Gene Phillips

A West Coast session stalwart who appeared on a myriad of jump blues waxings during the late '40s and early '50s, guitarist Gene Phillips faded from view even before the dawn of rock & roll. Any serious collector of the Bihari brothers' budget-priced Crown albums (you know, the ones with those ubiquitous cheesy cover illustrations by artist "Fazzio") should be intimately familiar with Phillips's LP -- it's one of the best Crown acquisitions you can possibly make (especially since there's no CD equivalent yet).

The <a href="spotify:artist:6nPKmEbQmR8jGZEm7ArOFX">T-Bone Walker</a>-influenced Phillips recorded extensively for the Biharis' Modern Imprint from 1947 through 1950. His often-ribald jump blues gems for the firm included "Big Legs," "Fatso," "Rock Bottom," "Hey Now," and a version of <a href="spotify:artist:6HwigzRpuWoCZDqMOQc5eu">Big Bill Broonzy</a>'s witty standard "Just a Dream." Phillips's bandmates were among the royalty of the L.A. scene: trumpeter Jake Porter, saxists <a href="spotify:artist:77zFVepH3jsf7ApEG35apD">Marshall Royal</a>, Maxwell Davis, and <a href="spotify:artist:1FCb8XPNXhO6AaY3zNu82M">Jack McVea</a>, and pianist <a href="spotify:artist:4lLtnsb67T7hW7XN6WtuYr">Lloyd Glenn</a> were frequently on hand. Phillips returned the favor in Porter's case, singing and playing on the trumpeter's 1947 dates for Imperial.

After a 78 of his own for Imperial in 1951 ("She's Fit 'n Fat 'n Fine"), Phillips bowed out of the recording wars as a leader with a solitary 1954 effort for Combo, "Fish Man," backed by <a href="spotify:artist:1FCb8XPNXhO6AaY3zNu82M">McVea</a>'s band. ~ Bill Dahl, Rovi