Anthony Phillips can often be portrayed as a loser in the labyrinthine Genesis saga. A founder member of the storied outfit, he came from the Anon camp right back there at Charterhouse, with Mike Rutherford and Richard Macphail. Phillips was instrumental in the early sound of Genesis as they transitioned from the saccharine chart-pop wannabes of From Genesis To Revelation to their initial lengthy mystical prog-soul experiments. Most importantly, he played 12-string with Mike Rutherford, setting up the intricate multilayered guitar passages that dominated their early work, making the instruments sound more like lutes or harps than the folky approach taken by most players.
As 1970 progressed, he had left – thanks to a toxic combination of illness, a broken heart and stage-fright – and was persuaded to return for the recording of Trespass, the group’s debut album for Charisma, which was released after he’d played his final ever concert with the group that July. And, seemingly, that was it from Phillips until 1977 when he returned with his beautiful, if poorly timed album The Geese & The Ghost. In the interim, his old turn seemed to grow bigger and bigger, moving from clubs to theatres to arenas, withstanding personnel changes to become more and more successful. Phillips, however, juggled a career that involved study, tuition and writing for others, plus an early adoption of writing and performing library music, which would prove lucrative for him as time passed. Intermittent solo albums followed: some unashamedly commercial, the 1979 Rupert Hineproduced Sides or the 1983 pop curio Invisible Men; instrumental suites, such as Slow Dance; classical, Seventh Heaven, and collaborations, including Tarka and Gypsy Suite with Harry Williamson. However, Phillips is probably most loved for his Private Parts And Pieces series of instrumental offcuts throughout the years that first appeared at the end of the 70s, and is soon to have its 12th instalment released.
One thing Phillips resolutely has done since 1970, however,
