Sam Phillips

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Sam Phillips, (born January 28, 1962 as Leslie Phillips) is an American singer and a songwriter.

Phillips began her musical career as a vocalist in the early 1980s, singing background parts for Christian artists such as Mark Heard, Randy Stonehill, and others. After a short time, Phillips was signed to a solo contract with Myrrh Records (under her given name) where she went on to record four Christian pop albums: Beyond Saturday Night, Dancing With Danger, Black & White In A Grey World, and, The Turning, which teamed her with producer and future husband T-Bone Burnett. Throughout the Myrrh period, Phillips wrote more and more of her own songs and several were Top 10 singles on Christian radio.

Since Cyndi Lauper was popular at the time and also had an high-pitched, idiosyncratic vocal style, Myrrh insisted on promoting her as “the Christian Cyndi Lauper.” Phillips was never comfortable with this image, and it was a bone of contention between her and the label. She began using the name “Sam” professionally in 1988 when she left Myrrh Records and signed with Virgin Records, partially in order to distance herself from her somewhat embarrassing Myrrh-imposed persona.

Like many Christian artists before her, she expanded into more secular content at the new label. She released The Indescribable Wow, which featured the orchestrations of Van Dyke Parks. Cruel Inventions, which was released in 1991, included a guest appearance from close friend Elvis Costello, and she (with her husband) supported Costello on his 1991 tour. 1994’s Martinis & Bikinis was widely praised by music critics and was even nominated for a Grammy Award; this was Phillips’ first nomination.

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female vocalists, singer-songwriter, indie, gilmore girls, alternative
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Fan Dance
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Martinis & Bikinis
Sam Phillips
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A Boot and a Shoe
Sam Phillips
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The Indescribable Wow
Sam Phillips
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Top Tracks

1	How to Dream full track	151
2	I Need Love	129
3	Reflecting Light	47
4	Holding On to the Earth full track	46
5	If I Could Write	38
6	All Night	35
7	Love Is Everywhere I Go	32
8	Tell Her What She Wants to Know	31
9	no explanations	30
9	Where the Colors Don't Go	30
11	How to Quit	21
12	Don't Do Anything	20
13	sister rosetta goes before us	18
14	Signal	17
14	One Day Late	17

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wowugotit wrote:
last month

I love her new EP, Hypnotists In Paris!!!

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tobyz1 wrote:
last month

Sam has one great performance in an 18-minute video on NPR's "All Sounds Considered" blog. http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2008/06/tiny_desk_concert_sam_phillips_1.html

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lastfmgs wrote:
August 2009

reminds me of the Gilmore Girls...

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mo_man91 wrote:
August 2009

sam is making a big announcement about new music in a show in september...hopefully she's gonna announce a new album!!!

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blogmeridian wrote:
July 2009

I don't know whether it's the actual tone of her voice or how it's mic'ed/engineered/produced, but I really like that gauzy sound it has. The aural equivalent of looking at old sepia-toned photographs.

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Ameilio wrote:
July 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsEgEl34kOM

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mo_man91 wrote:
July 2009

did anyone get the believer magazine today with the cd with the sam song? can someone upload it please

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deadgrandma wrote:
May 2009

I remember being obsessed years ago, just heard the latest album and I gotta say- its almost identical to A Boot and a Shoe. Not that it's a bad thing. Cruel inventions is the best album IMO

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Reflekshun wrote:
May 2009

<3 Watching Out Of This World

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Mitya wrote:
May 2009

I still think Indescribable Wow is by far her best album. Wish it were streaming here...

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CoraWTD wrote:
April 2009

I immediately had the gilmore girls in mind when I heard these songs! they are the best!

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dtito2 wrote:
April 2009

Thanks Ameilio for the link

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Ameilio wrote:
April 2009

New Song http://samphillips.com/brightside.shtml

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kingbelly wrote:
March 2009

nice, i'm excited!

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Ameilio wrote:
March 2009

There's going to be an Erhu on her next album http://www.samphillips.com/blog/2009/03/01/recording/

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juanbsc wrote:
February 2009

i'm glad gilmore girls got me into her - she's exactly what i need just now!

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philmfan wrote:
February 2009

I'm partial to the title track from Fan Dance. She has the kind of voice I seek out.

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Kent31 wrote:
January 2009

you know waht, not bad

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xen-uno wrote:
October 2008

Best song I've heard from her is "It came upon a midnight clear" from the movie "A Midnight Clear". It's beautiful.

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Perverzion wrote:
October 2008

completely underrated

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