Shameless Tuesdays: Livre 126 | E.G. Phillips
There's a good reason why the late great Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco: it's easier to have it broken on the go. And E.G. Phillips sounds like the kind of guy who had his heart shattered all across the world. With Nick Cave-like vocals over a powerful jazz backing, Phillips laments on the struggles of love in "It Ain't Good to Be in Love With You", as if recorded in a smokey New York City back alley. For the French-toned "A Bridge Too Far (MacArthur Station)", he gives the mic to Grace Renaud, who also sounds like she's dealt with heartache of her own. All of this is a sneak peek of E.G. Phillips's next EP Outlaw the Dead, but until its release, he gives us a slice of his home turf in this week's Shameless Tuesdays.
Here's what E.G. Phillips has to say about this week's playlist:
The playlist I have put together includes songwriters and performers I’ve known as part of the San Francisco music scene over the years and who have performed as part of my (mostly) annual EGPhest event where I invite Bay Area artists to come serenade me with my own songs for the occasion of my birthday. The first three tracks are actually covers of songs I wrote that came about because of the Phest. Shawn Byron adopted “Lighthouse at the Edge of the World” after the first Phest  and made it his second single while Ken Newman persuaded his producer to make “The Fish Song” the lone cover on his album “What Am I Afraid Of?” “Sunday is Made for Loving” is performed by Samantha Margret on vocals and keys accompanied by a trumpet and cello arrangement by Grammy award winning producer Nahuel Bronzini (Fantastic Negrito).
The remaining tracks are recordings of other artists of Phests past of their own material (with the exception of a Bruce Springsteen cover) and some additional tracks of my own. Of the tracks of my own, “Brave Heart, Luna!” is the closing track of my album “Alien from an Alternate Earth” and features a big band arrangement by the late Rich Armstrong, who we lost all too soon last year. “The Octopus Song” is from the same album featuring Rich improvising on muted trumpet. “All I Can Share is Photos” has Mario M. Noche on the nylon string guitar — Mario has played the Phest and has been doing the illustrations for my artwork for the past few releases.  “Mental Maps” is the title track from my previous EP, and features the handiwork of Nashville based producer Kenny Schick, who has performed on enough of my songs that I consider him an honorary EGPhest alum. “The Mystery and Milieu of You” is from my first album “Fish from the Sky” and features the ethereal Maya Hall on backing vocals, an alum from the very first EGPhest when she covered this song.  In addition to Ben Visini turning in a tour de force performance on percussion, “You Will Sail With Me” features the backing vocals of Louise Nalbandian, who is married to the producer of “At Home at Sea,” Ben Osherhoff. The final song “Give a Fuck” — which seemed like a suitable ending to this set — is by bassist Elliot Racine who appeared at this year’s Phest on August 6th at Bazaar Cafe.
Oddly enough this motley collection is a pretty good summary of my own tastes and influences from rock and folk to jazz and blues.  Many are also sentimental favorites.
For more information on E.G. Phillips, visit his official website, Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Promotional consideration provided by Shameless Promotion PR.
