Phillip Walker (Born 11/02/1937)

Considering he has been around for four decades Phillip Walker has not generated that much publicity or had a prolific recording career. Often classed as one of the 'modern' blues performers (even though he is now in his 70th decade) he first saw his name on record as lead on an album in 1973, a collection of sides he had recorded over a three year period from 1969 onwards. His first break had come much earlier when Clifton Chenier employed him as his guitarist in 1953 - he stayed with him for around three and a half years.

From early on in his career, he was exposed to a range of different influences, especially since Chenier was adept at playing to his audience (playing zydeco in one region, straight R&B further north). In the 60s he played with a number of different bands, even joining Little Richard's entourage for 30 days in 1969 for one of Richard's frequent forays back into secular music. His 1973 "Bottom Of The Top" release was interesting for any number of reasons, not least because it came out on the Hugh Hefner (Playboy etc.) financed label. It was also a pretty hard-hitting blues album for the times, with a great rendition of a Walker favourite ('Hello My Darling'), his own excellent R&B soaked 'It's All In Your Mind' and a languid version of Sam Cooke's 'Laughing and Clowning'.
He recorded the album "Someday You'll Have These Blues" in 1977, but didn't produce a recording again until "Tough As I Want To Be" in 1983. The gaps between album releases indicate the difficulty Walker had in getting recorded but in no way detract from his abilities as a vocalist and guitarist.

His background and sideman career gave him the ability to play in a variety of styles - straight blues, Texas blues, and sophisticated material from the likes of Dennis Walker. In 1988 he produced the "Blues" album, which included the original version of 'Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark', later recorded as the title track of a million selling record by Robert Cray.

One of the best recent CD's is called "Working Girl Blues" (Black Top) and Walker is quick to point out that whilst it contains a variety of styles (everything from soulful New Orleans funk, plenty of shuffles and a nod to the past with a zydeco tune) it simply reflects the way he has been playing all his life.
"I Got A Sweet Tooth" was an excellent follow-up, recorded with two hand-picked bands in New Orleans and Austin, Texas. Only one original on this release, with Walker concentrating on great interpretations of material from the likes of Junior Parker and O.V. Wright. A particular highlight is the funky title track, with shades of one of his heroes, Lightnin' Hopkins. The tragedy is that both these releases got caught up in Black Top's subsequent financial troubles, with the result that the albums got little in the way of promotion. Although they were subsequently picked up by the Alligator label, they again found themselves on the market without the push they deserved.

A relaxed but passionate vocalist and excellent guitarist (T-Bone Walker, B.B. King and jazz inflections are all in there), he is perhaps a little low key for some; in my view, he often completely outshines others with more fashionable reputations and more effective public relations and the Working Girl and Got A Sweet Tooth album are two of the best in many a year. In October 2002, he released the live album "Phillip Walker Live at Biscuits & Blues", which offers a perfect opportunity to hear Walker doing what he does best. Hightone also have a "Best Of" available at the time of this update (November 2007).