Tomorrow night at this time I will be at a Sam Phillips concert with my dear friend Jerome. Hee!
I'm quite pleased at the opportunity to see both Jerome and Sam, having not seen him for probably a year or her... well... ever.
No, she's not a very well-known singer but I'm a fan from way back when she sang contemporary christian music under her given name: Leslie Phillips. What I didn't know, (thank you Wikipedia) was that she was marketed as the "christian" Cyndi Lauper back in the 80's. Whattayaknow 'bout that? No wonder I liked her so much. However... she evidently wasn't thrilled with that comparison. And I never made the connection on my own, nor had I read a peep about it since 1986 when I first became a fan... so how good was that marketing?
I had come to assume that she adopted a new stage name when she took a step back from her faith and began singing secular fare, but like I said, that's an assumption. She may very well still be a woman of faith. I have read some disparaging remarks she has made about the church and the gospel music industry... but that doesn't make her a full-blown heathen, like me.
Jerome is a much more loyal fan than I, I might add. He's kept up with Sam beyond the expiration of her contract with Virgin Records, whereas, I kinda let 3 albums pop up and pass me by without ever hitting my hot lil hands or gracing my eager ears. Shame on me. Of course, every time I saw one of her CD's released since 2001's Fan Dance... they were outrageously priced. That's the burden of being a lesser known artist I suppose though: music outlets don't buy your work en masse and thereby don't pass any savings on to your awaiting fans.
Luckily, Sam has had some success without fickle poopie-head fans like me, and gained a lot of exposure through the TV show "Gilmore Girls". Jerome enlightened me on that stroke of luck I might add, 'cause I'd never watched Gilmore Girls (still haven't, although I hear it was very good.) and never would have known otherwise. Yay Sam! Sell those records and keep spreading your brilliance!
Her latest album is entitled "Don't Do Anything". I vow I will own it... and Fan Dance and A Boot and a Shoe ...and then my Sam Phillips collection will be complete yet again. She really is a remarkable artist with very intelligent/insightful lyrics. I so recommend her quirky bad-self to whomever will listen.
Here's a really old song (not an actual video) from her first album as Sam Phillips: "I Don't Know How to Say Goodbye to You" from The Indescribable Wow.
And as long as I'm goin' nuts... the lyrics to one of my favourite Sam songs... "I Need Love" from Martinis and Bikinis.
I Need Love
I left my conscience
like a crying child
Locked the door behind me
put the pain on file
Broken like a window
I see my blindness now
And I need love
not some sentimental prison
I need god
not the political church
I need fire
to melt this frozen sea inside me
I need love
Driving into town
tired and depressed
Like a flare a street light
burst an SOS
Peace comes to my rescue
And I don't know what it means
And I need love
not some sentimental prison
I need god
not the political church
I need fire
to melt this frozen sea inside me
I need love
Broken like a window
I see my blindness now
And I need love
not some sentimental prison
I need god
not the political church
I need fire to melt this frozen sea inside me
I need love
I need love
I need love
I need love
1 comment:
Sam Phillips is brilliant. (Maybe you should get "The Turning", too, to be REALLY complete.)
You were wonderful company at the show.
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