Phil Seymour
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Phil Seymour (born on May 11, 1952 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, died Aug 17, 1993 in Tarzana, California ) was an American power pop drummer, singer, guitarist and songwriter. His career began in 1967 when he met fellow Tulsa musician, Dwight Twilley at a theater, where they had gone to see a screening of The Beatles film, A Hard Day's Night. They soon began writing and recording together, going by the name Oister. In 1974, Seymour and Twilley were signed with Shelter Records with the name The Dwight Twilley Band.
"I'll never forget the cold November night at the Church Studios in Tulsa. Phil and I had just signed our first recording contract. We had been instructed by the record company to get acquainted with working in a 'real' 16-track studio and not to record a 'real' record. In the confusion of a pivotal moment, it was Phil who pulled me into a secluded hallway and said, "Dwight, let's make a hit record right now." That night we recorded I'm On Fire." - Dwight Twilley, in an excerpt from Phil Seymour's letter of remembrance.
I'm On Fire, with little promotion, reached #16 in the Billboard Hot 100 in the week ending August 2, 1975. The Dwight Twilley Band moved to Los Angeles and recorded two albums together, and subsequently Seymour left the band to pursue a solo career. In the downtime between recording deals he began working as a session musician, playing for 20/20, Moon Martin and Tom Petty. It was Seymour who sang the backing vocals on two of Petty's best-known songs, Breakdown and American Girl.
In 1980 he signed to Boardwalk Records, and released his first album, titled Phil Seymour, on January 16, 1981. The first single from the album, Precious To Me, reached #22 in the national US charts and #3 in Australia. The album also included a Bobby Fuller song, Let Her Dance, a song that has covered by Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison, Trying To Get To You, as well as 9 other tracks, largely written by either Seymour, Twilley and Twilley Band guitarist Bill Pitcock. A second album, simply titled 2 was released in 1982 and due to lack of promotion, was not as successful. The label founder died shortly after its release and Seymour was once again without a record deal.
In 1984 he joined the Textones, a roots rock band led by Carla Olsen. He toured and recorded an album with them, singing and drumming. It was while on tour to support the record, Midnight Mission, that he noticed lumps appearing on his neck, which were swollen lymph nodes. He was subsequently diagnosed with lymphoma. He moved back to Tulsa to undergo treatment for the cancer and carried on recording and playing live locally, albeit at a much diminished pace, until his death in 1993.
