One of Freestone County’s celebrated musicians may just win a Grammy this year.
Nominated for Best Historical Album of the Year is “Washington Phillips and His Manzarene Dreams,” compiled by producers Michael Corcoran, April G. Ledbetter, and Steven Lance Ledbetter; Michael Graves serving as mastering engineer.
Teague native, Doris Nealy, joined Corcoran for an interview with NPR/Atlanta on Monday, December 18th to discuss her personal reflections of Mr. George Washington Phillips, who was her neighbor in the Simsboro Community.
They spoke with Celeste Headlee, the host of the Georgia Public Broadcasting program “On Second Thought.”
The folks of Freestone County met with author and music critic, Michael Corcoran, back in January when he visited Teague for a book signing of “Manzarene Dreams.” Published by Dust-to-Digital of Atlanta, Georgia, the book includes a 16-track CD using the most pristine original 78rpm copies available, along with album notes.
Doris Nealy knew Mr. Phillips growing up, and she was instrumental in assisting Corcoran with his research into the musician’s life.
According to Nealy, Mr. Phillips passed away the year she went to college, in 1954, after falling from the steps of the old City Hall building in Teague, Texas.
“He is one of those unknown musical heroes, not recognized during his time,” said Nealy, following her interview on NPR/Atlanta. “His own community didn’t even know him.”
Washington Phillips was a jack-leg preacher who performed gospel music in Freestone County. Friends and neighbors would have been surprised to learn that he also recorded 18 songs with Columbia records between 1927 and 1929.
His gospel-blues music, described as melodic, has been discussed on CNN and in The New Yorker. Washington Phillips has fans all around the world.
Relying only on his recordings, music experts once believed that the musical instrument Phillips played was a dolceola, a rare keyboard instrument that is hammered when played.
According to Corcoran, the dolceola theory was not disproven until Freestone County folks – including Virgil Keeton, Doris Nealy, Durden Dixon and others – showed him how the singer plucked the strings as he played.
Before Corcoran began researching his life, most people believed he had died in a state mental hospital in 1930.
This seemed to explain why there were no more recordings after 1929 from the gospel-blues singer.
However, Corcoran soon discovered there were, in fact, two men with the same name. The musician Phillips returned to his home on the farm, performing for friends and local churches before dying at the age of 74 years.
The 60th Annual Grammy Awards will be in New York City, taking place at Madison Square Garden January 28, 2018.
Link to NPR/Atlanta interview: http://gpbnews.org/post/remarkable-lost-story-gospel-artist-washington-phillips