Phil Gammage

Last updated
Phil Gammage
Phil Gammage 2017.jpg
Phil Gammage
Background information
Origin Houston, Texas, United States
Genres Americana, blues, rock, alternative country
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)Guitar, bass guitar, harmonica
Years active1980–present
LabelsLabor Records
New Rose Records
Alive Records
CBGBs Records
PreFab International Records
World Wide Vibe Records
Continental Record Services
Website

Philip T. Gammage [1] is an American songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as a solo recording and touring artist in addition to his lead guitar playing for the New York post-punk rock band Certain General.

Contents

Early years and influences

Growing up in Texas, Gammage was exposed to local music styles such as blues, country, and rock. Moving to Boulder, Colorado as a teenager to attend college, he began to play guitar with local bands. Upon college graduation, he moved to San Francisco with his band The Corvairs and for several months played at rock clubs such as Mabuhay Gardens, The Palms, and The Deaf Club.

Career

New York and Certain General

Phil Gammage (first from right) as part of the band Certain General at CBGB in 1981 Cbgb81.jpg
Phil Gammage (first from right) as part of the band Certain General at CBGB in 1981

Gammage moved to New York in the early 1980s, and formed post-punk rock band Certain General with singer Parker Dulany and B-Girls drummer Marcy Saddy. The group soon gained a large following on the East Coast and later toured Europe, enjoying considerable success. Gammage played lead guitar, harmonica, and co-wrote many of the songs on the band's best selling album November’s Heat (1984). The record won many accolades in Europe including "French rock album of the year 1985" from the Parisian newspaper Libération .

Gammage has continued to tour and record with Certain General on a sporadic basis up to the present. He performed with the band at the 2013 and 2014 CBGB Festivals in New York City, and also toured Europe with the group in 2016.

Solo career

Following their 1985 American tour as opening act for New Order, Gammage left Certain General to focus on his other music projects. He released his first solo album Night Train in 1990 on the French independent label New Rose Records. Kneel to the Rising Sun (1991) soon followed and Gammage made a promotional visit to France in 1991, [2] in support of the albums. Two more solo albums followed later in the decade, Cry of the City (1994, Marilyn/Alive Records) and Lowlife Street (1999, Last Call).

Trouser Press said about his debut album Night Train, "Under wrought darkish Americana echoing Nick Cave's fascinations minus the melodrama… might well make Phil this generation’s Hank Williams." [3]

Gammage made his first ever solo tour of Europe in 2017.

Songwriting and recent albums

After concentrating on television and film instrumental soundtrack work for several years, Gammage returned to recording with the release of four studio albums Adventures in Bluesland (2014), The American Dream (2015), Used Man For Sale (2016), and It's All Real Good (2019), and From Nowhere to Somewhere (2021). These albums spotlight his original material as well as his renditions of classic blues and country songs. Gammage's singing style on these albums is often compared to American male vocalists such as Johnny Cash, [4] Roy Orbison, [5] Elvis Presley, [6] [4] and Scott Walker (singer). [7]

Rock NYC Live and Recorded wrote about Adventures in Bluesland

I am discussing Phil Gammage’s sweeping modern blues and rock album, which owes so much to everyone one from Presley to Lead Belly, but sounds not quite like any of them… it is really about Phil’s wonderful singing; the man seems to have stepped out of 1957 and yet not. He is a one man Million Dollar Quartet and this is an adventure not to be missed. [8]

No Depression magazine called Used Man For Sale "Gammage’s modern day masterpiece.". [7]

Impose magazine said of Used Man For Sale "Phil’s voice is as unique and smokey-rich as a Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley or freakin’ Frank Sinatra or something. This is pretty amazing...." [4]

Downtown Music Collective

Phil Gammage hosts, curates, and produces this monthly arts and culture show on the Green Kill Sessions Media Network channel on YouTube. The first episode aired January 11, 2022. An audio-only podcast version of the show was added in March 2022 on all major podcast platforms.

The 20-minute prerecorded program usually consists of Phil reviewing albums and films, performing a song live, and the broadcast of one of Phil's music videos (YouTube version) or the playing of a song from one of his albums (podcast version). The YouTube version of the show often includes exclusive videos and slide galleries of visual artwork.

Discography

Solo

Certain General

John Sinclair

Compilations

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elvis Presley</span> American singer and actor (1935–1977)

Elvis Aaron Presley, known mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Known as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Presley's energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, brought both great success and initial controversy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Burton</span> American guitarist

James Edward Burton is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001, Burton has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum. He was elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2024. Critic Mark Deming writes that "Burton has a well-deserved reputation as one of the finest guitar pickers in either country or rock ... Burton is one of the best guitar players to ever touch a fretboard." He is ranked number 24 in Rolling Stone list of 250 greatest guitarists of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockabilly</span> Early style of rock and roll music

Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blues, leading to what is considered "classic" rock and roll. Some have also described it as a blend of bluegrass with rock and roll. The term "rockabilly" itself is a portmanteau of "rock" and "hillbilly", the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie-woogie, jump blues, and electric blues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller</span> American songwriting and record producing duo

Leiber and Stoller were an American Grammy award-winning songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber and composer Michael Stoller. As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wrote numerous standards for Broadway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Brian Setzer Orchestra</span> American band, founded 1990

The Brian Setzer Orchestra is a swing and jump blues band formed in 1992 by Stray Cats frontman Brian Setzer. In 1998, for their breakout album The Dirty Boogie, the group covered Louis Prima's "Jump, Jive an' Wail", which originally appeared on Prima's 1957 album The Wildest!. The BSO's follow up single, appearing on the album Vavoom!, was "Gettin' in the Mood."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otis Blackwell</span> American songwriter (1931–2002)

Otis Blackwell was an American songwriter whose work influenced rock and roll. His compositions include "Fever", "Great Balls of Fire" and "Breathless", "Don't Be Cruel", "All Shook Up", and "Return to Sender", and "Handy Man".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ten Years After</span> British blues rock band

Ten Years After are a British blues rock group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, the band had eight consecutive Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart. In addition, they had twelve albums enter the US Billboard 200. They are best known for tracks such as "I'm Going Home", "Hear Me Calling", "I'd Love to Change the World" and "Love Like a Man".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hound Dog (song)</span> 1952 song by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Recorded originally by Big Mama Thornton on August 13, 1952, in Los Angeles and released by Peacock Records in late February 1953, "Hound Dog" was Thornton's only hit record, selling over 500,000 copies, spending 14 weeks in the R&B charts, including seven weeks at number one. Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll", ranked at 318 in the 2021 iteration of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in February 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G. Love & Special Sauce</span> American rock band

G. Love & Special Sauce is an American rock band from Philadelphia. They are known for their unique, "sloppy", and "laid back" sound that encompasses blues, hip hop, rock, and soul. The band features Garrett Dutton, better known as G. Love; Jeffrey Clemens on drums; and Jim Prescott on bass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daryl Stuermer</span> Musical artist

Daryl Mark Stuermer is an American musician, songwriter, singer, and record producer best known for playing the guitar and bass for Genesis during live shows, and lead guitar for Phil Collins during most solo tours and albums. He has also released nine solo albums, and tours with his Daryl Stuermer Band.

<i>Elvis</i> (1956 album) 1956 studio album by Elvis Presley

Elvis is the second studio album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley, released by RCA Victor on October 19, 1956 in mono. Recording sessions took place on September 1, September 2, and September 3 at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, with one track left over from the sessions for Presley's debut album at the RCA Victor recording studios on January 30 in New York. It spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart that year, making Presley the first recording artist to have both albums go straight to number one in the same year. It would go on to spend 5 weeks at #1 in total. It was certified Gold on February 17, 1960, and Platinum on August 10, 2011, by the Recording Industry Association of America.

"School Days" is a rock-and-roll song written and recorded by Chuck Berry and released by Chess Records as a single in March 1957 and on the LP After School Session two months later. It is one of his best-known songs and is often considered a rock-and-roll anthem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mink DeVille</span> American band with Willy DeVille

Mink DeVille was a rock band founded in 1974, known for its association with early punk rock bands at New York's CBGB nightclub and for being a showcase for the music of Willy DeVille. The band recorded six albums in the years 1977 to 1985, after which it disbanded the next year. Except for frontman Willy DeVille, the original members of the band played only on the first two albums. For the remaining albums and for tours, Willy DeVille assembled musicians to play under the name "Mink Deville". After 1985, when Willy DeVille began recording and touring under his own name, his backup bands were sometimes called "The Mink DeVille Band", an allusion to the earlier Mink Deville name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Gordon (singer)</span> American singer, musician and actor (1947–2022)

Robert Gordon was an American rockabilly singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TCB Band</span> Elvis Presleys tour band from the 1970s

The TCB Band is a group of musicians who formed the rhythm section of Elvis Presley's band from August 1969 until his death in 1977. The initials TCB stand for Taking Care of Business, a personal motto Presley adopted in the early 1970s. Although personnel changed over the years, the original members were James Burton, Jerry Scheff (bass), John Wilkinson, Larry Muhoberac (keyboards) and Ron Tutt (drums). They first appeared live at Presley's first Las Vegas performance at what was then known as the International Hotel on July 31, 1969.

"Big Boss Man" is a blues song first recorded by Jimmy Reed in 1960. It became one of his most popular songs, although the songwriting is credited to Luther Dixon and Al Smith. Chicago-based Vee-Jay Records released it as a single, which became one of Reed's last appearances on the record charts. The song has been recorded by artists in diverse styles, including Elvis Presley, B.B. King, and Hope Sandoval, who also had chart successes with the song.

John Edward Cummings, Jr. is an American singer-songwriter, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Richmond, Virginia, Eddie moved to New Jersey in the 1970s and became a popular club circuit musician there, occasionally performing with Bruce Springsteen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Certain General</span> American post-punk band

Certain General is an American post-punk band formed in 1980 by Parker Dulany, Phil Gammage, Marcy Saddy, and Russell Berke. BOMP! Records has called them "NYC's 80's cult favorite".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richie Castellano</span> American musician and engineer

Richie Castellano is an American musician and engineer. He is a current member of the band Blue Öyster Cult.

References

  1. "ARMS OF A KIND WOMAN". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  2. Phil Gammage interview on Radio Valencia, San Francisco, 2021. "Radio Valencia". soundcloud.com.
  3. Trouser Press Record Guide, 1985. "Certain General". Trouserpress.com.
  4. 1 2 3 "Impose". Imposemagazine.com. 4 October 2016.
  5. "Rootstime". Rootstime.be.
  6. ""The Spiritual Revival of Elvis Presley"". Subba-cultcha.com.
  7. 1 2 "No Depression ". Nodepression.com.
  8. "Rock NYC Live and Recorded". Rocknycliveandrecorded.com.