deep his passion runs for the pre-WWII Delta masters.
This recording is pure Bill–just his acoustic guitar and vocals, with very sparse arrangements. Bill has a firm grasp on the deft finger-picking styles of those great players of the past, and we enjoyed his stylings on “Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning” and “Come On In My Kitchen.”
His originals are in keepng with the works and subject matter of those Delta masters, as well. The struggles of life and death, love and loss, and the eternal flame of hope and redemption act as the common thread that bind these songs together. There are the poignant, somber cuts such as “Motherless Children,” “In My Time Of Dying,” Father’s Lament,” and “Death Letter,” which features some outstanding picking from Bill. Our favorites were “The Ballad Of Blind Willie” and “Big Bill’s Dream,” with its tales of Lady Liberty!
Bill Phillippe has kept alive the music of the Delta, and you can almost hear those “Ghosts” haunting throughout this set! Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow.
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