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| Phil Seamen - early days... |
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In 1972 Decibel Records issued an LP (catalogue no: BSN 103) titled Phil Seamen Story. The first side is devoted to Seamen talking and playing drums and the narrative covers his beginnings in the music business and his time on the road in the last years of the big bands in this country up to his time in the Jack Parnell band in 1953. Unfortunately it stops there and has no account of his years on the London club and studio scene. This was to have been the second side of the LP but his death in late 1972, before the second side could be recorded, meant that this record became his obituary. The second side of the LP became a bit of a makeweight with one music track from 1966 ('I gotta girl', with Jimmy Witherspoon and Dick Morrissey) and three on location performances, also in 1966. These were recorded at the Bulls Head, Barnes and the Hope and Anchor, Islington, two of the jazz oriented pub rooms where Seamen worked for much of the last part of his career.... (copies of this LP are still available to buy...email below) |
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Phil is pleased to get the chance to tell his story as, in his own words, he is an "egomaniac" and relates early events in his drumming career leading to his first professional engagement with Len Reynolds Metro Dance Band, a name that gets much scorn. He earned 7/6 for this first gig and spent most of his spell with Reynolds "playing time". Of his professional start, at the age of eighteen, with Nat Gonella he says: "Ten days before I joined the business I went out and bought a drum tutor to learn how to read... Nat used to make me stay behind after rehearsal and practise my part... if I made a mistake I used to get a clip round the ear... we used to get Tommy Dorsey arrangements, which had the Buddy Rich drum solos written out, and believe you me they used to look like fly s**t on the paper..." (Here in one story, is a world in which acquiring technical expertise was everything, in which hardly any time was devoted to any real organisation of a man's talent. The sole objection was to maintain the dance-band production line). He speaks with some affection for Nat who he says "was a marvellous, great guy ... like a father to me..." Even when the band were laid off for two weeks at a time without pay, due to Nat being a punter and losing money on the "gee gees", Phil appears to bear him no ill-will. "Guys in the band who deserve a mention were Kenny Graham, Johnny Rogers, Al Dalloway, Lennie Bush and guitarist Roy Plummer who were in the band at the time". A spell with Johnny Smith and his Out of the Blue Orchestra followed, another name that earns much derision from Phil. He was playing at a Southsea Ballroom, a venue that had three name bands a night: "I had this chick whose mother had a pub, which was great for me... the band was playing foxtrots, quick steps and waltzes... I decided I had had enough of this and went back to my lodgings with my chick for a bit of you know what. In the middle of you know what there was a knock on the door which I assumed was my chick's mother. When I opened the door it looked like an owl with two lenses - it was Tommy Sampson. He asked me to play the second half with his band which I did, and thats how I came to join the Tommy Sampson band..... six trumpets, four trombones, five saxes, four rhythm - that's what you call a powerhouse band!" continued top right... |
continued from bottom left... His next band was Paul Fenoulhet: "this was a happy band.... it was unusual in that it had no piano.... it did have three trumpets, three trombones and five saxes that include Don Rendell and Bob Efford..." "After that was Joe Loss - Joe was the greatest of them all.... on the road he treated guys as I think they should be treated.... you always had good accommodation with Joe.... he looked after his guys. I stayed with the band, oh, 14 months...played 'In the mood' three times a night and 'American patrol'... Jesus I can assure you that was no, no turn-on for anybody... it was enough to make you top yourself". "Then came Jack Parnell - Jack the lad. I played my first paradiddle with Jack. In my naivety I had thought it was some sort of sexual experience. I had lovely times with this band". Phil talks about life with trumpet player Hank Shaw who was into yoga at the time. Phil relates the story of the walk out from the Parnell band in 1953 that eventually led to the formation of the renowned Ronnie Scott octet. Jack Parnell was trying to broaden his band's commercial scope and hired a girl singer, Marion Keene, for the band. She was married to tenor sax player Ronnie Keene and stipulated that if she was to accept the job with Parnell her husband had to join the Parnell band as well. Parnell fired second tenor player Pete King to accommodate him. Phil relates the story and says he asked everybody if they were game to quit in solidarity with Pete King - Pete was popular and a much better musician that Keene. The next day Jimmy Deuchar, Derek Humble, Ken Wray, Phil Seamen and Mac Minshull handed in their notice - Ronnie Scott had already quit. Shortly after these men, together with the already fired Pete King, formed the nucleus of the Ronnie Scott octet and Phil is very bitter about the fact that Tony Crombie got the drum chair - not him. Shortly after Phil was back with Parnell. Phil Seamen biography and discography... Jack Parnell band... |
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(Thanks are due to Keith Greenhalf who provided a copy of the LP "Phil Seamen Story")... Phil Seamen's name appears on many pages of this website. I have not attempted a personal discography because he appeared on so many recording with so many people but much of the detail of his jazz record career can be seen in the following discographies: Ronnie Scott, Tommy Pollard, Victor Feldman, Dizzy Reece, Don Rendell, Jimmy Deuchar, Vic Ash, Harry Klein, Joe Harriott, Stan Tracey, Tubby Hayes, Kenny Graham, Jack Parnell, Kenny Baker, Ian Carr, Dick Morrissey. | |