ANTHONY PHILLIPS - PRIVATE PARTS & PIECES PART V " TWELVE" 1985

Twelve is the first album with a unifying concept for Anthony Phillips' Private Parts Pieces series, and largely follows the intimate, non-retrospective precedent set by third album Antiques, with Ant constraining himself to one instrument throughout the album and recording thepieces in one period during 1984. Contrary to what one might expect, Twelve is also one of the least accessible albums of this series. Each of the moderately lengthy compositions is played on an acoustic twelve-string guitar, which limits the album's potential for different sounds and textures that might juggle the listener's attention. Despite this constraint, it is to his credit that Phillips really demonstrates a mastery of the instrument by exploiting all the possible sounds you can get out of it in a way that might have made Michael Hedges proud: finger tapping, harmonics, picking near the bridge to create a tinny timbre, etc...

Anthony Edwin "Ant" Phillips (b. 23 December 1951, Chiswick, West London) is an English musician, best known as a founding member of the band Genesis. He played guitar and sang backing vocals until leaving in 1970, following the recording of their second album, Trespass. He left due to suffering from stage fright, after being told by his doctor that the best thing would be to leave the band. He is known for his twelve string guitar work, and his influence can be heard throughout Genesis's early output.

Genesis's first album after Phillips's departure, Nursery Cryme, featured two songs which were holdovers from the days when Phillips was in the band: "The Musical Box" (originally called F#) and "The Fountain Of Salmacis." "The Musical Box" especially remains a favourite of fans, but few recognise Phillips's contribution to the composition.

After leaving Genesis, Phillips studied classical music (especially classical guitar) and made recordings in collaboration with Harry Williamson, Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins, among others. His first solo album, The Geese and the Ghost, was issued in 1977.

Phillips released his second album in 1978, entitled Wise After the Event. This was followed the next year by Sides. Both of these albums were produced by Rupert Hine and were intended to reach a mainstream audience, though neither album was successful in that regard.

In its initial release in the UK, Sides was accompanied by a more experimental album entitled Private Parts and Pieces; in the U.S. and Canada the two albums were issued separately. Private Parts and Pieces II: Back to the Pavilion followed the next year, and several further sequels were issued in the 1980s and 1990s.

Phillips began writing material with Andrew Latimer of Camel in 1981, and was a featured performer on that band's album, The Single Factor (released in 1982).

Phillips released a mainstream pop album entitled Invisible Men in 1983. He later claimed that this project went "horribly wrong" as a result of commercial pressures, and would subsequently eschew mainstream success in favour of more specialised material.

Phillips remains involved in a variety of musical projects, including extensive soundtrack work in England. In the mid-1990s, he released an album entitled The Living Room Concert, which featured solo acoustic versions of his earlier material. He also provided archival material for the first Genesis box set, Genesis Archive 1967-75, released in 1998.



Tracks :

01. January
02. February
03. March
04. April
05. May
06. June
07. July
08. August
09. September
10. October
11. November
12. December