August 30, 2021

20,000 vinyl LPs 304: John Phillips (John, the Wolf King of L.A.)

 ~          
vinyl LP back cover detail 
back cover photo by Tom Gundelfinger 
detail photo of cover by Styrous®


Today is the birthday of John Phillips, the leader of the vocal group The Mamas and the Papas, and one of the chief organizers of the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. He was born on August 30, 1935, in Parris Island, South Carolina.       
       
He only had five studio albums with The Mamas and the Papas but those albums have some of the great pop songs of the era. When he went solo, he only produced two albums. The first one, John Phillips (John, the Wolf King of L.A.), was a knockout! It is on my The Viewfinder 'desert island' vinyl LP list (link below).        




It is mostly a quiet, laid back kind of album with songs that are wonderful. Some of the tunes have a country feel to them with a Pedal Steel Guitar played by Buddy Emmons and Red Rhodes helping that feeling along.        




As usual I have favorite songs; Topanga Canyon is at the top. To me Topanga Canyon is VERY much a California song with the gentle feeling of a sunny afternoon in LA. It is one of the laid back tunes but it has a bouncy, gentle beat with bass played by Joe Osborn and a beautiful back up chorus with Darlene Love, Fanita James and Jean King that make it a good song to listen to (lyrics link below).           
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

vinyl LP back cover detail 
back cover photos by Tom Gundelfinger 
detail photos by Styrous®



Mississippi a close second to Topanga. It is the most upbeat song on the album with an infectious beat that makes your feet move (lyrics link below).               





John Phillips grew up in Alexandria, Virginia. From 1942 to 1946, he attended Linton Hall Military School in Bristow, Virginia. According to his autobiography, he "hated the place," citing "inspections," and "beatings," and recalls that "nuns used to watch us take showers." He formed a musical group of teenage boys, who sang doo-wop songs. He traveled to New York to gain a record contract in the early 1960s. His first band, The Journeymen, was a folk trio, with Scott McKenzie and Dick Weissman. Phillips wrote San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) in 1967 for former bandmate Scott McKenzie.       
 
He  was the primary songwriter and musical arranger of the Mamas and the Papas. Their hits were California Dreamin', Monday, Monday, I Saw Her Again, Creeque Alley, and 12:30 (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon).       
 
Phillips helped promote the Monterey International Pop Music Festival held June 16 to 18, 1967, in Monterey, California; he performed with the Mamas and the Papas, as part of the event as well. The festival was planned in just seven weeks, and was developed as a way to validate rock music as an art form in the way jazz and folk were regarded. It was the first major pop-rock music event in history. He also co-produced the film Monterey Pop (1968) with the group's producer Lou Adler.        

Phillips released his first solo album John, the Wolf King of L.A. in 1970 but it was not commercially successful, although Mississippi was a minor hit, and Phillips began to withdraw from the limelight as his use of narcotics increased.       

With Terry Melcher, Mike Love, and former Journeyman colleague Scott McKenzie, he co-wrote the number-one single for the Beach Boys, Kokomo.       

On March 18, 2001, Phillips died of heart failure in Los Angeles at the age of 65, days after completing recording sessions for a new album.       
 
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed John Phillips among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire (link  below).             





Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - April Anne - 3:21
A2 - Topanga Canyon - 3:52
A3 - Malibu People - 3:37
A4 - Someone's Sleeping - 2:41
A5 - Drum - 3:35

Side 2:

B1 - Captain - 3:20
B2 - Let It Bleed, Genevieve - 2:52
B3 - Down The Beach - 2:50
B4 - Mississippi - 3:36
B5 - Holland Tunnel - 3:25

Companies, etc.



Credits:

    Bass Guitar – Joe Osborn
    Design, Photography By – Tom Gundelfinger
    Dobro, Lead Guitar – James Burton
    Drums – Hal Blaine
    Engineer – Chuck Britz
    Engineer [Assitant] – Winston Wong
    Fiddle – Gordon Terry
    Guitar, Harmonica – David Cohen, Dr. Hord*, John Phillips
    Keyboards – Larry Knechtel
    Liner Notes – G.W.*
    Pedal Steel Guitar [Steel] – Buddy Emmons, Red Rhodes
    Producer – Lou Adler
    Vocals [Voices] – Darlene Love, Fanita James, Jean King
    Written-By – J. Phillips*

Notes:

 
 
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Hand etched): DS 50077 - A
    Matrix / Runout (Hand etched): DS 50077 - B
 
John Phillips – John Phillips
Label:  ABC/Dunhill Records – DS 50077, Warlok (2) – DS 50077
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1970
Genre: Rock
Style: Pop Rock
 
   
         
Viewfinder links:        
         
2008 Universal fire              
Hal Blaine        
David Cohen               
Buddy Emmons       
Larry Knechtel         
Darlene Love          
The Mamas & the Papas         
Terry Melcher         
Joe Osborn    
John Phillips         
Red Rhodes        
Gordon Terry          
Dick Weissman       
        
Net links:        
        
The Guardian ~ King of the wild frontier        
NY Times ~ obit        
        
YouTube links:        
         
April Anne     
Captain              
Down The Beach           
Drum            
Holland Tunnel               
Let It Bleed, Genevieve        
Malibu People       
Mississippi            
Someone's Sleeping        
Topanga Canyon        
      
Complete album       

John Phillips ~    
     How The Mamas & the Papas were born!        
       
        
         
        
        
        
Styrous® ~  Monday, August 30, 2021       
       














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