Steve Phillips (musician)

Steve Phillips (February 18 1948, London, England, United Kingdom) is an English blues and country musician. He is mainly renowned for being part of supergroup Notting Hillbillies along with Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler and Brendan Croker.

Biography

Steve Phillips was born in London but when still a child his family moved to Leeds; he has lived in Yorkshire for most of his life. His father was a sculptor and his mother was a painter. At the age of 13, Steve began learning to play guitar and started playing in different pubs in Leeds. In 1965, at the age of 17, he formed a band called "Easy Mr. Steve's Bootleggers" in which he mainly played piano. The group eventually recorded some demos but these would not be released until 1996. They split in 1967, although the various musicians continued to work together in different combinations from time to time.

In 1968, after buying his first steel resonator guitar, a vintage "National", he played many solo gigs in Leeds pubs. Then, a journalist working for "The Yorkshire Evening Post" called Mark Knopfler met him in order to get an interview. They soon become friends and started playing together. Their stage name was "The Duolian String Pickers". They went on playing in different pubs. Finally, in 1973, Mark left Leeds and moved to London to become part of Brewer's Droop and afterwards, found Dire Straits, with whom he would finally reach mainstream recognition.

By the mid-70s, Steve Phillips had met the Bradford-born songwriter, singer and guitarist Brendan Croker. They opened up a club in a Leeds pub called "The Packhorse", where they also played guitar. As a side project, Steve spent his spare time painting. Finally, in the 80s, Steve was persuaded to release his first album, titled ironically The Best Of Steve Phillips. Recorded between 1977 and 1986, the album contained fourteen tracks, only one of which was self-composed: the rest were classic country blues and ragtime instrumentals by such artists as Blind Willie McTell, Big Bill Broonzy and Blind Blake. In 1989 he released a second album, Steel-Rail Blues, which contained more of his own compositions and arrangements of others' songs.

Mark Knopfler, already famous as the leader of Dire Straits, offered to produce Steve's next album for him. However, following an impromptu (and still well-remembered) gig at the famous "Grove Inn" in Leeds (one of the city's most celebrated musical venues) in May 1986 in which Knopfler joined Steve and Brendan Croker, Steve suggested forming a band along with Brendan (who had also released a couple of albums with his band "The 5 O'Clock Shadows"). This idea would become The Notting Hillbillies. Through this group, Steve would achieve a wider recognition that would allow him to go on releasing his full solo albums and enhance his career.

Steve went on releasing albums throughout the 90s. He has worked with a wide group of musicians whom he calls on for band gigs; they were at one time called "The Famous Five" but are now known as "The Rough Diamonds". Most of these musicians (and other guests) have appeared on his albums, except for his most recent, "Solo" (2005) which is Steve on his own. (These recordings are difficult to find outside the UK, despite the fact that Steve is internationally known as an excellent blues singer and guitarist and has undertaken several tours outside his native country, notably in Italy, Spain and Scandinavia). In 1996, Just Pickin' was released; an album that gathered different previously unreleased demos with "Easy Mr Steve’s Bootleggers", Mark Knopfler, Brendan Croker and other musicians; the recordings spanned nearly thirty years, from 1965 to 1981.

Steve usually tours solo for the majority of the time, with occasional gigs with The Rough Diamonds. He also played with other solo blues artists such as Ray Stubbs, Doug McLeod and Hans Theessink. He still plays regularly with Brendan Croker and appears occasionally with Mark Knopfler and his band, especially for charity fund-raising gigs. When not touring, Steve and The Rough Diamonds play most Tuesday nights at the Grosvenor Hotel in Robin Hood's Bay, North Yorkshire. These informal evenings usually gather a good audience and often feature friends of Steve and the band 'sitting in' for all or part of the gig. A good time is guaranteed, and the music ranges from early blues to rock'n'roll, country to Chicago R&B. A live album of material recorded at the Grosvenor will be issued in 2008.

In addition to his skills as a musician, Steve is a noted landscape painter, specialising in scenes around his North Yorkshire home area. These paintings are notable for their treatment of North Yorkshire's distinctive but elusive light, and have a luminous quality which renders them instantly recognisable as Steve's work. His album "Been A Long Time Gone" features a detail from one of his paintings on the sleeve.

As if musical and artistic gifts were not enough, Steve has an enviable reputation as a builder and restorer of guitars. Though guitars made by N.S. Phillips are few in number, they are greatly sought after and are owned by musicians such as Mark Knopfler, Brendan Croker, Dave Peabody and Dave Speight. The 6-string he made for Knopfler featured heavily on the Notting Hillbillies' album and has been described by Knopfler as one of his favourites.

Discography

The Best Of Steve Phillips (1987)

Steel-Rail Blues (1990)

Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time (1990) [with The Notting Hillbillies]

Been A Long Time Gone (1995)

Just Pickin' (1996)

Every One A Gem (2000)

Solo (2005)

Live At The Grosvenor (to be issued in 2008)

Guitars

A great guitar collector, Steve Phillips uses a wide number of them in his live performances. The well-known "National Style 0" which Mark Knopfler uses in different songs such as "Romeo & Juliet" and would become a Dire Straits emblem following its appearance on the cover of the Brothers In Arms album, was sold by Steve in the early 70s. This is a list of some of the guitars Steve has used in his live shows; his current main live guitars are marked +

Acoustic guitars:
* Gibson L4 (1924)+
* Martin 00018 (1931)
* Martin 0016C (1964)
* N.S. Phillips 12-string (1977) (known as 'The Wardrobe')
* N.S. Phillips 6-string (1986)+
* Ralph Bown 12 String (1999)+

Electric guitars:
* National lap steel (1936)
* Gibson L-50 (1937)+
* Gibson ES100 (1938)
* Beltona electric resonator (1992) - the prototype of this model. +
* Phillips-Johnson resonator (2002)

Phillip's official website has photographs of many of these instruments.

External links

* [http://www.stevephillipsmusic.com Official Web]