John Phillips (musician)

John Phillips (August 30, 1935 – March 18, 2001) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He was a member and leader of the singing group The Mamas & the Papas. He is the father of Mackenzie Phillips, Chynna Phillips, and Bijou Phillips.

After: The ups and downs

Phillips released his first solo album Wolfking of L.A. in 1970. The album was not commercially successful, although it did include the minor hit "Mississippi", and Phillips began to withdraw from the limelight as his use of narcotics increased.

Related Topics:
1970 - Narcotic

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Actress Genevieve Waite became wife number three in 1972. Tamerlane and Bijou Phillips entered the world during this union, which was marked by years of mutual drug abuse, infidelity and failed artistic expression. John produced a Genevieve Waite album, Romance Is On the Rise, that was quickly forgotten. Her acting career fizzled. Phillips persevered by writing music for films and Broadway, creating a musical. It was savagely criticized and closed on Broadway during previews.

Related Topics:
Actress - Genevieve Waite - 1972 - Bijou Phillips - Broadway - Musical

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Phillips began to write and record a new solo album in 1977 when Mick Jagger signed him to the new Atlantic Records imprint Rolling Stone Records. Jagger and Keith Richards would produce and play on the album, as well as former Stone Mick Taylor and future Stone Ronnie Wood. The project was derailed by Phillips' increasing use of cocaine and heroin, substances that he shot into his body, by his own admission, "almost every fifteen minutes for two years". (E! True Hollywood Story, Mackenzie Phillips). Amazingly, he survived, yet everything in his life, including the new album was shelved. Decades later, in 2001, the tracks were released as Pay Pack & Follow. The record is a rich collection of country, rock. Although the album offers a trip back to the 1970s, its dated sound prevented the album from being noticed by the press and general music buying audience.

Related Topics:
1977 - Mick Jagger - Atlantic Records - Rolling Stone Records - Keith Richards - Mick Taylor - Ronnie Wood - Cocaine - Heroin - Mackenzie Phillips - 2001 - Pay Pack & Follow - Country - Rock - 1970s

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A drug trafficking conviction in 1981 brought the hot glare of public scrutiny. Phillips and his television star daughter Mackenzie made the rounds in the media, instructing kids and their parents how not to become addicts. This public relations campaign helped reduce his prison time; he bargained down to only a month in jail. Upon release, he re-formed the Mamas and the Papas, with his daughter Mackenzie Phillips, Spanky McFarlane (of the group Spanky and Our Gang) and Denny Doherty. Throughout the rest of his life, Phillips toured with various versions of the group.

Related Topics:
1981 - Spanky McFarlane - Spanky and Our Gang - Denny Doherty

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In 1986, he published a best-seller, his autobiography, Papa John. He was divorced from Waite in the 1980s. He co-wrote a song for the Beach Boys, Kokomo, which became a number one hit in 1988.

Related Topics:
1986 - 1980s - Beach Boys - Kokomo - 1988

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In the 1990s, his years of addiction took hold; he received a liver transplant in 1992. John Phillips died on March 18 2001, in Los Angeles of heart failure. He is buried in the Palm Springs Mortuary & Mausoleum in Palm Springs, California where he had lived with his fourth wife, Farnaz. He was survived by his five children, and a collection of music which earned him a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A new solo album called Phillips 66 was released posthumously in August of 2001.

Related Topics:
1990s - Liver transplant - 1992 - March 18 - 2001 - Los Angeles - Heart failure - Palm Springs Mortuary & Mausoleum - Palm Springs, California - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - Phillips 66

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