|
Ricky Lee Phelps:
Signs Of The Times
Review by Matt Bjorke 09-15-03
Ricky
Lee Phelps Spreads His Wings
Sep 15 '03 (Updated Sep 15 '03)
Author's Product Rating
Pros
Strong vocals, surprisingly strong production. The ballad Sometimes.
Cons
-
The Bottom Line
Worth getting for two songs alone, this 10 track
collection features everything that made Ricky Lee a vital
part of the Kentucky HeadHunters.
|
| ***************************************************************************************** |
When
the Kentucky Headhunters came on to the national
country music scene in the late 1980's they were a band that
featured prominent electric guitars and had an approach to
their music that some would call "raunchy." Ricky
Lee Phelps was the main lead vocalist of the group until
1992 when he and his brother, Doug, formed the duo Brother
Phelps. After a few years that project dissolved with
Doug eventually rejoining the Headhunters. Ricky Lee, on the
other hand, retreated to Arizona and lived his life.
Fast-forward to 2003 and Ricky Lee has completed his first
solo project on the new independent label Crossfire
Records. Entitled Signs of the Times, the
production is crisp and Ricky Lee's vocals remind one of
that first Headhunter's record (Pickin' on Nashville)
I loved so much. Featuring a mix of uptempo tracks like the
southern boogie of Shake it Off and all out southern
rock opus of Signs of the Times (an old HeadHunters
song) to the traditional country styling of Onward
through the Fog, Tears in a Bottle and John
Deere Letter.
While those are all fine songs there are pair of songs that
truly that make this CD worth owning. Sometimes was
written by Ricky Lee with his brother Doug and it is one of
those songs that makes you open your heart and mind. The
song reminds us that there are often silent victims of bad
marriages and divorce.
Sometimes words can hurt, sometimes words can kill,
sometimes hearts get broken, sometimes they never heal,
sometimes silence isn't golden when there's words you need
to say, oh, we got to love our children or they're gonna
slip away...don't let them slip away.
If you think of the context of the song it could apply for
every child that gets ignored and left behind. The guitar
playing is passionate and really sends the message home with
strong effect.
With a progressive, infectious melody, Two Way Traffic
on the surface seems to be a jaded love song but taken
literally from the lyrics it is a song that tells of
society's penchant for trying to save everyone.
When you're scared to go for justice, and compassion has
left your hand, but the first with precious gifts of love
when it comes to healin' our own land but the milk was never
whiter and the honey never so sweet as in mainstream two way
traffic down a one way street.
What the song says, in my mind anyway, is that we should all
be aware of things around us and that we should
question what is going on around us, not just become
lemmings to our government.
Ricky Lee Phelps may have taken a long time off to be with
his family but he has returned to the scene with a confident
vocal style wrapped up in familiar songs and styles. While
he's no lock to get any airplay, there certainly are a few
songs on this CD that are as good if not better than some
songs on country radio stations.
Songs
1. Signs of the Times
2. Love in Motion
3. Sometimes
4. Tears in a Bottle
5. Shake it Off
6. Onward through the Fog
7. Love Never Fails
8. Two-Way Traffic
9. I Know that I Know
10. John Deere Letter
Produced by Ricky Lee Phelps.
Released in 2003 by Crossfire
Records.
Recommended
Yes
|
Album Review
by George
Peden Country
Review.com, Country music's foremost review organization reviews
Ricky's New CD "SIGNS OF THE TIMES" and gives Ricky
thumbs up for this new release.
This
has "a new energy and a new sound, the album sits right on
the money" says George Peden Sr. editor CountryReview.com
Back in the late 80's and early
90's, Ricky Lee Phelps was part of the loud, brash and
less-than-fashionable Kentucky Headhunters. As a band of
redneck Southern rock and blues-boogie boys, their hard-pounded
"The Ballad of Davey Crockett", "Blue Moon Of
Kentucky", and "It’s Chitlin’ Time" are
remembered Saturday night jukebox favorites, amongst a host of
other band charters.
Phelps had his share of those trailblazing days, a six-year
journey that saw two albums and countless awards, including a
Grammy, before he decided to leave in ’92. With his
brother, Doug, he formed the popular, if not more contained,
Brother Phelps. A couple of years, a couple of albums, and
the duo parted musical ways, each pursuing personal goals (Doug
rejoined KH in ’96).
The following years had Ricky Lee prioritizing his life away
from forced touring. First, he wanted quality time seeing
his young, adopted, son grow up. Then, with family issues in
order, there was time to concentrate on songwriting, recording and
producing his latest album in his recording studio.
Signs Of The Times, a first for the recently created
Crossfire label, is a tidy showcase of those efforts. With
the familiar replaced with a new direction, a new energy and a new
sound, the album sits right on the money. The 10 tracks,
Phelps helped ink 8, show a guy clearly enjoying this phase of his
career.
As the son of a minister and, now, as a preacher himself,
Phelps has used his music here to share his take on life.
The title track with its religious awareness – "There’s a
day a-comin’/I do not know the time/If you ain’t ready to meet
your maker/you can run but you sure can’t hide/open up your eyes
child/don’t get left behind" – sets up the direction and
drive of the album.
Phelps comes on strong, but doesn’t preach, on an album
skirting the issues of family, broken romances, the power of
positive love, and the renewing of mind and attitude as heard on
"Shake It Off". The motivational rocker tells it
like it is – when the load is heavy, don’t sweat the small
stuff, shake it off and move on.
The strength of Phelps’ album is in its subtlety. The
lyrics are primed for reflection, but the message, wrapped in
chords and riffs created by liner-absent, unnamed musicians, is
easy labor making for an uncomplicated and listener-friendly
album.
"Love In Motion", complete with its simple message of
practice what you preach when it comes to kindness, is effortless
harmony and soft instrumentation, while "Tears In A
Bottle", "Onward Through The Fog", and "Love
Never Fails" capture, fully, the maturity of strong songs.
Human frailties, shown by what you see isn’t what you
sometimes get, are the disclosing lyrics on "Two-Way
Traffic". Phelps’ strong and clear vocals ring out on
what is an up-tempo album favorite. Not unlike "John
Deere Letter". The keys to the house and a land deed
aren’t enough for one unhappy wife. In a comical tune of
tractor envy, in full throttle and spinning dirt, the wife shoots
through – leaving only a "Dear John" letter for
comfort. Amusing.
Ricky Lee Phelps could not have thought of a more apt title for
this album. It not only marks his return to recording, it
also allows him to share his walk of faith and his positive
musical renewal.
"If I have one song that can change one thought pattern in
one person, to their betterment," says Phelps, "then I
have accomplished my goal. Anything more than that is icing
on the cake."
Signs Of The Times is due for release in August.
Coutry
Review.com
(July 2003)
And
what a day it turned out to be! Jessi James and another popular
local act Mogollon opened. Then it was the turn of Ricky Lee
Phelps. Hands up those of you who liked the
Kentucky Headhunters
or Brother Phelps. Well Ricky (above) was a main part of both acts
and he admitted from stage that careerwise he had not always made
the right decisions when deciding to leave acts. But he still has
a good stage show that includes some of those past hits he used to
sing like “Dumas Walker”. But he’s also had a lot of solo
albums out with own songs on them. He as a clever one called
“She Took My Tractor And Left Me A John Deere Letter”. His
time on stage went all too quickly.
- For the actual
story:
|