If any visitor to our site has comments either about the site or about Ant's music that they would like to have included here then please send them to us and we'll add them to this page.
Hi dear Ant,
At last now I can say I have your complete collection in CDs (including those remastered double-sets with autograph from Camino Records).
Every time I listen to your music I understand from where Genesis got his inspiration and sound back in those
marvellous years. You are a great and sensible musician with tunes that touches very deep in our souls. I still keep the "Private Parts and Pieces 2" long-play that Mr. Peter Graves gave me, which made me change the whole experience of listening to music. Thanks for your inspiration.
Greetings from Perú.
Oscar Barreda Cuneo
Hello Anthony, great to send you just few words ! You are the soul of Genesis I don't forget it. Carry on with your great songs, you have a big sensibility and your guitar transmits your feelings with passion.
You're a friend of mine, all the best
Luciano
Hello From France
Just received the Geese & the ghost new remastered with the CD bonus and Wildlife
CD.
Thanks very much for taking time to sign them and yes: the geese is flying back again. Since it was out on
vinyl, I've always loved this album and I've purchased it when it was first released on
CD. This last one one has been played so often that it was presenting some problems here and there so I gladly welcome the re-issue enlightened with the bonus
CD. This bonus is very amazing for me as a guitar player since "hidden" parts were difficult to hear. Now I listen to "God if I saw here now" and I'm able to hear some of the guitar parts I didn't in the mixed version. This has always be a favorite to me but never find voices to play it in concert !!
I'll take time to hear your new album too.
Thanks for all
Amitiés de France
Christophe
Hello,
I've received "The Geese And The Ghost" and "Wild Life" this morning - utterly fabulous!
Truly the best way to have breakfast is munching on a bacon sandwich and hearing "Which Way The Wind Blows".
Cheers Anthony and Joji!
Rob Lewis
Just received my copy of the Geese re-issue. Though I'm never likely to see Ant in concert or ever meet him, the fact that he has signed the CD sleeve makes it's a personal link with a vastly underrated artist.
John, Shrewsbury, Blighty.
Ant, I have been listening to Field Day quite a bit lately and it has got to be one of the most beautiful
CDs I've ever heard. The inner photo that you took is perfect for the music.
I have almost everything you've recorded and I really enjoy putting your music on and just relaxing. I have been a professional musician (bass player) since I was 16 (now 54) and I wish I could have been involved in a project recording material like yours.
I appreciate how you create soundscapes, a true artist.
I am looking forward to the re-issue of The Geese and The Ghost, one of my all time favourites. Keep up the great work and hopefully you'll put something new out soon.
Boe Hanson, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Just want to thank you for so many lyrical moments while listening to your music, mostly while cycling or running through beautyful landscapes. You wrote music for every mood, for every moment, every sight and even season or weather.
In my mind these impressions are deeply combined with the music; it may be arrogant but sometimes I felt connected to your thoughts.
Just seeing the light of the downing sun on river Ruhr and hearing *Tregenna
Afternoons*, the nearly liquid sound of your guitar seemed to unite with the golden ripples on the water surface, liquid tones and liquid lights.
I wished my English to be better to express these thoughts.:-((
Some of the titles I prefer most are *Iona* and *Let´s now make love*, only to mention two of them.
Whatever some people say about your voice, I like to listen to your self-sung pieces! But to
don't have to add words, you are able to describe sensations with sound like a good painter or author.
Okay, hope you sometimes visit this page, and I'm not very wrong with my suggestions (and my English;-))
Apologize me one question: You repeat sometimes melodies you have published before with some other instrumentation and titles, for example in New England one piece you already released on Twelve with additional Cello, or on field day there is some stuff from Back to the
Pavilion, Twelve, Antiques and Fields of eternity as far as I remember:
Is this by some special meaning or do you have so many ideas that you just can ´t divide them properly?
I would also be interested to have some contacts to other fans of this remarkable music…
Bye, than, and thanks for reading whoever may do…
Sullhach, Germany
Dear Anthony,
I'm listening to your music for more than 15 years now. Somewhere in the
late eighties I was attracted to the LP of "The Geese and The
Ghost", having a sticker like "featuring members of Genesis"
or something like that. I listened to it many times and in the years that
followed I discovered more albums and enjoyed them very much. Some of them
were quite hard to get in the Netherlands, but in recent years Internet has
made it much easier, so now I've got almost all of them, only "the
meadows of Englewood" is still a hard one to get (can anyone help me
?). Since discovering The Geese... your music has grown more and more
important to me.
To me, your music represent a kind of mood which is very important. It is
something like "this is how nature should sound in it's purest
form". Very peaceful, very subtle. In these times of rapid change it is
easy to think that nothing stays the same and everything keeps going faster,
louder, more digital and less natural. The world sometimes seems an alien
place to me these days. And then I put on one of your CD's (or LP's) and I
realize it's not like that at all ! Nature is still there, peace is still
there and it's still like it always was. And there is at least ONE composer
and musician who can perfectly translate this feeling to music. And this
makes me really happy !!.
Maybe this story sounds a bit clumsy and pretentious but it's hard to
capture it in words. The most important thing for me to say is THANK YOU
!!!!
I wish you all the best, and keep doing what you're doing !
Willem 'Holedigger' Hoffmans,
Utrecht, The Netherlands.
P.S. I just got a copy of "Field Day". Brilliant.
Dear Anthony
I just wanted to say a very big 'Thank You' to you for enriching my
life so very much over the last 17 years since I first heard your music,
when I was 19 years old.
Your music has moved me (often to tears)
tremendously, both spiritually and emotionally, with its incredible beauty,
tranquility, love, sensitivity and romance.
Listening to your beautiful compositions fills me with much happiness and
peace, and inspiration too: your music takes me to lovely places and soothes
my soul as only your music can.
I love the way you come across from your album notes and pictures: your
humility; your fondness for cricket; your love and respect for nature and
your championing of the "old-fashioned" ideals...You seem like a
true English gentleman.
Indeed a unique, gifted and special musician, I hope you feel you are truly
loved, appreciated and respected by your fans.
I know you have come to my home town a couple of times over the years to see
friends and I hope perhaps one day I might see you if you ever play.
Thank you again for all your wonderful, heartfelt music and for bringing so
much beauty to the world.
I wish you lots of good luck and happiness for the future.
Kindest regards
Rachael Pycock
I
had over a hundred albums during my
David Padget
I am a big fan of your music, sir.
Hi Ant:
Hello Anthony Philips:
Hi Ant.
I am listening to your music since your first album "The geese & the ghost".
Every day I am waiting for a new album! I only can say: its the best music I've ever heard!!
Thank you and greetings from Germany.
Klaus-Peter Wittrowsky
To Anthony & all Ant fans,
A truly memorable moment for me, which still sends shivers up my spine every time I think about it, was playing 'Majestic Whales' from Sail The World, on my personal CD player as I reached the top of Mount Sinai in Egypt after a 4 hour climb, to watch the sun rising. One of those magic moments which cannot be repeated nor described, only felt.
Thanks Ant - I wouldn't have dreamt of going on my year-long world tour without my complete AP collection!
I'm a lifelong fan, now living in New Zealand. Keep recording & I will buy!
Yours,
Mike Walker (mikewalker@postmaster.co.uk)
Hi All,
Thanks for a great web site - Ant is a
true musical hero of mine.
Sometimes a piece of music comes along
that is so devastatingly beautiful it just stops you in your tracks, and
transcends time, place and silly fashions and fads. Anthony's first solo album
has done this for me, especially "Sleepfall: The Geese Fly West".
Best Regards,
Graham Shore.
P.S. My girlfriend and I decided this piece of music is a fitting tribute to Jack Nance, whose death we only recently heard about. Somehow the melody just fit the moment.
Having rediscovered Ant's music relatively recently, having owned 1984 and Wise After the Event on vinyl many years ago, has been a source of great satisfaction in this last year, and I've very nearly collected every available release in that time. It started for me with Back to the Pavilion, which is truly awesome, and most recently I've added the Archive Collection, which is really enjoyable as well, and Sail the World. I've also recently begun teaching myself acoustic guitar, partly as the result of the influence of all of this wonderful music. I'm really looking forward to getting 'Wise' on CD when it becomes available. In the last few years I've found myself becoming addicted to one album in particular for an extended period of time, and last year The Geese and the Ghost became just that for me - it remained in the CD player for quite sometime before being removed for something else..definately one of my all time favourites. Thanks for such a treasure trove of great music!!!
John Beam
Hullo Ant -
Greetings from somewhere in the Great Unwashed Heartland of Michigan. I'm just grateful for the chance to tell you ( I hope) what a singular joy it is to listen to your music. You broke my heart by bailing on Genesis after Trespass, then making me wait for Geese. I forgave you, because my patience was rewarded with a flow of beautiful music that, thankfully, kept coming. Impossible to pick a favourite LP/CD, although Wise After the Event comes to mind first simply because my late wife Katy adored it so - the wonderful cover art, your obvious compassion for animals ( her own personal cause) &, of course, the music. Always, the music. Thank you.
Magua
One of my favourite pastimes of late has been playing Mah Jong Tiles Deluxe (by Game House) on my computer whilst listening to CDs, many of which just happen to be Anthony Phillips CDs. The Mah Jong Tiles deluxe has 4 sounds when you click the tiles: 2 harp sounds, chimes, and a bell, and, oh yeah, a gong sound when there's no more moves. Well, I found that those sounds add a great accent to Ant's glorious "Tarka" CD, especially if you click the tiles at just the right time. Even the gong sound when there's no more moves can add that special something if you lose at the proper moment, (though quite cacophonous at the wrong moment). Of course, you'll lose time and thus bonus points if you wait to click the tiles on the beat. But hey, that doesn't bother me nor take away from my fantasy that I'm performing on an Anthony Phillips piece. And it's all so very relaxing. Try it and see what you think, those of you that have the game. You may even become a little innovative and try it with some other AP CDs. Just thought I'd share that with you. Do you think I have too much time on my hands? Actually, I hope Anthony doesn't think I'm mucking up his music. Love that Anthony Phillips guy!
Dear Anthony,
Hello Anthony Phillips (if you read this guest book) and whoever else may happen to browse through. I was happy to discover this site. I've been a fan of your work for a while, especially p.p.1,antiques, 12, 1984 and of course trespass. Your guitar work has greatly influenced my own. I was a little saddened by reading an interview with you, I think it was somewhere on this site, in which I got the sense that you felt that your music wasn't successful enough or that it wasn't good enough.
I admire your humility, but I feel that your work is fantastic and from the looks of this guestbook I'm sure that many people all over the world would agree with me. Just because your music is not all over the airwaves doesn't mean people cant relate to it or that its not good. At least you've kept your integrity, which can't be said for a lot people who've been in bands; you've never sold out. I feel that since I haven't outgrown your music yet that I probably never will. There are quite a few newer albums that i am eager to hear, but haven't gotten the chance to. If I had the money id finance an album for you and Steve Hackett to do, that would be great. i hope to hear about more releases from you in the near future.
Best wishes from Laszlo in Boston Massachusetts.
Hello Anthony. If it wasn't for this website, I still would miss "Meadows of Englewood" from my collection. It took me about 3 years to track this album down and at very last Pan Y Musica Barcelona confirmed my order.
Hello,
Greetings from Australia,
Hi Anthony, I was pleased to discover your website. I play your music regularly on my radio show here in Holland. It was fun interviewing you a couple of years ago. We’ll have to do a sequel soon. Thanks for all of the incredibly beautiful melodies you have made. You’ve brought much beauty to the world.
Sincerely, Mark C. Deren http://www.angelfire.com/pa/progholland/
The Website is great: lots of information and interviews. Please keep it up as you are doing a major public service for all Anthony Phillips fans (which I'm proud to be one of).
What can I say ? Anthony is a genius, one of the best Modern composers we have in this particular galaxy. It's a shame that the Classical music world hasn't embraced him with open ears, arms, and wallets -- oh well, it's their loss, because they're missing out on someone very special and incredibly talented.
Since everyone is talking about other musicians that they'd like to hear Anthony Phillips work with (be it Mike Rutherford, Quique Garcia, or Steve Hackett), I'd like to add another one to the list: Mike Keneally, an American guitarist who has a fine album out called "Wooden Smoke."
Anthony, if you're reading this, then let me close by saying Thank You for all of the beautiful wonderful music you've created and recorded. You're an inspiration and I wish you good luck and happiness for the future. Please continue to follow your heart and muse, wherever it takes you.
Dave Williams
North Carolina, USA
Hello,
After seeing Jonathan Lee's recent amusing guestbook salutation concerning seeing Ant perform "Dragonfly Dreams" in America, I can't help but re-dream up a long-time fantasy of mine. First though, and in reality, I am a loyal attendee of a Philadelphia, USA, concert series called "The Gatherings."
This concert series focuses mainly on artists in the space/electronic/ambient genre, but has been known to spread its wings somewhat and, just to mention a few as example, has hosted the likes of Oregon, Roger Eno, and Erik Wollo. Jeff Towne, producer of the Echoes radio show (which frequently airs Ant's songs), is one of the organizers of these events. I recall once offering to wash Towne's car (for a year!) if he could somehow lure Mr. Phillips over to our relaxed venue (a beautiful church on the University of Pennsylvania campus) for an intimate night of music. Towne was also involved with the recording of "The Living Room Concert" CD. I can't speak for all of Ant's fans, but if most are as I, they'd probably travel halfway around the world for the opportunity to hear performed live all those classics we've come to love. I've been a Phillips admirer and completist since the goose days.
Best regards,
Bill Beck
Hello -
I am listening to my CD of Wise After The Event, but before you ask how, I
will quickly say I made from my vinyl copy and am anxiously awaiting the official reissue like everyone else. I first learned of Anthony's music in 1985 through a friend and I still think Private Parts III is the one of the best acoustic albums ever made. Just wanted to say hi to those reading and ask everyone to keep the faith and the patience for the Wise After the Event reissue. If the Mahavishnu album from 1984 can be reissued, this one can and surely will be too! Thanks Anthony, for all the great music and inspiration.Matt
Hello all,
I just wanted to say that I just purchased the "All Our Lives" double CD from Pan Y Musica in Spain. In case any were wondering, their service was very quick and efficient. I received the CD about a week after ordering. They even sent it "Registered" mail so that I and only I could pick it up from the Post Office.
The CDs are great (of course). I particularly like the "Live Radio Sessions" disc. Ant's playing and singing are top-notch and you can hear that he was perhaps a little less nervous than from the "Living Room Concert" disc. "Lucy: An Illusion" is fantastic and so is "Collections".
I have to give "Meadows of Englewood" a few more listens but the little I have so far are proving it to be quite good as well.
Until Ant performs the whole "Dragonfly Dreams" album on a theater tour of the US......
Warmest regards,
Jonathan Lee
Hello from Ontario. I have just been blessed with a lovely gift of Ant Phillips songs. I was ignorant of the fact that his career continued after leaving Genesis. Duh! Being a Genesis fan since the 70's I feel quite the dope! I have all of Steve Hackett's solo work and now I can enjoy Ant's!
The Geese and the Ghost, Back To The Pavilion, Sides etc.... loverly!
Anyone out there seen the tribute band Musical Box from Quebec? They are amazing too! If any of you want to chat, drop me a line. By the way, check out Porcupine Tree and The Flower Kings, they are fantastic Prog bands also!
Love Louise
great web page from a few old genesis trippers,
Kent Crawford from preservation<kinks tribute band > seattle wa usa
I have been a fan of Ant since the day he visited WCMF Radio in Rochester, New York (sometime in the mid to late Seventies) and played some cuts from Geese and the Ghost. I believe I have every vinyl he has produced (even going as far as coercing a co-worker on vacation in the UK to purchase anything Anthony Phillips) and am working on the CD collection. Technically perfect, fluid and melodic, there are very few this talented.
I do hope Ant will some day return to the States, perhaps a small club setting.
Thanx,
FAV
Hi everyone in "Ant World"
I have just discovered the blissful world of Anthony Phillips. I first heard "The Geese And The Ghost" when I was at college in 1979; a half-crazed Dutchman Karl Van Heeswijk, introduced me to his music. I was captivated. Now I have found his music again I am building up his back catalogue to my musical delight. Anthony Phillips captures the romantic soul that is incarcerated in every one of us. Encapsulating the fading dream and the waking moment in every 12-string chord.
Beautiful, please keep doing it. What I would really like to see is collaboration between Anthony Phillips and Steve Hackett. Now there is a thought!
Andy Mitchell
Hi
I just rediscovered The Geese & The Ghost today - the half remembered tunes still well remembered. A beautiful LP, please let's get the whole damn back catalog reissued on Voiceprint or similar - including all the Private Parts (with apologies to Howard Stern).
All the best,
Steve Defoe
I was wondering, since Anthony don't
wanna perform live, what about making a video ???
I would be so happy!
Dear Anthony,
Dave Jacoby, Denver Colorado, USA
Yes y'all,
Name: Howard Taylor
Not that I ever doubted that Ant would still be producing lots of great stuff & have some sort of profile, It's just that we don't get to hear much about him in Melbourne.
Sides, Geese.., 1984, Wise... all stand the test of time & I love revisiting them. Lookin' forward to tracking down some of Ant's more recent stuff.
I just wanted to say that "Dragonfly Dreams" has got to be one of my all
time favorite albums and is definitely in the top five of my fave Ant albums.I mean, it is absolutely incredible!
From the down-home beauty and warm-sounding guitar of "Openers" to the majestic and epic-length "Chinese Walls" (I always get lost inside that
song) there is not a dull moment on the record. "She'll Be Waiting" always brings tears to my eyes and "Under the Ice" is simply brilliant.Thank you Ant, for the music and inspiration. Please keep writing and
recording. You touch many people.Jonathan Lee, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Name: Michael Byrehed
Country: Sweden
Name: Pelle Händén
Hi! 1984 is still such a great album, inspiring !!
Name: Ulisse
Hi Ant! Hope you fine!
Name: Gunnar Martone
Country: USA
Hooray! I finally get to have
the Tarka CD. I just ordered it! Ha Ha! Weeeeeeeeeee! Oo hoo!...
Ahem. Did I ever tell any of you just how much I love Anthony Phillips'
music? Why, I believe I did a while back, just down below there.
I like what Mr. McNeil from Texas said below, "entranced" by the
music, he said. "Never tire of listening", he said. Yes,
yes, that's how I feel. Very well said. How about this: If I could
be any CD, I would be an Anthony Phillips CD (any one; it doesn't matter).
Then everyone would love me. Er... anyone with a fine taste in music, that
is. All the best to you, you nutty Anthony Phillips fans!
I have been entranced with Ant's music since I first heard Wise After The Event, and every time I visit a record store, I check to see if there's any Ant there (usually not). I never tire of his music, and play it all the time to the wonderment of my friends. I turn everyone I can onto his music, and my only regret is not being able to find very much by him in South Texas. Fortunately, though, the internet has provided me with many. My favorites are 1984 and Finger Painting, although I can put any of the CDs I have on at any time of the day or night and refresh my state of mind.
Name: Barry Smith (barryefs@worldonline.es)
Country: Spain
Dedication: Good Music
Mission: Just turning 40 so that's a good question
Comments: It's great to see a website dedicated exclusively to the great AP. If my wife and kids knew the identity of all the beautiful music they hear floating around the house that's attributable to him, well, they'd ask him to stay for tea and shake his hand most vigorously. I got into his solo stuff when I saw the Geese And The Ghost in Downtown Records, Romford, Essex in early 1977, a riot of colour among Earth Wind And Fire, Chelsea, and Rainbow albums and sales counter indifference.
"What's this then?"
"He used to be in Genesis."
"They're boring."
"No, they're not. Well, not yet. Not until Hackett leaves."
Little did I realise as I clutched this joy of philistine art - LATER PLAYED AT PARTIES, no wonder we didn't get any girls - that 24 years later I'd still hear the same beauty shining down the years. Since then I've bought most of his albums - don't tell the wife - and have been consistently moved. The fact that he's remained true to his musical tastes and continued to produce some truly inspiring material - Tarka, Lights On The Hill, Sky Road, Unheard Cry etc. - is of joy to many of us. If you're listening, Ant ...thanks, mate. We love you and we need you, keep 'em coming. Strangely, and not that it's necessarily significant, the two members of Genesis to have most kept, and I quote, "the essence of romanticism" in their music, are AP and Steve Hackett. All I can say is....aren't we lucky?
God bless all you music lovers out there, and I'd be thrilled to hear from anybody wot remembers my Yes fanzine Sound Chaser from 1979 to 1981 that wanted to get in touch, like. Russell and Roger, for example.
Fondest regards to all AP fans...if you get what I get from his music, then we got stuff in common!
Thanks for this forum in which to communicate. People say many things about the internet, but being able to keep in touch with fellow enthusiasts is fantastic.
Name: Craig Nickerson
Country: USA
Comments: The first Genesis
album I ever heard was *Trespass*, and I was immediately impressed with the
atmospheric beauty of the 12-string guitar work. I had a sense that A. Phillips
was the leading spirit in forming their trademark sound.
Stage fright is both a curse and a blessing. While it has kept Ant off the
concert stage, it has also kept him out of the clutches of the mass marketeers.
He has nothing to lose by remaining true to himself and making his own kind of
music.
Name: Gunnar Martone
Country: USA
Comments: I could gush about how much I love Anthony Phillips' music all day! But I don't want to get too maudlin; he wouldn't like that! Seriously, Ant's music has always meant a great deal to me and I am so much richer (and Wiser) for having listened.
Name: Marc Cantin
Country: Canada
Comments: Je suis un fan d'Anthony Phillips depuis 1977 et je me considère priviligié d'avoir hérité de ma des cordes sensibles nécessaires pour pouvoir apprécier un tel talent.
Hi, I'm Canadian fan of Anthony (Québec City) . I feel it's a privilege to be
able to appreciate the music of Anthony despite this commercial pop world and
star system in which we're living. I'd rather be an Anthony Phillips Fan than a
back street boys fan....
Name: Allen Bruce Ray
Country: South Korea
Comments: Having been a fan of Anthony
Phillip's music for so many years, I'm obviously quite excited about this
website and the wealth of information it provides. I think the layout works
well, and it's also VERY satisfying to see that it's updated regularly, too.
Jonathan, you're doing a fabulous job here ~ Keep it up! (And thanks for the
Archive II info.)
Ant is a man of integrity in a business that seems to view integrity as a
liability. He prefers following his heart over any current trends.
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