Philip Warren Seymour (May 15, 1952 - August 17, 1993) was an American drummer, singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known for the singles "

I'm on Fire "I'm on Fire" is a song written and performed by American rock performer Bruce Springsteen. Released in 1985, it was the fourth single from his album ''Born in the U.S.A.'' History "I'm on Fire" was first recorded in January 1982 during the fir ...

" (with The Dwight Twilley Band), his own solo hit "Precious to Me" and for providing backing vocals on

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the lat ...

's hits "

American Girl American Girl is an American line of dolls released on May 5, 1986, by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray eight- to fourteen-year-old boys and girls of a variety of ethnicities, faiths, and social classes from different time periods throughou ...

" and "

Breakdown Breakdown may refer to: Breaking down *Breakdown (vehicle), failure of a motor vehicle in such a way that it cannot be operated *Chemical decomposition, also called chemical breakdown, the breakdown of a substance into simpler components *Decompo ...

." His solo work is revered among fans of

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ch ...

Dwight Twilley Band

In 1967, Seymour met fellow Tulsa musician

Dwight Twilley Dwight Twilley (born June 6, 1951) is an American pop/rock singer and songwriter, best known for the Top 20 hit singles "I'm on Fire" (1975) and "Girls" (1984). His music is associated with the power pop style. Twilley and Phil Seymour performed ...

at a theater where they had both gone to see a screening of '' A Hard Day's Night''. They soon began writing and recording together, going by the name Oister. In 1974, Seymour and Twilley signed with

Shelter Records Shelter Records was a U.S. record label started by Leon Russell and Denny Cordell that operated from 1969 to 1981. The company established offices in both Los Angeles and Tulsa, Russell's home town, where the label sought to promote a "workshop ...

and formed The Dwight Twilley Band.

"I'll never forget the cold November night at the Church Studios in Tulsa. Phil and I had just signed our first recording contract. We had been instructed by the record company to get acquainted with working in a 'real' 16-track studio and not to record a 'real' record. In the confusion of a pivotal moment, it was Phil who pulled me into a secluded hallway and said 'Dwight, let's make a hit record right now.' That night we recorded 'I'm on Fire.'" - Dwight Twilley, in an excerpt from Phil Seymour's letter of remembrance.

"I'm on Fire", with little promotion, reached #16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the week ending August 2, 1975. The Dwight Twilley Band recorded two albums together, with Phil and Dwight singing lead and harmony vocals, Phil playing drums and bass, Dwight playing guitar and vocals, and their friend Bill Pitcock IV contributing lead guitar. However, a string of unlucky breaks played a significant role in limiting their success. In 1978, Seymour left the band to pursue a solo career.

Solo years

In the downtime between recording deals, he worked as a session musician as well as played drums for

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

on their self-titled first album as well as drums on

Moon Martin John David "Moon" Martin (October 31, 1945 – May 11, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Career Born in Altus, Oklahoma, United States, Martin gained recognition in the 1970s as a pop artist and composer. Originally a rockab ...

's ''Shots from a Cold Nightmare'' album). Seymour sang backing vocals on four of Tom Petty's songs, "Breakdown," "

," and "Strangered In The Night" from his debut album, along with "Magnolia" from Petty's sophomore effort. During 1978, Seymour also traveled to England to work on a solo recording with

Denny Cordell Dennis Cordell-Lavarack (1 August 1943 – 18 February 1995), known as Denny Cordell, was an English record producer. He is notable for his mid-1960s and early 1970s productions of hit singles for The Moody Blues, Leon Russell, The Move, Procol ...

producing - five songs were recorded with

Chris Spedding Christopher John Spedding (born Peter Robinson, 17 June 1944) is an English musician, singer, guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Spedding is best known for his st ...

on guitar. Two of the songs were released on the compilation ''Precious to Me'' and all five on the 2016 CD ''The London And Los Angeles Unreleased Sessions''. In 1980, Seymour signed to

Boardwalk Records Boardwalk Records is a record label founded by Neil Bogart in 1980, after PolyGram acquired Casablanca Records from him. History The label had hit acts with Joan Jett and Harry Chapin. Other artists on the Boardwalk label included, Invisible Ma ...

, and he released his first solo album, titled ''Phil Seymour'', on January 16, 1981. The album was produced by

Richie Podolor Richard Allen Podolor (January 7, 1936 – March 9, 2022) was an American musician, record producer and songwriter. His career started as a session musician in the 1950s, and he was best known as the producer of Three Dog Night. Life and career ...

, who produced Seymour's second album and later produced Twilley's ''The Luck''. "Precious to Me", the first single from the album, written by Seymour, reached #22 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the week ending March 28, 1981. It also went to #6 in Australia, where it was certified gold. "I Really Love You" reached #13 in South Africa. The album also included a cover of "

Trying to Get to You "Tryin' to Get to You" is a song written by R&B singer songwriters Rose Marie McCoy and Charles Singleton. It was originally recorded by the Washington DC vocal group The Eagles in 1954 and released in mid-1954 on Mercury Records 70391. The fo ...

" as well as Phil's "Baby It's You", included on ''Poptopia: Powerpop Classics of the 80s'', a compilation released in 1997 by Rhino. His second solo album ''Phil Seymour 2'' was released in 1982 but featured less original material. It included the Tom Petty song "Surrender". Boardwalk Records' founder

Neil Bogart Neil E. Bogart (born Neil Scott Bogatz, February 3, 1943 – May 8, 1982) was an American record executive. He was the founder of Casablanca Records, which later became Casablanca Record and Filmworks. Life and career Born Neil Scott Bogatz in t ...

died shortly after its release, which collapsed the label (not a new experience for Seymour as Shelter Records had collapsed during the Dwight Twilley Band days), and Seymour was again without a record deal.

Illness and posthumous releases

In 1984, Seymour joined the Textones, a

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...

band led by Carla Olson and George Callins. With them, he recorded the ''Midnight Mission'', and toured with them as a singer and drummer. During the tour, he noticed lumps appearing on his neck, and he was diagnosed with

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

. Seymour moved back to Tulsa to undergo treatment for the cancer and continued to record and play live locally, albeit at a much diminished pace, until his death on August 17, 1993, at the Tarzana Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 41. In 1996, after its acquisition of Shelter Records,

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

's The Right Stuff reissue label released ''Precious to Me'', a 15-song Seymour collection, which served as a companion piece to Dwight Twilley's ''XXI'' collection on the same label. The album included songs from Seymour's days with The Dwight Twilley Band and the Textones as well as unreleased solo material recorded for Shelter in 1978 and with Olson and Callins in 1991 and 1992. ''Midnight Mission'' was reissued in 2001, and in 2005, ''Phil Seymour'' was reissued on CD with three bonus tracks, one each composed by Seymour, Twilley and Pitcock. ''Phil Seymour 2'' was released by Fuel 2000 Records (Universal) in October 2011 with 10 previously unreleased bonus tracks. On April 24, 2020, Sunset Blvd. Records released "If You Don't Want My Love". The album features previously unreleased recordings produced by

, including the title track, written by

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

and

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He ...

Discography

The Dwight Twilley Band

* '' Sincerely'' (1976, reissued 1989, 1997, 2007) * '' Twilley Don't Mind'' (1977, reissued 1990, 1997, 2007) * ''

The Great Lost Twilley Album ''The Great Lost Twilley Album'' is a compilation of songs from the Dwight Twilley Band and Dwight Twilley solo, recorded in 1974 through 1980 and released in 1993 on Shelter Records. The basic band consisted of Dwight Twilley (guitar, piano, lea ...

'' (1993) * '' Live from Agora'' (2009)

Solo

* ''Phil Seymour'' (1980, reissued 2005, 2012), US #64 * ''Phil Seymour 2'' (1982, reissued 2011) * ''Precious to Me'' (1996) * ''Phil Seymour in Concert!'' Live at the Hong Kong Cafe, 1979 & Live at

Gazzarri's Gazzarri's was a nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, United States. The Doors and Van Halen were featured house bands there before being signed to major record labels. It was the backdrop for Huey Lewis and the News' shor ...

, 1980 (2014) * ''London & Los Angeles Unreleased Sessions'' (2016) * ''Prince of Power Pop - His Very Best'' (2017) * ''If You Don’t Want My Love'' (2020)

Textones

* ''Midnight Mission'' (1984, reissued 2001) * ''Detroit '85 Live & Unreleased'' (2008, first release, Collectors' Choice Music)

References

External links

* * * *
Precious to me, a tribute to Phil Seymour
;Videos * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seymour, Phil 1952 births 1993 deaths American rock drummers American rock guitarists American male guitarists American rock songwriters American rock singers Deaths from lymphoma Musicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma 20th-century American singers American male singer-songwriters Deaths from cancer in California Power pop musicians 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma Guitarists from Oklahoma 20th-century American male singers