Phil Orsi (born June 14, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and musician.

Early life

Orsi was born and grew up in

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, Illinois. His passion for music began with the gift of a small radio from his grandmother. Orsi's father owned an Italian food and liquor store on 26th and Princeton streets on the city's south side. In the early 1960s the neighborhoods were razed en masse so that construction of the

Dan Ryan Expressway The Dan Ryan Expressway is an expressway in Chicago that runs from the Circle Interchange with Interstate 290 (I-290) near Downtown Chicago through the South Side of the city. It is designated as both I-90 and I-94 south to 66th Street, a d ...

could begin. The family moved the business (Orsi & Sons) to a new location at 59 East 18th street. The store was nearby Chicago's "Record Row" on South Michigan Avenue. Musicians from studios such as

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...

would stop by at Orsi & Sons for lunch. Young Phil Orsi soon became friends with

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

and

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

Early career

Orsi started up his band Phil Orsi & The Little Kings in 1962. The original line-up consisted of John Jackson on horns, Clark Dufay on lead guitar, Steve Hamilton on drums and himself on bass guitar. They played many clubs, bars and halls in Chicago area and neighboring states. They recorded a number of singles on local Chicago labels such as USA Records. The name of the band came from the comic strip "The Little King" created by

Otto Soglow Otto Soglow (December 23, 1900 – April 3, 1975) was an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip ''The Little King''. Born in Yorkville, Manhattan, Soglow grew up in New York City, where he held various jobs as a teenager and made an ...

. The band wore patches of the character on their band jackets. The band's single "

Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home) "Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)" is a song written by Artie Zwirn and Harry Giosasi and produced and arranged by LeRoy Holmes. The single was performed by New York-based doo-wop group The Impalas. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, U.S. pop ...

" was listed as one of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s "Spotlights" in August 1966. The following year, the group recorded a Larry Nestor song "Loving on Borrowed Time" for the Wise World Record label, that Orsi founded with

Otis Clay Otis Lee Clay (February 11, 1942 – January 8, 2016) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and Soul music, soul singer, who started in gospel music. In 2013, Clay was inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame. Early life Clay was born in Waxhaw, Miss ...

. The single became a Northern Soul favorite in British dance clubs. Orsi met band manager and booking agent

Carl Bonafede Carl Bonafede was born in the Little Italy Chicago community on October 16, 1940. He appeared as a young boy on local television on ''Morris B. Sach's Amateur Hour'' singing and playing the accordion. He appeared on an interview show, Ernie Simon ...

at the Vogue Ballroom in Chicago when Bonafede was first managing the Fabulous Centuries whose band members included

Carl Giammarese The Buckinghams are an American sunshine pop band from Chicago. They formed in 1966 and went on to become one of the top-selling acts of 1967, charting their only five top 40 hits in the U.S. that year. The band dissolved in 1970, but re-formed ...

and Nick Fortuna. Orsi later had a band called the Uni-beats' and recorded singles on local Chicago labels like Scarlott Records. Later on he became part of local act The Thunderbirds. The group had releases on The Delaware and Ivanhoe labels which were subdivisions of

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

a Chicago- based recording label. The Thunderbirds (from Chicago) had a line-up of John Russo on drums, Coy Lowehorne on lead guitar, Ken Hoffman on keyboards, Cal Clemons on horns and Orsi on bass guitar. Orsi later fronted a Chicago-area band called Happiness Is alongside Stan Tuma, Tony Pettinato, Jack Souligny, Larry Weimer Jim Beldo, Dino Day and Phil Orsi. They did shows with Chicago DJ, Dick Biondi, including a show at the Aire Crown Theater starring Andy Williams and Henry Mancini. Happiness Is also did shows with many big name acts including: The Coasters, The Platters, Chubby Checker, Bill Haley and The Comets and others. They were together for about seven years and played the Chicago club circuit and surrounding states. They recorded and released songs on the local Banner Records label in Chicago.

Later career

Orsi still occasionally performs locally in the Chicago area with his band at music festivals, vintage automobile shows and village parks in the summertime and local halls and bowling alleys in the winter time. Since 2014, Orsi has annually in a senior competition to benefit deserving college students in the form of scholarships generated by audience contributions. The Orland Township Senior American Idol competition held annually in May of each year has provided charitable monies for college-bound students. He has finished in the top three finalists twice in these events. Friends and families of the competitors have a good time with the music and a good meal at the same time. The 2017 Orland Township Senior American Idol competition was held at Giorgio's Banquet Hall in Orland Park on Thursday evening May 4. Phil performed the songs "More" in the first round.. "She's a Lady" in the second round.. and finally "Feeling Good" in the third round. Phil Orsi became the 2018 Senior American Idol winner in early May 2018.The Orland Township Senior American Idol competition was held Thursday, May 3, 2018, at Georgios Banquets in Orland Hills.

References

Citations Sources * *

External links

Official websitePhil Orsi on 45cat.comPhil Orsi on Discogs.comPhil Orsi_Orland Township
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orsi, Phil Living people Songwriters from Illinois American rock guitarists American male guitarists American male singers American rock singers Singers from Chicago American people of Italian descent Guitarists from Chicago 1939 births 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American male songwriters