Gene Phillips

Eugene Floyd Phillips

b. July 25th, 1915 in Saint Louis (Missouri)

d. January 10th, 1990 in Lakewood (California)

I LIKE 'EM FAT

Ace

September 1946 - February 1950

DRINKIN' AND STINKIN'

Ace

September 1946 - July 1950

GENE PHILLIPS AND THE ROCKERS

Crown

March 1947 - December 1949

SWINGING THE BLUES

Ace

March 1947 - February 1950

Guitariste depuis l'enfance (jouant surtout sur Gibson), Gene fait d'abord partie des orchestres de Dewey Jackson puis de Jimmy Powell. Installé à Los Angeles depuis 1941, il est le guitariste du groupe vocal The Mills Brothers puis au sein du Lorenzo Flennoy's Trio. A la fin de l'été 1946, il est découvert par Jules Bihari qui lui fait signer un contrat d'enregistrement pour son label Modern. Son style Jump-Blues marqué par le boogie woogie semble assez proche de Louis Jordan. Il y met en exergue une superbe voix et une guitare profonde : "Boogie everywhere", "Stinkin' drunk", "You can't come back home", "Women women women", "304 boogie", "Big legs", "It's raining", "My baby's mistreating me", "Jumpin' with Lloyd", "Gene's guitar blues" (où on peut apprécier sa technique à la lap-steel guitare), la reprise du "Honky tonk train blues" de Meade "Lux" Lewis. Il bénéficie également de l'apport d'excellents sidemen comme Jack Mac Vea, Lloyd Glenn, Maxwell Davis ou Jake Porter. Après un divorce douloureux en 1949, il sombre dans l'alcoolisme et connait des problèmes de santé. Sa collaboration avec Modern s'arrête en 1950. Gene Phillips est mort totalement oublié, il mériterait d'être redécouvert aujourd'hui.

Guitarist since childhood (mostly playing on Gibson), Gene first joined the orchestras of Dewey Jackson and then Jimmy Powell. Based in Los Angeles since 1941, he is the guitarist of The Mills Brothers vocal group and then in the Lorenzo Flennoy's Trio. At the end of the summer 1946, he was discovered by Jules Bihari and signed a recording contract for his label Modern. His Jump-Blues style marked by the boogie woogie seems quite close to Louis Jordan. He highlights his superb voice and a deep guitar : "Boogie everywhere", "Stinkin' drunk", "You can't come back home", "Women women women", "304 boogie", "Big legs", "It's raining", "My baby's mistreating me", "Jumpin' with Lloyd", "Gene's guitar blues" (in which we can appreciate his skills on lap-steel guitar), the cover of Meade "Lux" Lewis's "Honky tonk train blues". He also benefits from the contributions of excellent sidemen like Jack Mac Vea, Lloyd Glenn, Maxwell Davis or Jake Porter. After a painful divorce in 1949, he sinks into alcoholism and is experiencing health problems. His collaboration with Modern stops in 1950. Gene Phillips is dead totally forgotten, he deserves to be rediscovered today.

STRAIGHT TO WATTS vol.1

Ace

1954

On retrouve dans cette anthologie "I owe everybody" et "Fish man" gravés en 1954 pour le label Combo après une longue période de silence.

We find in this anthology "I owe everybody" and "Fish man" recorded in 1954 for the Combo label after a long period of silence.

COOL DADDY vol.3

Ace

1954

Il y a ici "Steelin' the blues", un morceau issu de la même séance de 1954 pour Combo.

There is here "Steelin' the blues", a track from the same 1954 Combo session.