The superb remaster of Radio Clyde 1978 captures Anthony Phillips playing and singing live in the studio, for a classic radio session.

Release date: Available now

Label: Esoteric Recordings/Cherry Red Records

Format: CD 

A TREASURED EDITION

Straight away let me say that if you follow Anthony Phillips work, this remastered edition of a session recorded for Radio Clyde in July 1978, will be a treasured addition to your collection. It was originally issued in 2003 and has been unavailable for some time. Alternatively, if Anthony Phillips is a new artist to you, this is a great introduction to his work and will have you hooked and wanting to explore more of his music. 

As was indicated in a previous album review, Anthony Phillips is a musician and composer, who was one of the founding members, and the original guitarist, with the progressive rock band Genesis, up to 1970, including playing on the album Trespass. He is an artist with an impressive body of solo work and collaborations with other artists. The CD for this release is accompanied by a booklet, with text by Jonathan Dann, that helpfully sketches in the background to the Radio Clyde session, allowing the listener to place the recording within Anthony Phillips extensive catalogue of work. 

THE BACKGROUND

Anthony Phillips second album Wise After The Event was released in May 1978. Jonathan Dann describes that as part of the campaign to promote the album, a series of promotional visits across the UK were organised to give press and radio interviews, with the radio interviews including him playing some songs in the studio. Anthony Phillips was also at the time assembling material for a largely acoustic instrumental album, to be called Private Parts and Pieces. The studio session for Radio Clyde in Glasgow developed into a complete one-hour programme, with Anthony Phillips recording the session live in the studio. The session included alongside material from from his first album The Geese And The Ghost, and from Wise After The Event, instrumental pieces from the later to be released Private Parts and Pieces.

Anthony Phillips playing and singing live in the studio, with just his guitar, is something of a rarity in his available recordings, as Jonathan Dann highlights in the accompanying booklet. So, this new remastered edition, including two additional tracks from the session for Pennine Radio from the same month, is a very welcome release.

THE ALBUM

The Radio Clyde session begins with an instrumental piece titled Reaper, which was soon to appear on the Private Parts and Pieces album, released in the UK in April 1979. It encompasses soft flowing cadences interrupted by strident rhythmic forays. It is a fully integrated piece that conveys a sense of movement and reflection. The myriad of guitar phrases gives a sense of their being a second guitarist, but of course it is all Anthony Phillips. The guitar work is that impressive.

Moonshooter from the Wise After The Event album follows. It is a beautifully performed song with Anthony Phillips vocal matching the delicacy of the guitar figures. The final lines of the song are delivered with a gentle optimism: 

“Carry on shooting your moons…

Maybe we’ll come back soon

Yes I will come back soon”

STUNNING INSTRUMENTAL PIECES

Two stunning instrumental pieces follow. Flamingo, which would also be included on the Private Parts and Pieces album, has a jazz flair with its swing rhythms, and offers some very dynamic extended guitar runs that are almost breathless in their intensity. Next is the first movement of a Guitar, Strings and Wind Quintet, subsequently for its appearance on The Living Room Concert album released in 1995, given the title of Conversation Piece. As a piece of music, it has a beautiful ebb and flow, with rippling waves of guitar, that are almost hypnotic in their impact.

Something you notice, right from the beginning of the session, is that Anthony Phillips introduces a number of the songs with a very wry humour, which suggests that he was perhaps feeling quite relaxed in the Radio Clyde studios, and enjoying the session. Something which seems to be borne out by the way he warmly thanks at the end, everyone at the station for a “smashing session”.

Silver Song is a song which was written by Anthony Phillips and Mike Rutherford from Genesis, to be a goodbye to early Genesis drummer John Silver. It is introduced as an audience participation number, and in fact during the performance of the song, the invisible Radio Clyde listeners subsequently hearing the broadcast are invited to join in with the chorus. It is a poignant and emotionally delivered reading of the song, which also has an uplifting sense of optimism. It is in fact a sublime pop song and one can imagine in other circumstances it being a chart topper. It was apparently recorded and slated for release as a first Phil Collins solo single, but this unfortunately didn’t come to pass. 

STRONG NARRATIVE SONGWRITING AND IMPASSIONED VOCAL PERFORMANCES

A brace of songs then follows, Master of Time, Which Way The Wind Blows and Now What, a song protesting the treatment of animals by humans. All an indication of Anthony Phillips strong narrative songwriting and impassioned vocal performances, emphasising that his talents are not just in his guitar and compositional work, dazzling as that is.

The session finishes with Field Of Eternity (from the subsequent Private Parts and Pieces album), co-written with Mike Rutherford, and Postlude: End Of The Season (called at the time of the session Last One To Leave). Field Of Eternity is a gorgeous, contemplative, guitar instrumental that seems to glide from the speakers. The short instrumental session closer Postlude, Anthony Phillips describes as a postscript piece, before thanking Radio Clyde for the session.

The sound on this remastered CD edition is warm and very present and offers a lovely listening experience. Interestingly, as Jonathan Dann’s accompanying text explains, the original source material was a cassette tape of the session, given to Anthony Phillips at the time by the radio station. The original session master appears not to have been retained. The bonus tracks of additional versions of Reaper and Which Way The Wind Blows, from the session for Pennine Radio from the same month, benefit a little from the source material being a quarter inch tape of the session recorded from the broadcast by Pennine Radio itself.

THE FLAIR OF PHILLIPS

Radio Clyde 1978 is a powerful illustration of the songwriting, compositional, and instrumental flair of Anthony Phillips, and this remastered edition is a very worthy addition to his extensive body of work. The accompanying booklet includes Jonathan Dann’s excellent, well written, and comprehensive description of the background to the session. A recommended read alongside listening to the music.  

You can find out more about Anthony Phillips here: Anthony Phillips Website / Facebook

You can find out more about Esoteric Recordings and Cherry Red Records here: Esoteric Recordings Website / Cherry Red Records / Cherry Red Records Facebook

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