THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,730) Queen Anne’s Lace — “The Happiest Day of My Life”
This “groovy” (liner notes to the CD comp Soft Sounds for Gentle People 2) and stunning sunshine pop number is “[s]oft-rock magic. . . . breathy, light, and perversely sad-sounding” (gregcaz, https://musicaltaste.com/showsong.php?song_id=1081&performer=Queen%20Anne%26%238217%3Bs%20Lace&songtitle=The%20Happiest%20Day%20Of%20My%20Life), “a wistful, almost melancholy song taking a view from a considerable distance that is not at all the sugary confection that one might expect.” (https://underappreciatedrockbands.com/archive/underappreciatedrockbands/home/uarb-articles/queen-anne-s-lace.html)
The Lace’s sole LP — Queen Anne’s Lace — is the work of “the hip duo” (liner notes to Soft Sounds for Gentle People 2) of Anne and William Phillips. “The album is in the finest Free Design-sounding tradition, including covers of Beatles, Bacharach, Paul Simon, “Sally Go Round The Roses,” and such top-shelf originals as [“The Happiest Day of My Life”]. Truly splendid.” (gregcaz again)
Anne Phillips’ website states that:
Ms. Phillips career has covered almost every area of the music business. In addition to recording several solo albums, from the classic Born to Be Blue, to her most recent release, Ballet Time on which she sings with such old friends as Dave Brubeck and Marian McPartland, she has worked as a singer, choral arranger and conductor with many of the music world’s leading artists and is widely known in the industry as the writer/arranger/ producer of many national commercials. Ms. Phillips’ Christmas show, a jazz opera, Bending Towards the Light — A Jazz Nativity, tells the traditional story though jazz and has featured such greats as Lionel Hampton, Dave Brubeck and Tito Puente. It is performed in New York and other cities annually.
Wikipedia adds:
Phillips …. played piano growing up but didn’t hear jazz until she was a senior in high school. Phillips studied at Oberlin College where she sang with the school’s big band and had a radio show. She then moved to New York at age 19 and played piano and clubs. [She] started working in demo recordings for songwriters in the 1950s. . . . . [and] was a member of the Ray Charles Singers on the Perry Como Show. In 1959, she recorded her first pop album, Born to Be Blue, for Roulette Records. Phillips has worked as a singer, music arranger, conductor, writer, and producer for national commercials including Pepsi, Revlon, and Sheraton. . . . [She] composed music for a Pepsi campaign with BBDO in the 1960s called “The Taste That Beats the Others Cold, Pepsi Pours it On”. The spot included The Turtles, The Four Tops [see #1,148, 1,429], The Hondells, and the Trade Masters. Phillips worked on demo recordings for Carole King, Burt Bacharach, and Neil Diamond. In 1962, she sang background vocals on Carole King’s It Might as Wll Rain Until September. Phillips is the founder of Kindred Spirits, a not-for-profit organization founded with her husband, Bob Kindred. The organization sponsors a yearly performance of “Bending Towards the Light – A Jazz Nativity,” composed by Phillips. They also have an educational program for inner-city children called The Kindred Spirits Children’s Jazz Choirs which teaches jazz music.
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