Greg Phillinganes -

Greg Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American R&B keyboardist from Detroit who served as a backup musician and occasional co-writer/arranger on albums by a range of TriMax jazz-funk/soul artists, including Harvey Mason, Stevie Wonder, Syreeta, Freda Payne, Lenny Williams, and the combos Sunbear, Arpeggio, and Tribe. As a solo artist, Phillinganes made the 1981–84 Planet albums Significant Gains and Pulse .

Background

Gregory Arthur Phillinganes was born May 12, 1956, in Detroit, Michigan, where he played piano from age two in a neighbor’s basement. His mother soon bought him an upright piano from Grinnell’s in downtown Detroit. Phillinganes began formal lessons around age six and later studied classical piano with Detroit Symphony Orchestra pianist Mischa Kottler. He attended Beaubien Junior High School and graduated from Cass Technical High School. As a teenager, Phillinganes played keyboards and Moog in Eternity with bassist Tony Green, drummer Sidney Chaney, trumpeter Greg King, and saxophonists Kerry Campbell and Larry King.

Drummer Ricky Lawson, a friend and former bandmate, left a cassette featuring Phillinganes on keyboards with management for Stevie Wonder after Lawson auditioned for Wonderlove in New York. Wonder heard the cassette and called Phillinganes to New York for an April 2, 1975, audition at the Hit Factory. Wonder hired the 18-year-old keyboardist for Wonderlove that evening, one month short of his nineteenth birthday. Phillinganes joined the Songs in the Key of Life sessions and played keyboards on “Contusion,” “Isn’t She Lovely,” “Joy Inside My Tears,” and “Saturn.” Quincy Jones then called Phillinganes to A&M Studios for the 1976 Billy Eckstine single “The Best Thing.” Phillinganes also played electric piano on the 1976 Roy Ayers Ubiquity album Vibrations and piano on the Vernon Burch album When I Get Back Home.

Phillinganes expanded his studio work in 1977 with albums by Syreeta (One to One), Harvey Mason (Earth Mover), Lenny Williams (Choosing You), and Sunbear (Sunbear). He played piano, clavinet, Moog synthesizer, and harp on Sunbear and co-arranged “Let Love Flow for Peace” and “Mood III ‘Oliver.’” His 1978 credits included albums by Freda Payne (Stares & Whispers), Lenny Williams (Spark of Love), Donald Byrd (Thank You…For F.U.M.L.), and Earl Klugh (Magic in Your Eyes). Phillinganes played piano throughout the Byrd album and contributed Fender Rhodes plus rhythm and synthesizer arrangements to Magic in Your Eyes. He also arranged the 1978 Arpeggio album Let the Music Play.

The Jacksons hired Phillinganes for the 1978 album Destiny, where he played keyboards and synthesizer and received rhythm-arrangement credits. Michael Jackson retained him for the 1979 Off the Wall sessions, where Phillinganes played Rhodes piano, synthesizer, and clavinet throughout and handled rhythmic arrangements on “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough,” “Workin’ Day and Night,” “Girlfriend,” and “I Can’t Help It.” The Jacksons brought him back for the 1980 album Triumph as keyboardist and associate producer. He also recorded that year on albums by the Brothers Johnson (Light Up the Night), George Benson (Give Me the Night), Stanley Clarke (Rocks, Pebbles and Sand), the Pointer Sisters (Special Things), and appeared on the posthumous Minnie Riperton title Love Lives Forever. Planet president Richard Perry signed Phillinganes in early 1981 and scheduled the self-produced debut Significant Gains for May on Planet Records.

1981–84: Sideman and Session Work

Phillinganes recorded on 1981 albums by Quincy Jones (The Dude), Chaka Khan (What Cha’ Gonna Do for Me), Aretha Franklin (Love All the Hurt Away), Patti Austin (Every Home Should Have One), the Pointer Sisters (Black & White), Rufus (Camouflage), Earl Klugh (Crazy for You), Lee Ritenour (Rit), the Whispers (Imagination), and the Brothers Johnson (Winners). He played keyboards across The Dude, including “Ai No Corrida,” “Razzamatazz,” and the James Ingram-led ballads “Just Once” “One Hundred Ways.” Khan used Phillinganes on keyboards and Minimoog for “We Can Work It Out,” which also carries his rhythm arrangement.

Session work expanded in 1982 with albums by Michael Jackson (Thriller), Donald Fagen (The Nightfly), Michael McDonald (If That’s What It Takes), Donna Summer (Donna Summer), Lionel Richie (Lionel Richie), the Pointer Sisters (So Excited!), Bill LaBounty (Bill LaBounty), Lee Ritenour (Rit/2), Atlantic Starr (Brilliance), Stanley Clarke (Let Me Know You), Heatwave (Current), and Ernie Watts (Chariots of Fire).

Phillinganes played Fender Rhodes on “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” and “The Girl Is Mine” for Thriller, with Rhodes and synthesizers on “Billie Jean,” “Human Nature,” and “The Lady in My Life.” He added keyboards and synthesizers to “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” and synthesizer plus vocoder to “Thriller.” Fagen used Phillinganes on piano for “I.G.Y.” and piano plus clavinet for “Green Flower Street” on The Nightfly. McDonald placed him on piano across “Playin’ by the Rules,” “Love Lies,” “If That’s What It Takes,” and “Believe in It,” with clavinet on “I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near),” Fender Rhodes on “I Gotta Try,” and Hammond organ on “Losin’ End.” Summer used his synthesizers on “State of Independence,” “Livin’ in America,” “Protection,” and “(If It) Hurts Just a Little,” plus synthesizer bass on “Lush Life.”

Phillinganes recorded on 1983 albums by Lionel Richie (Can’t Slow Down), James Ingram (It’s Your Night), Paul Simon (Hearts and Bones), George Benson (In Your Eyes), Diana Ross (Ross), Stephanie Mills (Merciless), the Pointer Sisters (Break Out), the Manhattan Transfer (Bodies and Souls), Jennifer Holliday (Feel My Soul), Atlantic Starr (Yours Forever), June Pointer (Baby Sister), and Rufus and Chaka Khan (Stompin’ at the Savoy). Richie used his Yamaha GS-1 on “All Night Long (All Night)” and “Love Will Find a Way,” with synthesizer on the latter track. Ingram used Phillinganes on keyboards and synthesizers for “Party Animal” and “Try Your Love Again,” plus acoustic piano and synthesizer on “One More Rhythm.” Simon placed his piano on “Allergies” and Fender Rhodes on “Song About the Moon” and “The Late Great Johnny Ace.” Ross used Phillinganes on keyboards across the Gary Katz-produced first side of Ross, including “That’s How You Start Over,” “Love Will Make It Right,” “You Do It,” “Pieces of Ice,” and “Let’s Go Up.”

The 1984 schedule included albums by Joe Cocker (Civilized Man), Janet Jackson (Dream Street), Al Jarreau (High Crime), Rickie Lee Jones (The Magazine), Julio Iglesias (1100 Bel Air Place), Patti Austin (Patti Austin), Djavan (Lilás), Jermaine Jackson (Dynamite), Neil Diamond (Primitive), and the Jacksons (Victory). Cocker used Phillinganes on keyboards, synthesizer, and piano across the first five tracks of Civilized Man. Janet Jackson used his keyboards, Moog synthesizer, and Moog bass on “All My Love to You.” Jarreau placed his synthesizer on “Tell Me,” “Sticky Wicket,” and “Fallin’,” with Phillinganes arranging “Sticky Wicket.” Rickie Lee Jones used his Fender Rhodes on “Gravity,” while Patti Austin paired his keyboards with a Phillinganes–David Pack keyboard arrangement on “All Behind Us Now.” Djavan used Phillinganes on “Infinito” and “Esquinas,” with Phillinganes contributing arrangements to both tracks. Jermaine Jackson used his keyboards and arrangement on the Whitney Houston duet “Take Good Care of My Heart,” while the Jacksons used his keyboards on “Be Not Always” and synthesizers on “Body.”

1985–90: Sideman and Session Work

Phillinganes maintained a dense session schedule in 1985 with albums by Bill Withers (Watching You Watching Me), Diana Ross (Eaten Alive), Dionne Warwick (Finder of Lost Loves and Friends), Earl Klugh (Soda Fountain Shuffle), Eddie Murphy (How Could It Be), Eric Clapton (Behind the Sun), Kenny Loggins (Vox Humana), Maurice White (Maurice White), Morris Day (Color of Success), Natalie Cole (Dangerous), Olivia Newton-John (Soul Kiss), Rosie Gaines (Caring), Stevie Nicks (Rock a Little), and Whitney Houston (Whitney Houston). Clapton used Phillinganes on synthesizer and background vocals for “Something’s Happening,” one of the Los Angeles tracks added to Behind the Sun. Nicks used his keyboards and synthesizer on “Some Become Strangers” and percussion on “Talk to Me.” Quincy Jones also placed Phillinganes among the keyboardists on the score album for The Color Purple.

His 1986 credits included albums by Anita Baker (Rapture), Earl Klugh (Life Stories), Eric Clapton (August), Five Star (Silk & Steel), George Benson (While the City Sleeps…), John Eddie (John Eddie), Lionel Richie (Dancing on the Ceiling), Neil Diamond (Headed for the Future), Patti LaBelle (Winner in You), and Philip Bailey (Triumph). Baker used his synthesizer on “No One in the World.” Richie used Phillinganes on keyboards, synthesizers, drum machine, and Minimoog bass across “Se La,” “Deep River Woman,” “Love Will Conquer All,” “Tonight Will Be Alright,” and “Say You, Say Me”; Phillinganes also shared the rhythm arrangement for “Love Will Conquer All.” Clapton recorded August with Phillinganes on keyboards and background vocals alongside bassist Nathan East and drummer Phil Collins, then retained Phillinganes for the touring band from mid-1986.

Phillinganes recorded on 1987 albums by the Bee Gees (E.S.P.), Bruce Willis (The Return of Bruno), Diana Ross (Red Hot Rhythm & Blues), Dionne Warwick (Reservations for Two), George Benson and Earl Klugh (Collaboration), Jennifer Rush (Heart Over Mind), Kashif (Love Changes), Lee Ritenour (Portrait), Little Steven (Freedom No Compromise), Marlon Jackson (Baby Tonight), Michael Jackson (Bad), Mick Jagger (Primitive Cool), Natalie Cole (Everlasting), Ray Parker Jr. (After Dark), the Isley Brothers (Smooth Sailin’), and the Winans (Decisions). Michael Jackson used his synthesizers on “Bad,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Speed Demon,” “Just Good Friends,” and “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” with a Phillinganes synthesizer solo on “Bad” and keyboards on “Man in the Mirror.” The Bee Gees used his keyboards and bass sequencing on “Crazy for Your Love,” while Benson and Klugh used his keyboards, synthesizer arrangements, and arranging work across Collaboration.

Session work contracted in 1988 to albums by Billy Vera & the Beaters (Retro Nuevo), Djavan (Bird of Paradise), Patti Austin (The Real Me), and Roberta Flack (Oasis). Djavan used Phillinganes on keyboards and keyboard arrangements, while Austin credited him with synthesizer, synthesizer bass, bass programming, and horn and vocal arrangements. Flack used his keyboards across several tracks on Oasis. Phillinganes spent much of this period as musical director and keyboardist for the Michael Jackson Bad tour, which placed him at the head of a band with keyboardist Rory Kaplan, drummer Ricky Lawson, guitarist Jennifer Batten, and bassist Don Boyette.

His 1989 recording credits included albums by Angela Winbush (The Real Thing), Deniece Williams (Special Love), Eric Clapton (Journeyman), Quincy Jones (Back on the Block), and Rickie Lee Jones (Flying Cowboys), plus the Lethal Weapon 2 soundtrack. Clapton used Phillinganes on acoustic piano, keyboards, synthesizers, and background vocals across Journeyman, including acoustic piano on “Pretending,” “Running on Faith,” and “Old Love.” Along with Phil Collins, Phillinganes appears in the video for “Bad Love,” the album’s “Layla” remake. Quincy Jones used his keyboards on “Back on the Block,” “I’ll Be Good to You,” “Setembro (Brazilian Wedding Song),” and “One Man Woman,” with Fender Rhodes on “Tomorrow (A Better You, Better Me)” and “The Secret Garden.” Phillinganes also shared the rhythm arrangement for “Setembro” with Jones. Rickie Lee Jones used his keyboards on “The Horses,” “Satellites,” and “Ghetto of My Mind” for Flying Cowboys.

Phillinganes appeared on 1990 albums by Anita Baker (Compositions), Brenda Russell (Kiss Me with the Wind), David Foster (River of Love), Hiroshi Sato (Good Morning), Laura Branigan (Laura Branigan), Nancy Wilson (A Lady with a Song), Patti Austin (Love Is Gonna Getcha), and Paul Simon (The Rhythm of the Saints). Baker used his acoustic piano across most of Compositions, with background vocals on “More Than You Know” and a live-rhythm arrangement credit on “No One to Blame.”

Austin used his acoustic piano on “Love Is Gonna Getcha,” “Through the Test of Time,” and “Too Soon to Know,” while Russell used his Fender Rhodes on “Justice in Truth.” Simon used Phillinganes on synthesizers for “The Coast,” “Proof,” “Further to Fly,” and “The Cool, Cool River.” Clapton also retained Phillinganes for the 1990 Journeyman touring band with bassist Nathan East, keyboardist Alan Clark, drummer Steve Ferrone, guitarist Phil Palmer, percussionist Ray Cooper, and singers Katie Kissoon and Tessa Niles.

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