James Phillips (musician)

James Phillips (22 January 1959 - 31 July 1995) was a South African rock singer, songwriter and performer.

Biography

Phillips grew up in the conservative East Rand mining town of Springs. Phillips discovered Rock n Roll and perhaps significantly the protest music of Bob Dylan; the course of his life changed dramatically, in the late 1970s he formed his first band, Corporal Punishment with friends Carl Raubenheimer and Mark Bennet. Corporal Punishment was defiantly South African from the start. Instead of doing the usual thing, playing rock covers in the local bar, they chose to sing about their own universe and all its strange and brutal ironies. Using the lyrical brashness of the punk rock movement, without adopting the fashion, their songs were often menacingly sarcastic political statements. Lyrically they often touched on South African topics, notably the milieu in which young, white, South African men found themselves at that time. This milieu was dominated by conscription, Calvinism, suppression of political debate and intolerance of non-conformism.

"He's a supervisor, takes a lot of skill
"to be in charge of 40 kaffirs, that's responsible"
"he doesn't mind that he gets all the pay"
"Mr Arri Paulus says "they're just baboons anyway"
BRAIN DAMAGE (1980)
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT

The Corporals gained a small but fiercely loyal following, but lack of venues, airplay and their raw aggressive music meant they were either anonymous to or completely ignored by the mainstream. Despite this Phillips never questioned whether he was doing the right thing or not, as he himself said, “It was just something that had to be done, someone had to sing about what was happening in South Africa”.

After doing his initial two years in the army Phillips became a conscientious objector, making any chance of having any kind of musical career even more remote. Speaking in later years he said "You sic|try and have a career as a musician, when you’re trying to keep your face out of the newspapers because the army is looking for you".

Also at this time South African government were wielding ever-tightening control over the media, especially radio and television. In particular songs by local musicians were often subject to heavy scrutiny before being added to radio station play lists. The expectation of censorship made record companies nervous about spending money on local artists who might make any kind of social or political comment. Some companies went as far as running their own censorship departments that would vet songs and artists before a recording budget was assigned.Hopkins, Pat, "Voëlvry - The Movement That Rocked South Africa", Zebra, 2006. ISBN 1-77007-120-2] By 1980 the security forces were starting to keep an eye on any performers considered “subversive” and would spy on such performers and sometimes disrupt performances or impede careers.

Thus Phillips, along with several of his contemporaries, found himself in a position in which the prospects of a recording contract or airplay were remote. However, Corporal Punishment caught the attention of the small, independent Shifty label. Shifty had a reputation for signing groups that no other South African label would touch, but that usually meant that airplay was unlikely (almost by definition acts signed to Shifty were considered “subversive”) and promotional budgets would be small.

In 1980 shifty released the EP “Fridays And Saturdays”. Corporal Punishment had a recording released, but sales and exposure were negligible and the band split soon afterwards.

After the break-up of Corporal Punishment Phillips formed a new, short-lived band “Illegal Gathering” before embarking on studies towards a bachelor’s degree in music, initially at Rhodes and then at Wits University, before forming The Cherry Faced Lurchers. Starting initially as a novelty band, playing songs like "Do the Lurch" or “That’s my Shirt and I Want it Back”, things really started when the band got a residency at the then-unknown Jameson’s.

Jameson's was a remarkable bar in Commissioner Street in Jo'burg's central business district, it had a Kruger liquor license - one of a small handful issued by the onetime president of the Transvaal at the turn of the 20th century, a license that transcended the racially divided and time-restricted liquor laws of the day. The perfect place for a jol. Young (mostly white) South Africans mixed with their counterparts of colour; everyone got trashed together. It was like the bastard child of Sophiatown. It was the new South Africa in twisted embryo.

Jameson's made The Cherry-Faced Lurchers, it was the moment at which a rather ramshackle band pulled itself together. By July 1985, when Lloyd Ross of Shifty Records put Live at Jameson's down on tape, they were an extraordinarily tight three-piece with a repertoire of songs exceptional for their strength.

"I’m a white boy who looked at his life
"Gathered in his hands and saw it was"
"All due to the sweat of some other man",
"The one who got"Shot down in the streets"."
SHOT DOWN (1984)
CHERRY FACED LURCHERS

As the political landscape continued to get darker as the 1980s dragged on so too did Phillips’s lyrics with songs like "The Branch" (a song about the viciousness of the security police) and ‘Detainees’ (about the various death’s in detention during the time) these songs show Phillip’s anguished concerns during this time of apartheids darkest oppression.

Away from Jameson’s Phillips was putting the finishing touches to another project that of his alto ego, Bernoldus Niemand, and his "Wie is Bernoldus Niemand?" Album (1985). Targeting the monolithic Afrikaner “cultural establishment” the album was promptly banned by the SABC although the song "Hou my vas Korporaal" would became an anthem for the anti conscription movement. In its time it was utterly new, inspiring "alternative Afrikaner" performers like Johannes Kerkorrel and Koos Kombuis who would spearhead the Voëlvry boerepunk movement some years later. James in fact was invited to join the Voëlvry bandwagon for a successful if controversial tour of the country in 1989.

"How do I live in this strange place?"
REGGAE VIBES IS COOL
BERNOLDUS NIEMAND
1989 saw the controversial Voëlvry tour which featured musicians who sang in Afrikaans and had been inspired by the Bernoldus Niemand album. Phillips and an expanded Lurchers lineup were added to the Voëlvry bill under the name “Bernoldus Niemand en die Swart Gevaar”. Phillips had always regarded the Niemand alter-ego as a side project and had abandoned the songs on the Niemand album. He was now performing to the biggest audience of his career, but under another name and singing songs that he no longer considered part of his repertoire.

Phillips and the Lurchers continued to evolve and maintained a reputation as a compelling live act. By the early 1990s Phillips was concentrating on the piano rather than the guitar and his compositions became more sophisticated. His lyrics were sometimes more personal, but other songs showed that he continued to remain relevant and vital even as South Africa moved towards democracy – a transition which had left some of Phillips’s contemporaries with little to say. In 1994 he released the "Sunny Skies" album – recorded with an enlarged band that featured a horn section and several highly-regarded guest players. Once again the album was released by Shifty, but a deal was negotiated by which BMG Music would undertake promotion and distribution. Despite BMG's efforts (allegedly hamstrung by Phillips's own disinclination towards promotional work), sales remained poor.

In the same year Phillips stood in South Africa's first democratic election as a candidate for the eccentric Soccer Party.

Phillips summed up his optimism about the New South Africa when he said “Hopefully now we can start to like ourselves, and start to like our music”. His music now reflected his hopes for the new dispensation, and the dark and angry words of the 80s were replaced with songs of optimism like “Why Can’t We (Love one another), ‘(I Want the World to) Start Again’ and "Tabane" (a tribute to Malombo’s Phillip Tabane).

During this time his passion for the local experience did not restrict itself to music. Not only did he often spend the little money that he had on an extensive collection of first editions by local authors, he rarely missed the opening night of any locally penned play. At the end of the day it was perhaps this uniquely SA philosophy that allows many important actors, writers and musicians to quote him as an influence.

James Phillips was a complex human being who at the same time as having an almost sage like philosophical outlook could also show incredibly naivety, selfish whilst showing extraordinary selflessness, giving time and often what little money he had to those in need. He drew people in; everyone was a friend of James. He lived too the rock & roll lifestyle; his capacity for the jol was legendary and abstention was foreign to his nature. But despite his often arrogant and undisciplined way of approaching many aspects of his life, the legacy he leaves is that of one of the most aware, articulate and passionate artists to have been produced by this strange land.

He’s life ended early when he of injuries sustained in a motorcar accident, just outside of Grahamstown, where he’d been doing a series of solo concerts at the festival. He died never having gained the recognition from the public over was essentially an important body of work.

In his memorial concert a few weeks after his death, Vusi Mahlasela, Johnny Clegg, David Kramer, Lesego Rampolokeng and Johannes Kerkorrel and others, gathered to pay tribute to James' influence as an artist. And yet to the majority of South Africans he remains completely unknown, with this documentary we hope to rectify that. "Just when we thought it's over, we found it's only just begun
"just when we thought it's over, we're still dying like flies underneath the sun"
"It's still going crazy just like its always done"
"Cause when it all comes down the time has come to pay the bills and count the change""
FUN'S NOT OVER (1993)

IN 1995 Shifty Records released a career retrospective compilation “Made In South Africa”. In 1997 the same label released “Soul Ou”, a collection of demo tapes of mostly new songs that Phillips had planned to perform at Grahamstown in 1995. These stark, unaccompanied recordings show that Phillips was still evolving as a songwriter and player and are regarded as some of his best work.

Discography

All titles released on the Shifty label.
* Fridays and Saturdays (EP) - Corporal Punishment (1980)
* Hou My Vas Korporaal b/w My Broken Heart (single) - Bernoldus Niemand (1983)
* Wie Is Bernoldus Niemand? - Bernoldus Niemand (1984)
* Live At Jamesons - The Cherry Faced Lurchers (1985)
* The Voice Of Nooit - Corporal Punishment & Illegal Gathering (1986)
* The Otherwhite Album (Best of Cherry Faced Lurchers, 1985-1989) - The Cherry Faced Lurchers (1992)
* Sunny Skies - James Phillips & The Lurchers (1994)
* Made In South Africa (compilation 1978-1995) (1995)
* Soul Ou - James Phillips (1997)
* Voëlvry: Die Toer - various arists, including Bernoldus Niemand en die Swart Gevaar (2006)

References

External links

* [http://www.freshmusic.co.za/cherry_liner.html Essay]
* [http://www.rock.co.za/files/james_phillips.html Biography]