Sam Phillips (musician)

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For other persons of the same name, see Sam Phillips (disambiguation).
Sam Phillips
Birth name Leslie Ann Phillips
Born January 28, 1962 (1962-01-28) (age 47)
Origin Glendale, California, U.S.
Genres Alternative rock
Occupations Singer-songwriter
Years active 1980—present
Labels Myrrh Records1980–1988
Virgin Records1988–2001
Nonesuch Records(2001–present)
Website Sam Phillips

Leslie Ann Phillips, aka Sam Phillips (born January 28, 1962) is an American singer and a songwriter.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Philips, who was born in Glendale, California, began her musical career as a vocalist in the early 1980s, singing background parts for Christian artists Mark Heard, Randy Stonehill and others. After a short time, Philips was signed to a solo contract with Myrrh Records - under her given name - where she went on to record four Christian pop albums, Beyond Saturday Night, Dancing with Danger, Black and White in a Grey World and, finally, The Turning, which teamed her with producer and future husband, T-Bone Burnett. Throughout the Myrrh period, Philips wrote more and more of her own songs and several were Top 10 singles on Christian radio.

Since Cyndi Lauper was popular at the time and also had a high-pitched, idiosyncratic vocal style, Myrrh insisted on promoting her as "the Christian Cyndi Lauper." Philips was never comfortable with this image, and it was a bone of contention between her and the label. She began using the name "Sam" professionally in 1988 when she left Myrrh Records and signed with Virgin Records, partially in order to distance herself from her somewhat embarrassing Myrrh-imposed persona.

Like many Christian artists before her, she expanded into more secular content at the new label. She released The Indescribable Wow, which featured the orchestrations of Van Dyke Parks. Cruel Inventions, which was released in 1991, included a guest appearance from close friend Elvis Costello, and she (with her husband) supported Costello on his 1991 tour. 1994's Martinis and Bikinis, was widely praised by music critics and was even nominated for a Grammy Award; this was Philips' second nomination (the first was as Leslie Philips).

In 1995, Philips made her silver screen debut in the Bruce Willis blockbuster Die Hard With a Vengeance, in which she played a mute terrorist. She was originally supposed to have a speaking part in the film but it was decided that her character would be silent, since it made her appear much more imposing and lethal, although it also placed her in a more stereotypically femme fatale role at the same time. In 1996, Philips released Omnipop (It's Only a Flesh Wound Lambchop), which featured a song cowritten by Philips and R.E.M.. Omnipop. Philips made a cameo in Wim Wenders 1997 film The End of Violence singing a brief snippet from the song 'Animals on Wheels' from Omnipop. After releasing a contractual obligation "best-of" album for Virgin in 1999, the label dropped Philips from their roster.

In 2001, Philips signed with Nonesuch Records and released a stripped-down acoustic album called Fan Dance, which featured some of the most critically acclaimed songwriting of Philips's career. Van Dyke Parks contributed string arrangements for a track or two. Philips also began writing music for and scoring the television series Gilmore Girls, and even appeared on screen during the final episode of season six, performing "Taking Pictures" from the Fan Dance album. In 2004, she released A Boot and a Shoe, another collection of acoustic cabaret songs in the same vein as Fan Dance.

After the release of A Boot and a Shoe, news spread that Phillips and husband/producer T-Bone Burnett had divorced, although they continued to work together to finish the album.[1]

Philips's latest album, Don't Do Anything, was released on 2008-06-03 and produced by Phillips. It is her first self-produced album and her first post-Myrrh album not to feature Burnett on any instruments, although he is credited in the thank-you section of the album credits. To promote her concert appearances, Phillips released extremely brief silent movies, made to resemble vintage Super-8 shorts, in which she held up signs indicating venue and date information. Her utilization of older forms of photography was also present in her tour poster imagery, composed of Polaroid snapshots.

Following the experimental release of a handful of new songs on her website, Phillips launched "The Long Play", a year-long subscription program offering at least 5 EPs of songs to be recorded and released through the coming year. Subscribers may also download more of her signature silent movies, and other materials. The first EP in the series, Hypnotists in Paris, was recorded with the Section Quartet.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] As Leslie Philips

[edit] As Sam Philips

[edit] Compilation appearances

  • Back to the Rock (1981) - "Bring Me Through" (this marks Phillips' first solo appearance on an album)
  • Christian Love Songs For Couples - Vol. 1 (1985) - "Enough For Me"
  • A Midnight Clear - soundtrack (1992) - "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear"
  • Ready to Wear (Pret-a-porter) Soundtrack (1994) - "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'"
  • Maranatha! Anthology - The Artists, 1971-2001 - "Bring Me Through"
  • Gilmore Girls: Our Little Corner of the World (2002)
  • Hear Music Volume 7: Waking (2002, Hear Music) - "Is That Your Zebra?"
  • Crossing Jordan - soundtrack (2003) - "I Wanna Be Your Man"

[edit] Singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
US Hot 100 US Modern Rock US Mainstream Rock UK
1989 "Holding on to the Earth" - 22 - - The Indescribable Wow
1994 "Baby I Can't Please You" - - - - Martinis & Bikinis

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1][2][3]

[edit] External links

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Die Hard series
Die Hard (1988) · Die Hard 2 (1990) · Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) · Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
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