Here is one of mine:
Phil Keaggy - A Royal Commandment (Live)
Sounds sweet! I've never heard that song before. Which obviously tells you I'm not fully familiar with all of his earlier work. It's a sweet song and I really like the sound in those solos. I wonder if those solos are memorized and always the same, or if he improvised those in this live performance?
At first listen this melody and the solos don't really stick in my head; an experience I found with listening to some of his earlier work. Whereas listening to his vocal albums from Find Me in These Fields onward, those melodies seem to stick with me. A good portion of those songs are more Beatlesque, many not, but my impression is the melodies are catchier. That may make them less relistenable in a way, having less complexity. Thoughts on that?
I think my fav from his older work is Can You See Me? (Glass Harp). I like his psychedelia too, of course.
I'm also not a big fan of his instrumental work. I enjoyed his two bluesy instrumental albums, but I rarely listen to them. It's interesting, Phil has said in some interviews that his instrumentals are pure worship songs. I understand the concept, I've certainly been moved emotionally by (capital R) Romantic music, as with a ton of Tchaikovsky's music, but I can't say I've experienced any spiritual worship listening to his instrumental pieces (wish I did!). But I've no doubt people are different. Obviously, I'm a fan of his 'vocal' songs, and I wish he'd do many, many more.
Always love to see him live, and love his live looping fun. Here's one of my favs of that: