03-02-2018, 21:54
Shawn Phillips was born on this day in 1943, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Incidentally, he and the very recently late Dennis Edwards share a birthday, right down to the same year.)
Can't believe I haven't posted Shawn Phillips in this thread yet! He is quite possibly the most underappreciated musical talent of the century - he is a highly accomplished, innovative musician and has the most magnificent voice (it has latterly become a little rough, as is to be expected, but is still a powerful instrument). He does not appear to have in any way compromised his principles and beliefs for the sake of his career, nor has he produced anything other than the music he wants to make. This stance, along with his formidable intelligence is likely to have resulted in him being a less than popular commercial proposition in terms of support from the ‘machine’. Apart from anything else, I’m sure nobody knew quite what to do with him, and he’s had to dig deep to find the resources to sustain his work over the years, largely independently.
He married a South African and lived here for about fifteen years, I think, before they returned to the USA where he is now your neighbour MH – Louisville. He became a medic in the voluntary National Sea Rescue Institute while living in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, and in his native Texas, he had worked as a fireman and emergency medical technician. He’s released 25 albums, the most recent of which came out late last year – Continuance. I have yet to listen – have only heard snippets.
He may not have been wildly popular in the country of his birth, but the opposite was true here, with the result that it would be a surprise not to find a copy of Second Contribution in any self-respecting record collection from that era. Thanks to a friend’s older brothers, this, along with a few other choice albums, became the soundtrack of my youth. The lead track has the distinction of one of the longest song titles ever (“She Was Waitin' For Her Mother At The Station In Torino And You Know I Love You Baby But It's Getting Too Heavy To Laugh”), and I'm convinced I recall the delicious enchantment of the first time I heard this one …
Can't believe I haven't posted Shawn Phillips in this thread yet! He is quite possibly the most underappreciated musical talent of the century - he is a highly accomplished, innovative musician and has the most magnificent voice (it has latterly become a little rough, as is to be expected, but is still a powerful instrument). He does not appear to have in any way compromised his principles and beliefs for the sake of his career, nor has he produced anything other than the music he wants to make. This stance, along with his formidable intelligence is likely to have resulted in him being a less than popular commercial proposition in terms of support from the ‘machine’. Apart from anything else, I’m sure nobody knew quite what to do with him, and he’s had to dig deep to find the resources to sustain his work over the years, largely independently.
He married a South African and lived here for about fifteen years, I think, before they returned to the USA where he is now your neighbour MH – Louisville. He became a medic in the voluntary National Sea Rescue Institute while living in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, and in his native Texas, he had worked as a fireman and emergency medical technician. He’s released 25 albums, the most recent of which came out late last year – Continuance. I have yet to listen – have only heard snippets.
He may not have been wildly popular in the country of his birth, but the opposite was true here, with the result that it would be a surprise not to find a copy of Second Contribution in any self-respecting record collection from that era. Thanks to a friend’s older brothers, this, along with a few other choice albums, became the soundtrack of my youth. The lead track has the distinction of one of the longest song titles ever (“She Was Waitin' For Her Mother At The Station In Torino And You Know I Love You Baby But It's Getting Too Heavy To Laugh”), and I'm convinced I recall the delicious enchantment of the first time I heard this one …
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson