James McDonnell (born March 21, 1961), known by the stage name Slim Jim Phantom, is the drummer for Stray Cats. Alongside bandmates

Brian Setzer Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with ...

and

Lee Rocker Lee Rocker (born Leon Drucker, August 3, 1961) is an American musician. He is a member of the rockabilly revival band Stray Cats. He is the son of the classical clarinetists Stanley Drucker, the late former principal clarinetist of the New Yo ...

, he spearheaded the neo-rockabilly movement of the early 1980s. Phantom currently plays in the band Kat Men with Imelda May guitarist

Darrel Higham Darrel Higham (born 5 January 1970) is an English rockabilly guitarist who performs with Kat Men. He was previously married to Imelda May and performed in her band. Biography Music career Higham started playing lead guitar with British rocka ...

and is the host of the weekly radio show "Rockabilly Rave-up" on the satellite radio station

Underground Garage ''Underground Garage'' is the name shared by two related but different radio outlets, a syndicated show and a satellite radio station, both created and supervised by American musician Steven Van Zandt (best known as a guitarist in Bruce Springst ...

Biography

Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and raised in

Massapequa, New York Massapequa (, ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Massapequa area. The p ...

, Phantom grew up listening to his parents'

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

records and began playing drums by the age of ten. He took lessons with Mousie Alexander, who played with

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His conc ...

, studying

and working through books by Jim Chapin and Ted Reed. Slim Jim Phantom Stray Cats, Sweden 2008

By the late 1970s, he was playing in bands with his childhood friend,

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low b ...

. They soon joined forces with

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themsel ...

to form Stray Cats. When performing with Stray Cats, Phantom did not sit behind a standard

drum kit A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

like most drummers, but instead opted to play in a standing position with a minimalist set-up of

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...

snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...

hi-hat A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock, pop, jazz, and blues. Hi-hats consist o ...

, and crash cymbal. During downtime from Stray Cats, Phantom played in

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing ri ...

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and b ...

, and

jump blues Jump blues is an up-tempo style of blues, usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues was renewed in the 1990s as ...

combo The Swing Cats with Rocker and ex- Polecats guitarist Danny B. Harvey, as well as rockabilly and

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

project Phantom, Rocker & Slick with Rocker and

Earl Slick. Phantom also played with

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis mad ...

. He later formed Col. Parker with former

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff ...

guitarist

Gilby Clarke Gilbert J. "Gilby" Clarke (born August 17, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He had a 3-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses, replacing Izzy Stradlin in 1991 during the Use Your Illusion To ...

, releasing the album ''Rock n Roll Music'' in 2001. Most recently, he has been involved in the eponymous roots-rock band Slim Jim's Phantom Trio; rock-and-roll supergroup Dead Men Walking with Kirk Brandon and Mike Peters, and

Captain Sensible Raymond Ian Burns (born 24 April 1954), known by the stage name Captain Sensible, is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. Captain Sensible co-founded the punk rock band the Damned, originally playing bass before switching to guitar. H ...

; and rockabilly supergroup

The Head Cat The Head Cat is an American rockabilly supergroup formed by vocalist/bassist Lemmy (of Motörhead), drummer Slim Jim Phantom (of The Stray Cats) and guitarist Danny B. Harvey (of Lonesome Spurs and The Rockats). Lemmy died in 2015 and as of 201 ...

with Danny B. Harvey and the late

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a prec ...

vocalist and bassist

Lemmy Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he wa ...

. He also hosts the Rockabilly Raveup show on '' Little Steven's Underground Garage''. He was married to actress

Britt Ekland Britt Ekland (; born Britt-Marie Eklund; 6 October 1942) is a Swedish actress, model and singer. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in '' The Double Man'' (1967), '' The Night They Raided ...

from 1984 to 1992 and has a son, T.J. (born 1988), with her. , he is married to Jennie Vee, bassist for

Eagles of Death Metal Eagles of Death Metal is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, formed in 1998. Founded by Jesse Hughes (vocals, guitar) and Josh Homme (drums), the band also includes a wide range of other musicians who perform both on the band' ...

. In 2021, he formed a rockabilly band with Jimmy Barnes and

Chris Cheney Christopher John Cheney (born 2 January 1975) is an Australian rock musician, record producer, and studio owner. He is the founding mainstay guitarist, songwriter, and lead vocalist of the rockabilly band The Living End, which was formed in 19 ...

Discography

* Stray Cats – '' Stray Cats'' (1981) * Stray Cats – '' Gonna Ball'' (1981) * Stray Cats – '' Built for Speed'' (1982) * Stray Cats – '' Rant N' Rave with the Stray Cats'' (1983) * Phantom, Rocker & Slick – ''Phantom, Rocker & Slick'' (1985) * Phantom, Rocker & Slick – ''Cover Girl'' (1986) * Stray Cats – ''Rock Therapy'' (1986) * Stray Cats – ''Blast Off!'' (1989) * Stray Cats – ''Let's Go Faster!'' (1990) * Stray Cats – ''The Best of the Stray Cats: Rock This Town'' (1990) * Stray Cats – ''Choo Choo Hot Fish'' (1992) * Stray Cats – ''Original Cool'' (1993) *Swing Cats – ''Swing Cats'' (1999) *Swing Cats – ''A Special Tribute to Elvis'' (2000) *

– ''Lemmy, Slim Jim & Danny B'' (2000) *Swing Cats – ''Swing Cat Stomp'' (2000) *Col Parker – ''Rock N Roll Music'' (2001) *Swing Cats – ''A Rock'A-Billy Christmas (2002) *13 Cats – ''In the Beginning'' (2002) *13 Cats – ''13 Tracks'' (2003) *Dead Men Walking – ''Live at Leeds'' (2003) *Dead Men Walking – ''Live at Darwen'' (2004) *13 Cats – ''In the Beginning 2'' (2004) * Stray Cats – ''Rumble in Brixton'' (2004) *Dead Men Walking – ''Live at CBGB's New York City'' (2005) *Dead Men Walking – ''Graveyard Smashes Volume 1'' (2006) *

– '' Fool's Paradise (2006) * Kat Men – ''Kat Men'' (2006) *

– '' Walk the Walk...Talk the Talk'' (2011) * Kat Men – ''The Kat Men Cometh'' (2013) * Stray Cats – ''40'' (2019)

References

External links

*
Slim Jim Phantom Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2019) {{DEFAULTSORT:Phantom, Slim Jim 1961 births Living people Stray Cats members American expatriates in the United Kingdom American rock drummers American rockabilly musicians Musicians from Brooklyn People from Massapequa, New York 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Dead Men Walking members The Head Cat members