Nanker Phelge

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Nanker Phelge (a.k.a. Nanker/Phelge) was a collective pseudonym used between 1963 and 1965 for several Rolling Stones group compositions. [1] According to manager Andrew Loog Oldham the 'Nanker/Phelge' credit was mostly used for tracks where the origin lied in blues standards from the 1950's they heard when visiting the Chess studios in Chicago. It also enabled Oldham to benefit from writing credits. [2]

Contents

Stones bassist Bill Wyman explained the origins of the name in his 2002 book, Rolling with the Stones:

When the Stones cut "Stoned" or "Stones", according to early misprinted pressings as the B-side to "I Wanna Be Your Man", Brian [Jones] suggested crediting it to Nanker/Phelge. The entire band would share writing royalties. Phelge came from Edith Grove flatmate Jimmy Phelge, while a Nanker was a revolting face that band members, Brian in particular, would pull. [3]

Thus anything credited to Nanker Phelge refers to a Mick Jagger/Brian Jones/Keith Richards/Charlie Watts/Bill Wyman/Andrew Loog Oldham collaborative composition. The ASCAP files for the very earliest Nanker Phelge compositions also list early Rolling Stones member Ian Stewart (also known as "the sixth Stone") as a co-author covered by the pseudonym. [4]

The name resurfaced in the late 1960s on the labels of the original vinyl pressings of Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed . Manufacture of both albums was credited to Nanker Phelge, which was then acknowledged as an ABKCO company (ABKCO was manufacturing the records that still bore the London and Decca labels).

Songs credited to Nanker Phelge

See also

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References

  1. "Nanker Phelge". Discogs.com . Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  2. Goodman, Fred (2015). Allen Klein: The Man Who Bailed Out the Beatles, Made the Stones, and Transformed Rock & Roll. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-547-89686-1
  3. Wyman, Bill (2003). Rolling with the Stones : cuarenta años de gira con los rolling. Richard Havers. Barcelona: Grijalbo. p. 85. ISBN   84-253-3757-7. OCLC   689519658.
  4. "Who/What is Nanker Phelge?". Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  5. Wyman, Bill (2003). Rolling with the Stones : cuarenta años de gira con los rolling. Richard Havers. Barcelona: Grijalbo. p. 234. ISBN   84-253-3757-7. OCLC   689519658.