Gary Phillips
Gary Phillips (born Gary Edmund Phillippet, also known as Gary Beserkley, Greg Phillips and King Phillip) (February 5th 1947 - January 17th 2007) was an American musician, and guitarist in groups Earth Quake and the Greg Kihn Band.
In 1975 Phillips worked at Rather Ripped Records in Berkeley, California, and in this capacity came into contact with The Residents, leading to his appearance on guitar on the closing section of the suite "Hitler Was a Vegetarian" on the group's 1976 album The Third Reich 'n Roll.
Phillips later worked at Beserkley Records, and was familiar to many in the Bay Area music scene at the time.
He passed away on January 17th 2007 after a battle with cancer.
History with The Residents
Gary Phillips was an employee at Rather Ripped Records in Berkeley, California in October 1975, when one night the store received a phone call from someone asking if there was a guitar player in the store who could add a part to a record they were recording. Phillips volunteered his services, and was directed to The Residents' Sycamore Street warehouse.
He described the experience in an interview with British music magazine Sounds: "I walked into this big warehouse and somebody asked me did I know "Hey Jude". I said, "Sure," and he asked me if I knew "Sympathy For The Devil". I said "Sure" again, and he said that was all they wanted me to play on the end of their record. I got my portable tape recorder and plugged into that. I didn't even use an amplifier."[1]
Phillips' contribution was part of the closing section of "Hitler Was a Vegetarian", the second suite on the group's album The Third Reich 'n Roll, which was released on Ralph Records the following February. On the liner notes of the original release of the album, Phillips is credited simply as "The Former Bass Player From The Front Line".
The release of the album was promoted at Rather Ripped with the installation of a large, swastika-themed display in the front windows of the store. This display remained for two days until it had to be removed due to local outrage.[2] By way of thanks, The Residents performed their first official live performance at Rather Ripped's fifth anniversary party the following June.
See also
External links and references
- ↑ Ian Shirley, Never Known Questions: Five Decades of The Residents, 2016
- ↑ Jim Knipfel, "Ignorance of Your Culture is Not Considered Cool", The Third Reich 'n Roll pREServed edition liner notes, 2018
