Anthony Phillips | |
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 Phillips in 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Anthony Edwin Phillips (1951-12-23)23 December 1951 (age 73) |
| Genres | Progressive rock,folk rock,neo-classical,electronic |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1967–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | anthonyphillips |
Anthony Edwin Phillips (born 23 December 1951) is an English musician and composer who gained prominence as the original lead guitarist of the rock bandGenesis, from 1967 to 1970.[1] He left in July 1970 and learned to play more instruments, before he began a solo career. His departure from Genesis on the eve of the group's breakthrough to mainstream popularity has led him to be dubbed "thePete Best ofprogressive rock" (though unlike Best, Phillips left voluntarily).[2]
Phillips released his first solo album,The Geese & the Ghost, in 1977. He continues to release solo material, including further solo albums, television and film music, collaborations with several artists, and compilation albums of his recordings.
Phillips was born on 23 December 1951 inChiswick, then a part ofMiddlesex, and grew up in the nearbyPutney andRoehampton areas.[3] He attendedSt Edmund'spreparatory school inHindhead, Surrey, during which he formed a group and took part in a performance of "My Old Man's a Dustman" in the school hut as the singer, but forgot the words and was kicked out. This led to his decision to learn the guitar.[3][4]The Shadows were a major early influence on Phillips, who learned enough to perform a rendition of "Foot Tapper" in the school lounge.[5][6] At thirteen Phillips acquired aFender Stratocaster and wrote his first song, "Patricia", an instrumental about the first girl he had a crush on.[7] It gradually evolved into theGenesis song "In Hiding", which appears onFrom Genesis to Revelation.[6] He was not entirely a self-taught guitar player; he received some tuition in rudimentary chords from classical guitarist David Channon, who became a big source of inspiration for Phillips, and used sheet music to songs bythe Beatles that his mother would send him. Phillips then picked up more chord knowledge, and learned to copy music "reasonably well".[8] As a teenager, Phillips briefly lived in the United States.[9]
In April 1965, Phillips attendedCharterhouse, an independent school inGodalming, Surrey.[10] In the following month, he formed a band with fellow pupilsRivers Jobe,Richard Macphail,Mike Rutherford, and Rob Tyrell, naming themselvesAnon. They based their sets on songs by the Beatles andthe Rolling Stones, and recorded one demo, Phillips's song "Pennsylvania Flickhouse".[10] The group disbanded in December 1966.[10] Phillips was also a member of another band during 1966, Spoken Word, which included David Thomas (vocals), Ronnie Gunn (piano), Jeremy Ensor (bass, later of thePrincipal Edwards Magic Theatre), David Chadwick (guitar), andPeter Gabriel (drums). They recorded anacetate, a cover of "Evening".[11]
In January 1967, after Anon had split up, Phillips and Rutherford became a songwriting unit and started recording several demos. They invited Charterhouse pupilTony Banks, a member ofGarden Wall, another disbanded school group, to play keyboards. Banks agreed, and suggested involving his Garden Wall bandmates, singerPeter Gabriel (the same one who was the drummer for Spoken Word) and drummerChris Stewart.[10] After the five made a demo tape, it was given toJonathan King, who signed them to his publishing company and had them record some singles. He named the groupGenesis, and suggested they record a studio album, which becameFrom Genesis to Revelation. Phillips was particularly angry when King added string arrangements to their songs without their knowledge, since the limitations of the recording technology meant that everything else on the album had to be reduced tomono as a consequence.[12] Phillips said he had little role in Genesis's songwriting during this period, and that most of the songs onFrom Genesis to Revelation were written by Gabriel and Banks.[13]
In September 1969, the 17-year-old Phillips chose not to pursue a university degree and instead reunite with Gabriel, Banks and Rutherford after they had decided to become a full-time band.[10][9] However, early in 1970 the constant touring had become wearing on Phillips partly due to the lack of scope for solos in the band's set and the shortage of time to develop new material.[14] To further complicate matters he had developed stage fright which got progressively worse as time went on, and battled with it for three months thinking it was a passing phase. After falling ill with bronchial pneumonia, Phillips was advised by his doctor to quit the band.[15] In June 1970, Phillips had recovered enough to reunite with his bandmates and record their second album,Trespass. Despite his various problems at the time, Phillips enjoyed the recording sessions.[16] By this time Genesis songs were more often written by the group as a whole, and Phillips was pleased when a song he had originally written by himself, "Visions of Angels", was expanded with a group-composed middle section that he felt made the song much more powerful.[17] After recording finished in July the band resumed touring, though early into the tour Phillips announced his decision to leave. His final gig took place atHaywards Heath on 18 July.[9] Tour managerRichard Macphail later said that the group seriously considered disbanding altogether in the wake of Phillips's departure.[18]
Nursery Cryme, the next Genesis album, opens with "The Musical Box" which is based on a piece written by Phillips and Rutherford originally titled "F#" (pronounced "F Sharp").[19]Steve Hackett, who became Genesis's guitarist half a year after Phillips left, commented that at the time of their fifth album,Selling England by the Pound, the 12-string guitar style developed during Phillips's era was still important to Genesis's work and he felt Phillips deserved more credit for "architecting the sound of Genesis".[20]
After leaving Genesis, Phillips lacked a solid direction. He secured a place at theUniversity of Kent to study history, but later said he had a "quasi-nervous breakdown" around this time and "the idea of going to university seemed completely terrifying."[21] He had recently listened to theKarelia Suite byJean Sibelius and recognised his musical ability was "terribly limited", which encouraged him to become a more proficient musician.[22][23] He studied harmony, counterpoint, and orchestration atGuildhall School of Music and Drama in London on a part-time basis and from 1972, began teaching classical guitar.[21] He became a qualified music teacher in 1974 and taught atReed's School inCobham.[21] In the following year, he taught troubled adolescents in rehabilitation atPeper Harow House in Godalming which lasted into the 1980s.[9] By the late 1970s, Phillips had become proficient at the piano.
Phillips' debut solo albumThe Geese & the Ghost was released in 1977, and written and recorded intermittently between 1969 and 1976. It is an acoustic folkprogressive rock album that was originally a collaboration withMike Rutherford, but the latter was too involved with Genesis and had limited availability.Peter Cross produced the album's cover artwork, and would collaborate with Phillips on his future record sleeves until the 2000s. Although the album failed to make a commercial impact, it has gained retrospective acclaim.[citation needed]
Phillips considered furthering his music education, butThe Geese & the Ghost had earned enough for him to continue making albums.[24] He signed a three-album deal withArista Records, but and the label insisted on more direct and commercially oriented songs. The first album wasWise After the Event, and featuredRupert Hine,Michael Giles,Mel Collins, andJohn G. Perry, with Phillips on lead vocals.[2] Released in 1978, it also failed commercially. In the same year, a compilation of off-cuts and incomplete pieces was released asPrivate Parts & Pieces onPassport Records the US. According to Phillips, the series "arose partly out of poverty. I was just getting by, library music was just getting going. I had to issue a collection of twelve-string or solo-piano stuff to boost my income."[2] Phillips continued with the series and put out twelvePrivate Parts and Pieces albums that range in musical style; the most recent edition,The Golden Hour was released in 2024.[25]
Sides was his final album released on Arista, and features one side of pop-oriented material and another of more adventurous and progressive rock-inspired tracks.[21] His next album was1984 in 1981, which marked a major stylistic shift to electronic synthesizers and drum machine. In 1982, Phillips moved out of his parents' home inSend, Surrey toClapham, south London, where he set up a recording studio. He struggled to pay the mortgage at first, and had several lodgers to help compensate.[26] Phillips continued with commercial-oriented pop with his next albumInvisible Men, released in 1983. Like withSides and1984, it failed commercially.
In 1987, Phillips went to the US to promotePrivate Parts & Pieces VII: Slow Waves, Soft Stars as it has attracted some attention in the ambient and New-age circles. During his visit he was a guest presenter forVH1, and a proposed album for the New-age labelWindham Hill Records was shelved as he "got the brief so completely wrong".[21] His fortunes increased soon after, when he signed a publishing deal withVirgin Records as a television and film writer, which also granted him an advance, two studio album releases, and a reissue of his back catalogue. This allowed him to purchase new equipment and marked a return to making a full-scale album, the instrumentalSlow Dance.[21]
In 1988 he recorded an album withHarry Williamson calledTarka. The album's cover featured a picture of a woman and did not credit Phillips or Williamson, which led to it often being filed under "female vocalist" in record shops.[2] Phillips returned to the acoustic guitar withField Day in 2005.
In 2014,Esoteric Recordings acquired Phillips' back catalogue and began a reissue campaign of most of his albums with bonus content.[27]
In 2024, Phillips revealed he had a potential new album of solo piano pieces, but ongoing wrist problems has prevented him completing it. He had expressed a wish to produce another full-scale album likeSlow Dance, but said he lacked energy to practice, write, and record, and was no longer interested to become familiar with contemporary recording equipment.[26]
Since leaving Genesis, Phillips' main source of income has been from hislibrary music for television and film.[21] His first commissions were forRiverside Studios in 1976, and included a piece for a shampoo advert.[21][28] In 1981, he signed with the newly-formed production music label Atmosphere (now a part of Universal Production Music) and has appeared on many of its releases. In 1994, Atmosphere was acquired byBMG and the uptake in commission work secured him financially: "I made almost nothing for the first 25 years of my life, then was very lucky."[21] Phillips produces music for other companies, such as Extreme Music, 9 Lives, APM, Addictive Tracks, Audio Wallpaper, West One, and Cavendish, sometimes in collaboration with Chris White, Samuel Bohn, or James Collins.[29]
Phillips began writing material withAndrew Latimer ofCamel in 1981, and was a featured performer on that band's album,The Single Factor (released in 1982).[30] He co-wrote "Tears on the Ballroom Floor" forI Hear Talk byBucks Fizz.[31]
In 2008, Italian journalist Mario Giammetti published a biography on Phillips entitledThe Exile.
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