Tony McPhee is a blues guitarist from England, and the founder of The Groundhogs, a band that backed John Lee Hooker for a tour in 1964. McPhee’s solo discography spans five decades, with his first album released in 1966 and his most recent album in 2004. McPhee unfortunately suffered a stroke in 2009 that has affected his ability to sing. This album came across my dashboard recently on Apple Music, and I recognized McPhee’s name from discussions and articles on blues guitarists on the internet, so I figured I’d give him a listen. I’m pretty stoked to give this album a listen, so with that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Thre Times Seven” gets grooving with some twangy bluesy acoustic guitar that I’m really digging. Oh wow, this track has some super flavorful blues chops in the guitar playing. Holy smokes, the vocals come in and have this sort of hazy, guttural bluesy tone that sort of sound as though McPhee finished smoking a cigarette just before the recording session started. Great track, and I’m excited to hear more.
“All My Money, Alimony” gets grooving with some super groovy, bluesy acoustic guitar licks that I’m really digging. I really dig the vocal performance from McPhee, which seem to have a ton of energy behind them. I’m sort of reminded of Chris Duarte a bit with the guitar chops and even the tone of the vocals to some extent. Super groovy track.
Oh wow, “Morning’s Eye” begins with some super gentle acoustic guitar that has more of a building, acoustic folk-inflected rock sound at first. Oh wow, the acoustic slide guitar adds a sound that reminds me a lot of John Fahey. The vocals are super interesting, as they almost sound as though they’re being sung through a tube of sorts. Oh wow, the buzzing of the strings adds some super flavorful bluesy sounds to the soundscape. Great tune.
Holy smokes, “Dog Me,Bitch” adds some electric guitar to the first time in the album that immediately catches my ear. Holy smokes, this is sweet. It’s almost as if McPhee was preparing the listener for the bluesy electric guitar with all the acoustic guitar in the first tracks, as if you had to be eased into these super groovy blues licks. Oh wow, the guitar playing is super groovy, and really does remind me of guitarists like Muddy Waters or John Lee Hooker a fair deal. Great track.
Oh wow, “Take It Out” gets grooving with some super interesting effects with the bluesy electric guitar, using a mixture of sliding a wah pedal that gets the tune grooving in a nearly psychedelic manner. Holy smokes, these bluesy jams keep grooving and growing more and more. It sounds like there’s a combination of an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar at this point that seem to be swishing the song in all sorts of groovy directions. Wow, this is super groovy. It’s almost like John Fahey meets Jimi Hendrix with the combination of the slide guitar and the wah pedal. Holy smokes, this instrumental jam keeps growing and somehow getting groovier as the playing continues. Wow, awesome song.
Oh wow, “The Hunt” begins with some strange sound effects that almost seem like whale songs at first. Oh wow, McPhee seems to be narrating a spacey story, accompanied by a moog synthesizer and a fair deal of reverberation. Oh wow, this is pretty groovy, and super interesting. Holy smokes, a combination of synthesizers and keyboards seem to rush into the soundscape as the narration ends, bringing in a super groovy psychedelic soundscape. Oh wow, the vocals come in and seem to peer into the soundscape through a different dimension. Holy smokes, the soundscape has changed into something that sounds like Nine Inch Nails, which is a completely different direction from what I’ve heard thus far, and I’m really digging the result. There are some psychedelic organs and keyboards that seem to play a delicate, psychedelic baroque melody in the background. Holy smokes, a synthesizer starts revving up as though it’s a race car of some sorts getting into high gear.
Holy smokes, the industrial movement in the tune seems to gradually fade out, and the spacey whale-song-sounding, narrated section comes back into the soundscape. Oh wow, there’s a distant kick drum that seems to be gradually building up from the background. Holy smokes, this is super interesting. I’m sort of reminded of prog-oriented Fifty Foot Hose in this track.
Holy smokes, a new section has started with some far out synths that seem to gradually build up into a psychedelic groove of sorts that feels somewhat influenced by eastern music. Holy smokes, the vocals come in and somehow this section becomes a sort of psychedelic synth blues rock piece, which is awesome. This section almost has a bit of a 1980s pseudo-new-wave feel to it, combined with “Trans-Europe Express” by Kraftwerk. Super sweet.
Oh wow, a new section has started that feels to be a mixture of the industrial movement of the tune and the 1980s pseudo-new-wave movement of the tune, with the distant and repetitive kick drum more prevalent in the narrative sections of the tune, which seems to continue taking the music further out there. Holy smokes, this is groovy. Oh wow, the playing from the synths seems to gradually be getting more melodic in the final minutes of the track, almost as if McPhee is beginning the process of landing and tying together the different movements of the song. Oh wow, this tune is groovy. Holy smokes, the ending of the track is super sweet as the different synths seem to wash together. Great and groovy track, and a super sweet finish to the album.
Holy smokes, this album is super sweet. There’s such an interesting mixture of bluesy flavors that can at times be twangy and acoustic or electrified and wah’d out that keeps you on the edge of your seat as the flavors change up throughout the playing. The final track is an epic psychedelic synth prog rock tune of sorts that’s laced with psychedelic storytelling and psychedelic blues flavors. If you’re into the blues at all, and you’re into spacey psychedelic prog rock, you might want to consider checking out this album. If you do decide to give this album a listen, I sincerely hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A