John Phillips (musician)
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John Phillips | |
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Los Angeles, California , U.S. | |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 1960–2001 |
Labels | Dunhill |
Spouse(s) | Susan Adams
(m. 1957; div. 1962)Geneviève Waïte (m. 1972; div. 1985)Farnaz Arasteh (m. 1995) |
John Edmund Andrew Phillips (August 30, 1935 – March 18, 2001)
Early life
Phillips was born August 30, 1935, in Parris Island, South Carolina.[1][3] His father, Claude Andrew Phillips, was a retired United States Marine Corps officer. On his way home from France following World War I, Claude Phillips managed to win a tavern located in Oklahoma from another Marine during a poker game. His mother, Edna Gertrude (née Gaines),[4] who had English ancestry,[5] met his father in Oklahoma. According to Phillips's autobiography, Papa John, his father was a heavy drinker who suffered from poor health.
Phillips grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, where he was inspired by Marlon Brando to be "street tough"/ 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 even watched us take showers".[6][7] He formed a musical group of teenage boys, who sang doo-wop songs. He played basketball at George Washington High School, now George Washington Middle School in Alexandria, Virginia, where he graduated in 1953, and gained an appointment to the United States Naval Academy. However, he resigned during his first (plebe) year. Phillips then attended Hampden–Sydney College, a liberal arts college for men in Hampden Sydney, Virginia, dropping out in 1959.
Career
Early years
Phillips longed to have success in the music industry and traveled to New York to gain a record contract in the early 1960s. His first band, The Journeymen, was a
The Mamas and the Papas
Phillips was the primary songwriter and musical arranger of the Mamas and the Papas. In a 1968 interview, Phillips described some of his arrangements as "well-arranged two-part harmony moving in opposite directions".
Phillips helped promote the
John and Michelle Phillips became Hollywood celebrities, living in the Hollywood Hills and socializing with stars such as Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, and Roman Polanski. The Mamas and the Papas broke up in 1968 largely because Cass Elliot wanted to go solo and because of personal problems between Phillips, his wife Michelle, and Denny Doherty, including Michelle's affair with Doherty. As Michelle Phillips later recounted, "Cass confronted me and said 'I don't get it. You could have any man you want. Why would you take mine (Doherty)?'" Michelle was fired briefly in 1966 for having affairs with Gene Clark and Doherty. She was replaced for two months by Jill Gibson, their producer Lou Adler's girlfriend. Although Michelle Phillips was forgiven and asked to return to the group, the personal problems continued until the group split. Cass Elliot went on to have a successful solo career until her death in 1974.
Later years and death
Phillips released his first solo album John, the Wolf King of L.A. in 1970. The album was not commercially successful, although it did include the minor hit "Mississippi", and Phillips began to withdraw from the limelight as his use of narcotics increased.
He teamed up with Adler again to produce Robert Altman's 1970 film Brewster McCloud and also wrote the songs for the film.[9]
Phillips produced his third wife
Phillips moved to London in 1973, where
In 1981, Phillips was convicted of
His best-selling autobiography, Papa John, was published in 1986.
With
His years of drug addiction resulted in health problems that required a liver transplant in 1992. Several months later, photographs of him drinking alcohol in a bar in Palm Springs, California, were published in the National Enquirer. On March 14, 1994, during his first Howard Stern Show appearance since the transplant, he said, "Occasionally I have a drink", when asked if he still drank.
Phillips spent his last years in
Personal life
Phillips married Susan Adams[12] of a wealthy Virginia family on May 7, 1957. They had a son, Jeffrey, and a daughter, Mackenzie.
While touring California with The Journeymen, Phillips met teenager Holly Michelle Gilliam, with whom he had an extramarital affair.[11] After the affair caused the dissolution of his marriage to Adams, he married Gilliam on December 31, 1962, and she thereafter became Michelle Phillips. The couple had one child together, Chynna Phillips, vocalist of the 1990s pop trio Wilson Phillips. Denny Doherty and Michelle started an affair in 1965. Phillips and Michelle divorced in May 1969.
Phillips married his third wife, actress and model
Phillips married his fourth wife, painter and artist Farnaz Arasteh, on February 3, 1995.[16][17]
Abuse allegations
In September 2009, eight years after Phillips's death, his eldest daughter
Geneviève Waïte, John's wife at the time, denied the allegations, saying they were inconsistent with his character. Michelle Phillips, John's second wife, also stated that she had "every reason to believe [Mackenzie's account is] untrue".[21] Chynna Phillips, Michelle Phillips's daughter, stated that she believed Mackenzie's claims and that Mackenzie first told her about the sexual assault during a phone conversation in 1997, approximately 11 years after the events had ended.[22] Bijou Phillips, Mackenzie's half-sister from her father's marriage to Geneviève Waïte, has stated that Mackenzie informed her of the sexual abuse when Bijou was 13 years old, and the information had a devastating effect on Bijou's teenage years, stripping her of her innocence and leaving her "wary of [her] father".[23] She also stated, "I'm 29 now, I've talked to everyone who was around during that time, I've asked the hard questions. I do not believe my sister. Our father [was] many things. This is not one of them."[24] Jessica Woods, daughter of Denny Doherty, said that her father had told her that he knew "the awful truth" and that he was "horrified at what John had done".[25]
Awards and honors
In 1996, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to Phillips.[26]
Discography
Singles
Year | Title | Catalog Number | US[27] | US A/C[28] | US Country[28] | Album |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1970 | "Mississippi"
B-side: "April Anne" |
Dunhill 4236 | # 32 | #13 | #58 | John Phillips |
Solo
Year | Name | Type | Label | Additional artist(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1970 | John Phillips (John, the Wolf King of L.A.) | Album | Dunhill Records | The backing musicians included members of Wrecking Crew. | [29] |
1970 | Brewster McCloud | Soundtrack | MGM Records | Merry Clayton on vocals. | |
2001 | Pay Pack & Follow | Album | Eagle Rock / Red Ink Records | Ron Wood on guitar.
|
Recorded 1973–1979, but released one month after his death in April 2001. |
2001 | Phillips 66 | Album | Eagle Rock / Red Ink Records | Released in August 2001. | |
2008 | Pussycat | Album | Varèse Vintage | Recorded in 1978, released in September 2008. | |
2009 | Andy Warhol Presents Man on the Moon | Musical | Varèse Sarabande | Written by John Phillips and produced by Andy Warhol and directed by Paul Morrissey. | 1975 musical. Released as part of the John Phillips Presents series of CDs.[30] |
Compilations
- 2007: Jack of Diamonds
References
- ^ a b c "Obituary: Papa John Phillips 1935–2001". Think.cz. March 17, 2001. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
- ^ a b Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 36 – The Rubberization of Soul: The great pop music renaissance. [Part 2]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
- A&E Television Networks. October 13, 2016. Archived from the originalon April 9, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
- .
- ^ Williams, Clarence Russell (1998). A history of the Hardgrave family: the descendants of Major Francis Hardgrave, Revolutionary War Soldier. Madison, Wisconsin: Russell Publishing Company. p. 269. Retrieved August 19, 2015 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 978-0440167839
- ISBN 9781495931963
- ^ McLellan, Dennis (August 21, 2012). "Scott McKenzie, whose hit single 'San Francisco' captured spirit of 1960s, dies at 73". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
- ^ a b "Hofheinz Goes For Big At Party In Astrodome For MGM's 'McCloud' Pic". Variety. December 2, 1970. p. 5.
- The E! True Hollywood Story, Episode: "Mackenzie Phillips". Entertainment Television Network, 1999. Phillips admits this in an on camera interview.
- ^ a b Weller, Sheila (2007). "California Dreamgirl". Vanity Fair. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
- ^ . September 23, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
- OCLC 70284362.
- ^ "American Female Singer / Song Writers". Air Structures. August 2004. Archived from the original on October 4, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
- ^ Scwed, Mark (June 21, 1985). "Divorce". UPI. Boca Raton, Florida: News World Communications. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
- ^ Schindehette, Susan (June 17, 1996). "The Mamas and the Papas' Kids". People Magazine. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
- ^ "Farnaz Arasteh". MyHeritage. Or Yehuda: MyHeritage Ltd. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
- ^ "Mackenzie Phillips: I slept with my own father". People. September 22, 2009. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
- Huffington Post.
- ^ "Excerpt from High on Arrival by Mackenzie Phillips". Oprah.com. September 23, 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
- ^ Eng, Joyce. "Mackenzie Phillips' Family Split Over Star's Incest Claims". TV Guide. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ Everett, Cristina (September 23, 2009). "Chynna Phillips recalls learning about sister Mackenzie Phillips' sexual abuse". New York Daily News. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ "Bijou Phillips reacts to Mackenzie's Claims". Oprah.com. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ "Phillips Blames Mackenzie For Ruining Her Life". San Francisco Chronicle. September 29, 2009.
- ^ "Denny Doherty's Daughter Corroborates Mackenzie Phillips' Story". Oprah.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2009. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated
- ^ "John Phillips – Chart history". Billboard.
- ^ a b "John Phillips Albums (Top Albums) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". www.musicvf.com. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
- ^ "John Phillips (John, The Wolf King of L.A.) – John Phillips | Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
- ^ "Long Lost Footage of Musical Play by John Phillips, Produced by Andy Warhol". Dangerous Minds. July 31, 2009. Archived from the original on August 3, 2009. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
Further reading
- Cadet, Linton Hall, Linton Hall Military School Memories: One cadet's memoir, Scrounge Press, 2014, pp. 114–116. ISBN 9781495931963
External links
- Papa John Phillips Official Website Web site has been disabled!
- John Phillips at IMDb
- The Mamas & The Papas Online Price Guide
- John Phillips interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
- John Phillips at Find a Grave