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Final Light: Cherry Red Collects Last Three Volumes of Anthony Phillips' "Private Parts and Pieces"

May 31, 2018 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

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Between 1978 and 2012, founding Genesis guitarist Anthony Phillips released eleven volumes of Private Parts & Pieces.  Each volume has collected various odds and ends from the composer/multi-instrumentalist which, for one reason or another, wouldn't have fit comfortably on any of his proper solo albums.  Since 2015, Cherry Red Group's Esoteric Recordings imprint has been reissuing and expanding these fascinating releases in box set form.  The third and final box (to date), Private Parts & Pieces IX-XI, collects the albums originally issued in 1996, 1999, and 2012 plus a bonus disc.

Private Parts & Pieces IX: Dragonfly Dreams (1996) took advantage of the long running time afforded by the CD format to bring together eighteen of Phillips' compositions dating back to 1986, including a 17+-minute epic piece for acoustic 12-string guitar, "Chinese Walls."  The eclectic nature of the project also encompassed such tracks as "Something Blue," a pop song once mooted for singer Elkie Brooks but reinterpreted here on classical guitar, "In the Valleys" from the recording period of his album Invisible Men (which itself was recently reissued by Esoteric), and a number of vivid improvisations.

While the artist played various guitars on Dragonfly, he turned to solo piano for Volume X, Soiree (1999).  Volume VI (Ivory Moon) was also a solo piano set.  The 20 tracks on Dragonfly were newly-written and recorded save for "Creation," which was penned three decades earlier, in 1968.  Phillips announced that there were no overdubs on the album which embraced a soft, comforting tone on such tracks as the moving tribute to the late Princess Diana, "Fallen Flower," and the opening musical portrait of a "Sad Ballerina."

The final album in this box set, 2012's Volume XI: City of Dreams, resulted from Phillips' prolific work as a composer for television and library music on keyboard and synthesizer.  Some compositions weren't felt by Phillips to fit into the library music genre (music written for the specific purpose of licensing for use in television, film, radio, or other media), so he collated those stray pieces to curate this 31-track Private Parts volume.  Some new recording also took place, including a guitar overdub on "King of the Mountains."   City of Dreams remains Phillips' final solo album to date.

The three volumes here are rounded out by a bonus disc, Private Parts & Extra Pieces III.  These eighteen previously unreleased tracks were recorded between 1991 and 2012, and comprise a varied lot of alternately shimmering and stirring instrumental material played on piano, guitar, and keyboard.  Three tracks feature guitarist Quique Berro Garcia, and a couple of alternate mixes of Dragonfly Dreams songs are also included.

The packaging of this set follows the clamshell box style of the previous releases.  James Collins has remastered all tracks, and Phillips' compilation co-producer Jonathan Dann has provided detailed liner notes.  Full credits and copious photos and illustrations are also featured in the 24-page booklet.  Each album is housed in a mini-LP replica sleeve.  Private Parts & Pieces IX-XI is available now from Cherry Red and Esoteric Recordings at the links below!

Anthony Phillips, Private Parts & Pieces IX-XI (Cherry Red/Esoteric ECLEC 42623, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: Dragonfly Dreams (Blueprint BP229CD, 1996)

Part I

  1. Openers
  2. In the Valleys
  3. Something Blue
  4. Quango
  5. Lostwithiel
  6. Under the Ice
  7. Sarah Blakely's Evening
  8. She'll Be Waiting
  9. Still Time

Part II

  1. Hills of Languedoc
  2. Luigi Palta's Confession
  3. The Tears of Pablo Paraguas
  4. Melancholy Flower
  5. Night Song
  6. Chinese Walls
  7. Old Faithful
  8. Summer Ponds and Dragonflies
  9. Lost and Found

CD 2: Soiree (Blueprint BP319CD, 1999)

  1. Sad Ballerina
  2. Final Light
  3. Sultry Leaves
  4. Fivers
  5. Creation
  6. Keepsake
  7. Venetian Mystery
  8. Scythia
  9. Cantilena
  10. The Oregon Trail
  11. Passacaglia
  12. Gazebo
  13. Passepied
  14. Fallen Flower
  15. Noblesse Oblige
  16. Hope of Ages
  17. Obezag
  18. Rain Suite
  19. After You Left
  20. Summer's Journey

CD 3: City of Dreams (Voiceprint VP556CD)

  1. City of Dreams I
  2. Piledriver
  3. King of the Mountains
  4. Coral Island
  5. Astral Bath
  6. City of Dreams II
  7. Air and Grace
  8. Tuscan Wedding
  9. Mystery Train I
  10. Sunset Pools
  11. Sea and Sardinia
  12. Watching While You Sleep
  13. Night Owl
  14. The Deep
  15. City of Dreams III
  16. Mystery Train II
  17. Star's End
  18. Doom Flower
  19. Night Train to Novrogod
  20. Sea of Tranquility
  21. 39 Steps
  22. Lake of Fire
  23. Realms of Gold
  24. City of Dreams IV
  25. Days of Yore
  26. Across the Steppes
  27. Act of Faith
  28. Grand Master
  29. Mystery Train III
  30. Anthem for Doomed Youth
  31. The Homecoming

CD 4: Private Parts & Extra Pieces III (all tracks previously unreleased)

  1. High Roller
  2. Piano Drama Movement I
  3. Sunset Drifter
  4. Lostwithiel Link
  5. Roads in Between
  6. Shimmering Peaks
  7. Castles and Courtships
  8. Brand New Cadillac
  9. Ocean of Stars
  10. Pablo Dries Out
  11. Lost Monolith
  12. A Simple Man
  13. Night Song (Alternate Mix)
  14. Firefly
  15. Constellation of Hope
  16. Piano Drama Movement III
  17. Heaven's Gate
  18. Lost and Found (Alternate Mix)

Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Everything Else, Pop, Rock Tags: Anthony Phillips, Genesis

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Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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