Washington Phillips

Witnesses, both extended family and friends, still differ on the description of what exactly Washington Phillips played, with layman terminology descriptive of anything from a “home-made banjo” laid flat, to an organ or a contraption made from “the insides of a piano”.
–Pat Conte, from the liner notes of the 2005 Yazoo Records release, The Key To The Kingdom

In 1927, 47 year old George Washington Phillips entered a Dallas recording studio with a couple of mysterious homemade instruments, recorded 16 cuts, and proceeded to baffle musicologists for the next 80 years. The sound on record was warm and angelic. Phillips’ articulate and friendly voice quilts around an instrumental body that at once resembles a harp, a banjo, and a toy piano while sounding nothing like any of those. The debate is exacerbated by the lack of evidence surrounding the player in question. Aside from the tracks recorded that day and a couple of photographs, the best facts deduced have been that Phillips was a rural Texan that came from a musical family. He spent his youth in a string band with his brothers and at one point a young Blind Lemon Jefferson. His unique take on gospel music caught the ear of Columbia Records A&R man Frank Walker, who rushed Phillips into a studio for a run through of some reworked standards, some original numbers, and some sermons with musical accompaniment. The songs were released on a run of 78s that were marketed as “Gospel music with ‘Novelty’ accompaniment” and sold rather well. While never attaining legendary status, Phillips did retire to his farm where he lived until his death in 1954. His music even has a handful of admirers – Gillian Welch, Will Oldham, and most notably Ry Cooder all did their part in proliferating Phillips’ influence to subsequent generations.

Like any good early 20th century recordings, all other related information is based on hearsay and red herrings. Roots music powerhouse Yazoo Records even went as far as to write about the wrong Washington Phillips on their first reissue of his complete discography! Yet his wonderfully friendly take on Christianity, pleasant voice, and especially his still unidentified instrumentation continue to inspire curiosity decades after their recording. To speculate on the identity of his instrument is to explore a world of antiquated futurism and forgotten crazes of new instrument technology. The celestaphon, the phonoharp, the dolceola, and the fretless zither are all potential candidates, each equally as likely and unlikely to be making the sounds in question. In writing the liner notes for the most recent Yazoo reissue of Phillips’ music, Pat Conte makes a strong case that we’re hearing a pair of modified dolceolas. Yet while researching this entry, I came across this article which specifically cites the impossibility of this being true and attributes the instrumentation to a pair of common fretless zithers. There is consensus that Phillips played a pair of instruments that he modified somehow, maybe with an extended bridge and restrung with strings taken from an entirely different source. These were laid flat in front of him on a tabletop and he proceeded to fingerpick with one hand on each instrument. The ingenuity continues down to his picking style – Phillips would hit as many as a dozen notes at once to weave a rich but surprisingly uncluttered tapestry. Simply put, the sound is heavenly. The Key To The Kingdom is a testament to the beauty of selfless, loving faith - an absolute rarity in its sincerity and pureness.

Washington Phillips remains relatively unknown outside the roots and gospel communities which is a bit of a shame. His recordings display a true original in action and come off as strikingly sublime even today. Fortunately, I was able to find some clips of his songs on YouTube. The visuals are a bit garish, but it’s the music that matters. Enjoy!

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