Phil Brown & Body Language

* Homepage
* Subscribe!
* Snow Photo Gallery
* Local News
* Local Beats
o News Features
o Business
o Crime/Courts
o Education
o Government
o University
* State/Region
* Nation/World
* Sports
o All Sports
o OU Sports
o High School and Local Sports
o Community Sports
o National Sports
* Community Living
o Community
o Entertainment
o Religion
o Public Records
o Milestones
* Opinion
o Editorials
o Columns
o Letters to the Editor
o Blogs
* Obituaries
o Death Notices
* Classifieds
o All Classifieds
o Autos
o Homes
o Jobs
o Buy a Classified
o Garage Sales
o Businesses & Services
* Norman Homes
* pop Online
* Photo Galleries
* Print Edition
o Subscriber Services
o Rack Locations
o Print Ads
o Read Online
* Special Sections
* Daily Lunch Specials

Entertainment
Search
February 4, 2011
Veteran musician lands in Oklahoma

By Andrew W. Griffin The Norman Transcript The Norman Transcript Fri Feb 04, 2011, 12:44 AM CST

NORMAN — For two straight nights, at the two different Rococo restaurants in Oklahoma City, I had a chance to catch blues-rock musician Phil Brown.

The first night, at Rococo’s original location, Brown played a strictly acoustic gig. A mix of classic rock songs including The Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride,” The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes,” an obscure Peter Green (former Fleetwood Mac guitarist) song and his solid originals.

Brown’s sound is mature and soulful, with an appreciation for the roots of rock n’ roll. As someone with a love of classic rock and blues, Brown immediately caught my attention.

The next night, this time at Rococo’s new location on Oklahoma City’s north side, the singer, performing with the Phil Brown Trio — bassist David Copenhaven and drummer Peter Pollack — amped things a bit, but was still reserved enough to fit the nice, sit-down eatery.

Brown, confidently playing his electric guitar this time, played a Clapton-esque version of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,” a Cream tune (“Sleepy Time Time”) and a couple of Jimi Hendrix covers (“You’ve Got Me Floatin’,” “Fire”).

Curious about Brown and his music, I was amazed to find out that this musician — who is 60 but looks and acts 20 years younger — has been intimately involved in the rock scene since the late 1960s. And Brown has a fascinating story for those interested in rock music history.

A native of Los Alamos, N.M., Brown was adopted into a military family that moved around a bit.

“I was always a musician,” Brown said. “I had a ukulele as a kid. Mom said I disabled the crank so I could play it.”

This love of musical instruments led Brown to try out a Sears and Roebuck six-string banjo, take violin lessons and later take up brass instruments, including the saxophone and the tuba.

By the time The Beatles hit and surf rock was a popular trend, Brown was totally turned on to rock ’n roll.

“Rock ’n roll changed my life,” Brown said. “It was something I wanted to do.”

After dropping out of New Mexico Military Institute and, later, the University of Kansas, Brown bounced around the country by the late 1960s and early 1970s. Ultimately, he felt the pull of southern California and landed in Los Angeles, where it was hard not to run into fellow musicians.

At first, he was a roadie for Three Dog Night, and he kept getting better on the guitar all the while. He also wrote songs, some of which caught the attention of musicians in his peer group.

Brown would spend over three decades in L.A. He says the experience had its highs and lows — literally. He got hooked on drugs, but has been clean and sober for many years now. The period also had him writing for everyone from Pat Benatar to Cher.

He also joined up with Little Feat in 1980, soon after the death of singer Lowell George. He stayed with them about half a year before moving on. He said it was a great experience.

“What I loved about Little Feat is that they had a swing in their music that you didn’t hear from other people,” Brown said.

Brown also recalled an experience in L.A. he had in the mid-1980s, soon after he wrote the song “It’s Not You, It’s Not Me,” recorded by the Jefferson Starship spin-off band KBC Band.

“I was driving down Sunset Boulevard and heard my song playing on a radio in another car and I told the guy, ‘Hey, I wrote that song.’ He was like, ‘No way!’” recalled Brown.

He proudly notes that he was also the first white guy to play guitar with Kool and the Gang.

And while he would go on to write 13 Top 10 hits in those heady days, Brown said record labels were notoriously greedy and, to this day, he has received little — if anything — for his songwriting contributions.

Recalling his hit “Get It While It’s Hot,” a late ’80s tune he wrote for glam metal band Kix, Brown said that he “didn’t receive a dime” and that he “wasn’t represented well.” He said it was a problem for numerous artists too afraid to upset the system.

Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, Brown kept working and recording, both in the U.S. and in Europe. His most recent recordings — “Cruel Inventions,” “MP.TU” and the Jimi Hendrix cover album “The Jimi Project” — showcase a talented musician who is inspired by old rock sounds, and he interprets them in his own way. And it’s uncanny how he sounds like Eric Clapton at times.

And now, Brown has landed in Oklahoma City after working in Austin, Texas, for a few years. He finds the scene in central Oklahoma very cool. A recent show at Norman’s Brewhouse was packed.

“I love it here. Anything with ‘OK’ in the name has got it going on,” he said. “Having a place to go and play is really good. I feel blessed and love getting to do what I’m able to do.”

For more information on Phil Brown, go to www.philbrownmusic.com and www.myspace.com/philbrownguitar. - The Oklahoma Gazette

/Users/philipakbrown/Desktop/TQRJulAug10_FinalProof.pdf

Please read page 5
Right hand side of the page - 3rd sentence almost 1/3 down the page - The Tone Quest Report and /Users/philipakbrown/Desktop/discography.jpg