Phil Seymour
Encyclopedia
Phil Seymour was an American power pop
drummer
, singer, guitarist
and songwriter
, best known for the singles "I'm On Fire" (with the Dwight Twilley Band) and "Precious to Me". He had a major role in the seminal pop group Dwight Twilley Band. His solo work is also highly revered among fans of the power pop
musical genre.
at a theater where they had both gone to see a screening of The Beatles
' film, A Hard Day's Night
. They soon began writing and recording together, going by the name Oister. In 1974, Seymour and Twilley signed with Shelter Records
and became famous as The Dwight Twilley Band
.
"I'm On Fire", with little promotion, reached #16 in the Billboard Hot 100
in the week ending August 2, 1975. The Dwight Twilley Band recorded two albums together, with Phil and Dwight singing lead and harmony vocals, Phil playing drums and bass, Dwight playing guitar and vocals and their friend Bill Pitcock IV contributing lead guitar. However, a string of unlucky breaks played a significant role in limiting their success. In 1978, Seymour left the band to pursue a solo career.
(drums on their self-titled first album), Moon Martin
(drums on Shots from a Cold Nightmare album) and old Twilley Band friend Tom Petty
(backing vocals). Seymour sang the backing vocals on two of Petty's best-known songs, "Breakdown" and "American Girl
". During 1978, Seymour also traveled to England to work on a solo recording with Denny Cordell
producing, though only three songs were recorded (two of which were finally released on the compilation Precious To Me).
In 1980 Seymour signed to Boardwalk Records
, and he released his first solo album, simply titled Phil Seymour, on January 16, 1981. The album was produced by Richie Podolor
, who also produced Seymour's second album and later produced Twilley's The Luck. The first single from the album, "Precious To Me", written by Seymour, reached #22 in the Billboard Hot 100
and #3 in Australia
, where it went gold. The album also included "Trying To Get To You
", a song that has also been covered by Elvis Presley
and Roy Orbison
, the wonderful powerpop gem "Baby It's You" which was reprised on Poptopia: Powerpop Classics of the 80s compilation released in 1997 by Rhino, among others. A Bobby Fuller Four song entitled "Let Her Dance
", and eight other tracks, mostly written by former Twilley Band members Seymour (2 tracks), Twilley
(2 tracks that been destined for the unreleased Blueprint album, as well as "Suzie Glider", the non-LP B-side of "Precious To Me") and Pitcock (2 tracks).
His second solo album, Phil Seymour 2, was released in 1982 but featured less original material, was recorded in a rush, and was not as successful, in part due to Phil's abuse of drugs and alcohol during this time. It included a great Tom Petty's song : Surrender.
Boardwalk Records' founder Neil Bogart
died shortly after its release, which collapsed the label (not a new experience for Seymour, as Shelter Records had collapsed during the Dwight Twilley Band days), and Seymour was once again without a record deal.
band led by Carla Olson and George Callins. He recorded an album with them, Midnight Mission, and toured with them as a singer and drummer. During the tour, he noticed lumps appearing on his neck, which turned out to be swollen lymph nodes, and he was subsequently diagnosed with lymphoma
. Seymour moved back to Tulsa to undergo treatment for the cancer and continued to record and play live locally, albeit at a much diminished pace, until his death in 1993. A third solo album was never released, but several demos are known to exist.
In 1991 Seymour teamed up with Rubber City Rebels
guitarist Buzz Clic
, and recorded demos with Phil on vocals and Buzz on guitar. The album was self-released by Clic on cassette
only, but is now available on CD-R
and the iTunes Music Store.
In 1996, after its acquisition of Shelter Records, EMI
's The Right Stuff reissue label released a 15-song Seymour "greatest hits and rarities" collection, Precious To Me, which served as a companion piece to Dwight Twilley's XXI collection on the same label. The album included songs from Seymour's days with the Dwight Twilley Band and the Textones as well as unreleased solo material recorded for Shelter in 1978 (2 songs) and with Olson and Callins in 1991 and 1992. In addition; 2 Remakes:The Beatles " I Need You" and Seymour's cover of The Bee Gees "First Mistake. Each co-produced with writer/arranger Russell Scott. (4 songs), but it soon went out of print. However, Midnight Mission was reissued in 2001, and in 2005, Phil Seymour was reissued on CD with three bonus tracks, one each composed by Seymour, Twilley and Pitcock. Phil Seymour 2 was released by Fuel Records (Universal) October 2011 with 10 previously unreleased bonus tracks.
"Detroit '85 Live & Unreleased" (2008, first release, Collectors' Choice Music)
Phil on drums and harmony vocals plus lead vocals including: Looking For The Magic and Back In Time.
Videos
Power pop
Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...
drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
, singer, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, best known for the singles "I'm On Fire" (with the Dwight Twilley Band) and "Precious to Me". He had a major role in the seminal pop group Dwight Twilley Band. His solo work is also highly revered among fans of the power pop
Power pop
Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...
musical genre.
Dwight Twilley Band
In 1967, Seymour met fellow Tulsa musician Dwight TwilleyDwight Twilley
Dwight Twilley is an American pop/rock singer and songwriter, best known for the Top 20 hit singles "I'm on Fire" and "Girls"...
at a theater where they had both gone to see a screening of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' film, A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
. They soon began writing and recording together, going by the name Oister. In 1974, Seymour and Twilley signed with Shelter Records
Shelter Records
Shelter Records was a U.S. record label started by Leon Russell and Denny Cordell that operated from 1969 to 1981. The company established offices in both Los Angeles and Tulsa, Russell's home town, where the label sought to promote a "workshop atmosphere" with a recording studio in a converted...
and became famous as The Dwight Twilley Band
Dwight Twilley
Dwight Twilley is an American pop/rock singer and songwriter, best known for the Top 20 hit singles "I'm on Fire" and "Girls"...
.
"I'll never forget the cold November night at the Church Studios in Tulsa. Phil and I had just signed our first recording contract. We had been instructed by the record company to get acquainted with working in a 'real' 16-track studio and not to record a 'real' record. In the confusion of a pivotal moment, it was Phil who pulled me into a secluded hallway and said, "Dwight, let's make a hit record right now." That night we recorded I'm On Fire."
- Dwight Twilley, in an excerpt from Phil Seymour's letter of remembrance.
"I'm On Fire", with little promotion, reached #16 in the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in the week ending August 2, 1975. The Dwight Twilley Band recorded two albums together, with Phil and Dwight singing lead and harmony vocals, Phil playing drums and bass, Dwight playing guitar and vocals and their friend Bill Pitcock IV contributing lead guitar. However, a string of unlucky breaks played a significant role in limiting their success. In 1978, Seymour left the band to pursue a solo career.
Solo Years
In the downtime between recording deals he worked as a session musician, as well as playing for 20/2020/20 (band)
20/20 was an American power pop band based in Hollywood, California. They were active from 1977 to 1983 and reunited during the mid 1990s to the late 1990s. Steve Allen and Ron Flynt had played together in Tulsa in 1976, and Steve decided to move to Los Angeles in 1977 after fellow Tulsa natives...
(drums on their self-titled first album), Moon Martin
Moon Martin
John David "Moon" Martin is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist.-Career:Martin gained recognition in the 1970s as a pop artist and composer...
(drums on Shots from a Cold Nightmare album) and old Twilley Band friend Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
(backing vocals). Seymour sang the backing vocals on two of Petty's best-known songs, "Breakdown" and "American Girl
American Girl (song)
"American Girl" is the second single from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' self-titled debut album. The single did not chart in the U.S., but in the UK it peaked at #40 the week ending August 27, 1977...
". During 1978, Seymour also traveled to England to work on a solo recording with Denny Cordell
Denny Cordell
Denny Cordell was an English record producer. He is notable for his late 1960s and early 1970s productions of hit singles for The Moody Blues, The Move, Procol Harum and Joe Cocker.-Career:...
producing, though only three songs were recorded (two of which were finally released on the compilation Precious To Me).
Boardwalk Records
Boardwalk Records was a record label founded by Neil Bogart in 1980, after PolyGram acquired his Casablanca Records. The label had a huge hit act with Joan Jett before Neil Bogart died of cancer in 1982...
, and he released his first solo album, simply titled Phil Seymour, on January 16, 1981. The album was produced by Richie Podolor
Richard Podolor
Richard Podolor was a record producer.Richard Podolor, who is also known as Richie Podolor or Richard Allen, produced hits including "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night and "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf. His early hits were as guitarist and co-writer on the drummer Sandy Nelson's records...
, who also produced Seymour's second album and later produced Twilley's The Luck. The first single from the album, "Precious To Me", written by Seymour, reached #22 in the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and #3 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where it went gold. The album also included "Trying To Get To You
Trying to Get To You
“Trying To Get To You” is a song performed by Elvis Presley in 1955 on his Sun recordings.It was written by Rose Marie McCoy and Charles Singleton, also known as Charlie Singleton. It was originally recorded by the rhythm and blues outfit The Eagles in 1954 and released in mid-1954 on Mercury...
", a song that has also been covered by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
, the wonderful powerpop gem "Baby It's You" which was reprised on Poptopia: Powerpop Classics of the 80s compilation released in 1997 by Rhino, among others. A Bobby Fuller Four song entitled "Let Her Dance
Let Her Dance
"Let Her Dance" is a song by The Bobby Fuller Four. It was the group's fourth single under Del-Fi Records, and the first to achieve success."Let Her Dance" is actually a modified version of an earlier Bobby Fuller song, "Keep on Dancing." The modifications came as a result of Bob Keane, who slowed...
", and eight other tracks, mostly written by former Twilley Band members Seymour (2 tracks), Twilley
Dwight Twilley
Dwight Twilley is an American pop/rock singer and songwriter, best known for the Top 20 hit singles "I'm on Fire" and "Girls"...
(2 tracks that been destined for the unreleased Blueprint album, as well as "Suzie Glider", the non-LP B-side of "Precious To Me") and Pitcock (2 tracks).
His second solo album, Phil Seymour 2, was released in 1982 but featured less original material, was recorded in a rush, and was not as successful, in part due to Phil's abuse of drugs and alcohol during this time. It included a great Tom Petty's song : Surrender.
Boardwalk Records' founder Neil Bogart
Neil Bogart
Neil Bogart was an American record executive. He is perhaps best known as the founder of Casablanca Records, with Peter Guber....
died shortly after its release, which collapsed the label (not a new experience for Seymour, as Shelter Records had collapsed during the Dwight Twilley Band days), and Seymour was once again without a record deal.
Illness and Posthumous Releases
In 1984 Seymour joined the Textones, a roots rockRoots rock
Roots rock is a term now used to describe rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid sub-genres from the later 1960s including country rock and Southern rock, which have been seen as responses to the...
band led by Carla Olson and George Callins. He recorded an album with them, Midnight Mission, and toured with them as a singer and drummer. During the tour, he noticed lumps appearing on his neck, which turned out to be swollen lymph nodes, and he was subsequently diagnosed with lymphoma
Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. Typically, lymphomas present as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage...
. Seymour moved back to Tulsa to undergo treatment for the cancer and continued to record and play live locally, albeit at a much diminished pace, until his death in 1993. A third solo album was never released, but several demos are known to exist.
In 1991 Seymour teamed up with Rubber City Rebels
Rubber City Rebels
The Rubber City Rebels are an American protopunk band from Akron, Ohio, that formed in 1976.-Early years:The original line-up of the band consisted of Rod Firestone , Buzz Clic , Donny Damage , Stix Pelton and Pete Sake .In their early years, the Rebels were fans of fellow Greater Cleveland-area...
guitarist Buzz Clic
Buzz Clic
Buzz Clic is an American musician and songwriter best known as the lead guitarist for the punk rock band, the Rubber City Rebels.- Early years :...
, and recorded demos with Phil on vocals and Buzz on guitar. The album was self-released by Clic on cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
only, but is now available on CD-R
CD-R
A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
and the iTunes Music Store.
In 1996, after its acquisition of Shelter Records, EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
's The Right Stuff reissue label released a 15-song Seymour "greatest hits and rarities" collection, Precious To Me, which served as a companion piece to Dwight Twilley's XXI collection on the same label. The album included songs from Seymour's days with the Dwight Twilley Band and the Textones as well as unreleased solo material recorded for Shelter in 1978 (2 songs) and with Olson and Callins in 1991 and 1992. In addition; 2 Remakes:The Beatles " I Need You" and Seymour's cover of The Bee Gees "First Mistake. Each co-produced with writer/arranger Russell Scott. (4 songs), but it soon went out of print. However, Midnight Mission was reissued in 2001, and in 2005, Phil Seymour was reissued on CD with three bonus tracks, one each composed by Seymour, Twilley and Pitcock. Phil Seymour 2 was released by Fuel Records (Universal) October 2011 with 10 previously unreleased bonus tracks.
The Dwight Twilley Band
- SincerelySincerely (Twilley album)Sincerely is the debut album from the Dwight Twilley Band, released in 1976 on Shelter Records. The band consisted solely of Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour , although touring band member Bill Pitcock IV played lead guitar on every song except for "Sincerely" itself...
(1976, reissued 1989, 1997, 2007) - Twilley Don't MindTwilley Don't MindTwilley Don't Mind is the second album from the Dwight Twilley Band, recorded and released in 1977 on Shelter Records, distributed at the time by Arista Records. The band consisted of Dwight Twilley , Phil Seymour , and Bill Pitcock IV...
(1977, reissued 1990, 1997, 2007) - The Great Lost Twilley AlbumThe Great Lost Twilley AlbumThe Great Lost Twilley Album was the third and final studio album from the Dwight Twilley Band, recorded in 1974 through 1980 and released in 1993 on Shelter Records...
(1993) - Live From AgoraLive from AgoraLive From Agora was the fourth and final album from the Dwight Twilley Band, recorded live in October 1976 and released in 2009 on Gigatone Records...
(2009)
Solo
- Phil Seymour (1980, reissued 2005)
- Phil Seymour 2 (1982, reissued 2011)
- Precious to Me (greatest hits and rarities) (1996)
Textones
- Midnight Mission (1984, reissued 2001)
"Detroit '85 Live & Unreleased" (2008, first release, Collectors' Choice Music)
Phil on drums and harmony vocals plus lead vocals including: Looking For The Magic and Back In Time.
External links
- VH-1 biography
- [ Allmusic listing]
Videos