Friday 8th February
Never heard of him? Never mind, you aren’t alone. He was never a big star, although one time they tried to make him one. He had one minor hit “You Are” in 1973, and that was it.
But his early albums are wonderful. He started like so many in the mid-sixties in a rock’n’roll band ‘The Stormville Shakers’. No, they never shook me either.
But in the early seventies he had a string of solo albums which were gentle, lyrical and honest. The best was Songfall, where his quiet and soft voice was yearning and warm at the same time. He was one of that tiny band of English singer songwriters making small waves amidst all the great music of the early seventies. My very favourite song of his is ‘Warm Summer Rain’, which I always sing to myself, and sometimes out loud, when you get those refreshing summer showers falling out of a warm summer sky.
Phillip played piano and until Elton came along this instrument was not that popular in the ‘pop’ business. Maybe because playing it sitting down you cannot strut the stage at the same time, although this has never exactly stopped Elton. But PGT was always a quieter man, even when they dressed him in yellow satin shirts and tried to make him a ‘pop star.’ He made a couple more albums after that and then sort-of disappeared.
But like many old pop-stars they don’t die they just discover the internet, and although his records are harder to find than hen’s teeth you can download them all from his website. He has even released a couple of new ones recently, and the voice is still there, instantly recognizable, and the songs aren’t bad either.
I was on his mailing list and I exchanged a few e-mails with him recently. He sent me a Japanese limited edition import of ‘Songfall’ on CD, and I sent him a signed copy of ‘Catherine’s Story’. He was kind enough to reply that he had really enjoyed it. I keep looking but those early albums, all released in limited edition in Japan are still selling for about £50 a copy. So, he must have been worth something all along.