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Anthony Phillips – Private Parts & Pieces V: Twelve – review
Anthony Phillips called the fifth Private Parts & Pieces album Twelve. It is about the 12 months of the year and the 12-string guitar.
On 17th January 2025 it will be 40 years old: Private Parts & Pieces V: Twelve, an album by Genesis founding member Anthony Phillips, which is something very special in several respects, which I would like to highlight in this review. “A Collection of Pieces for 12 String Guitar” – that’s the unpretentious subtitle on the LP edition.
Prelude:
The twelve-string guitar is an instrument with just 100 years of history behind it. In the first half of the last century, it was mainly blues and folk musicians who appreciated the full sound and volume of the instrument for unamplified performances on the road. And so it was not surprising that the first important 12-string performers were blues musicians, above all Leadbelly. In rock music from the late sixties and in the seventies, the instrument experienced an astonishing heyday.
Some of the most played rock songs are inconceivable without the distinctive sound of the 12-string guitar: Hotel California by the Eagles, Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, Eight Miles High by the Byrds, Horse With No Name by the band America, and of course Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven, to name just a few of the most famous.
It is all the more astonishing, given its popularity and prevalence, how few guitarists have developed a distinctive style on this instrument or even cultivated it as a solo instrument: Leadbelly in blues, Leo Kottke then in American folk music, Ralph Towner in jazz, Neil Jacobs in world music, and that was pretty much it.
The 12-String-Guitar and Genesis
Oh yes, and then there was the band Genesis. They often layered two and sometimes three twelve-string guitars to create an impressionistic, shimmering web of sound and made it one of their trademarks for many years. Here the influence of founding member Anthony Phillips continued long after his departure.
And Anthony himself has given this instrument a lot of space in his solo oeuvre. Rightly so, because he is one of the most innovative and best 12-string guitarists on the planet, a composer and musician with a very unique and unmistakable style. And the album to be reviewed and celebrated here is in fact – please correct me if anyone knows something I don’t – the first album to present exclusively solo pieces for 12-string guitar!
The Releases:
Twelve – that is the title of this solo album by Anthony Phillips, which is also the fifth edition of his Private Parts and Pieces series, which now comprises 12 albums (plus 3 bonus discs). The tracks were recorded in September 1984. Twelve was initially released on vinyl on January 17, 1985 by the American company Passport Records. In the UK, the record was only available via import. This only changed with the CD re-release by Virgin. Later, Voiceprint released a double edition together with Private Parts & Pieces VI, the piano album Ivory Moon. The album is currently available as part of the 5-CD box set Private Parts and Pieces V – VIII. It was released by Cherry Red/ Esoteric Recordings a couple of years ago.
It all started with the idea of setting to music the book Trouble for Trumpets by Peter Cross. He had designed several cover paintings for Anthony. Ant originally thought of an orchestral realisation. But there was no record company and no budget for such an extensive project. So he decided that it should be an album of solo guitar pieces. More precisely, for twelve-string guitar.
Cover Artwork
As always, the cover was created by Peter Cross with great care and attention to detail. In a kind of seasonal clock, it shows the twelve months as pictures in a cyclical arrangement. This was designed – in 1985 – for the large LP format. Unfortunately it loses its impact on the much smaller CD releases. Thematically, the number 12 appears again and again, and themes from the aforementioned book by Peter Cross are used and varied.
In addition to titles and playing times, there are some production details and the obligatory witty reference to Ralph Bernascone and his operetta 12 Vodka Night on the back. You can read more about the making of the album in the booklet of the box set edition.
The Music
The album consists of twelve tracks named after the twelve months. This is achieved with a great deal of sonic painting that evokes associations with the course of the year in nature: bone-chilling frost, heavy rain showers, sparkling streams, the blossoming of nature, radiant summer days, fierce autumn storms and, finally, the festive mood of Christmas are all images that come to mind when listening to the album. The album is thus in the classical-romantic tradition of programme music, and at the same time it is a true concept album.
Technically, Anthony Phillips pulls out all the stops on these pieces. Sparkling, fast arpeggios, chords that are struck through, rhythmic outbursts, complex polyphony, soft harmonics, tapping with the right and left hand, playing with timbres and dynamics – he uses all these stylistic devices deliberately to make the album varied and interesting despite being limited to a single solo instrument.
Compositionally, themes and forms are meticulously developed and cleverly composed. There are no shorties like on other Phillips CDs. The tracks are between four and six and a half minutes long.
The Guitar
Anthony plays all the pieces on the same guitar. It is an Alvarez 12-String-Guitar, in an extremely unusual tuning that he says he discovered by accident. None of the pairs of strings are in standard tuning, and the highest pair of strings is in a fifth! Jonathan Dann reveals the secret on Ant’s official website. We can’t wait to share it with all you 12-string freaks out there:
„Ant says: The tuning used on all the pieces on Twelve is as follows:
A E – 1st pair – upper one is the E, lower the A
G G – 2nd pair – unison
D D – 3rd pair – in octaves, both a fourth down (5 frets !) from their ‘normal’ tuning
C C – 4th pair – in octaves, both a major second down (2 frets !) from their ‘normal’ tuning
G G – 5th pair – in octaves, both a major second down
D D – 6th pair – in octaves, both a major second down“ *
Sound Aesthetics
The sound of the recordings shows that Ant is in the process of developing his own sound aesthetic for the twelve-string guitar. Compared to his more recent releases, especially 2019’s Strings of Light, where he perfected this ideal, some things are not yet fully developed, but this is also due to the circumstances. Anthony did all the recordings himself, without another sound engineer. He also had the difficulty of adjusting the level of the loudest passages to avoid overdriving, given the extreme dynamic range of some of the pieces.
As a result, some very quiet passages (such as the slamming of Ant’s tenant’s door at night in the track October, which is even mentioned in the end credits) can be heard in the background. Overall, however, the sound is extremely brilliant and transparent. I keep thinking of Pete Seeger, who once compared the special sound of twelve-string guitars to “the clanging of bells” **. It should be noted that there were only one or two takes of each piece. Given the enormous technical demands and complexity of the compositions, this underlines the high level at which Anthony was working at the time. He must have completely internalised and understood the peculiar mood, and it cannot be overstated how cleanly he recorded all the pieces.
Track by Track:
January
Slowly played broken chords open the piece, pastel-colored dissonances resound, and Ant Phillips plays with the timbre here by striking the strings very close to the bridge with the plectrum, resulting in a strangely tinkling sound that involuntarily makes you think of the freezing cold of winter. A mysterious atmosphere pervades the piece, which builds up in circling arpeggios to finally end quietly with the opening theme.
February
Muted tones, a small theme played staccato, which is then varied, introduces the piece. A walk through the snowy winter landscape comes to mind. The fire in the fireplace finally provides warmth and security in the dark night. Then again delicate dissonant and yet beautiful sounds, the view out of the window reveals the magic of winter.
March
A delicate, light-filled and impressionistic piece hints at the slow awakening of nature. The last frosts, then the snow melts and the meltwater runs down into the valley in small streams and rivulets. The first delicate green on the trees, early flowering plants provide fresh colors.
April
April is considered the month with the most extreme weather changes. And so it is only logical that Ant Phillips spices up the setting of this month with lots of harmonic, dynamic and rhythmic changes and outbursts. Highly virtuosic and intense, this is perhaps the most varied piece on the album. It is not surprising that this track was also chosen for the compilation Harvest of the Heart. Althoug I personally would have liked to hear two or three other numbers from Twelve, which I consider to be even more successful compositionally.
May
This is followed by a May with radiant chords, beginning softly and building up, luxuriating in lush harmonies. A piece that radiates calm and peace. Although Ant describes in the accompanying text of the box set edition that he sometimes experienced May as very uncomfortable and rainy when playing cricket.
June
June begins with quickly played and dynamically increasing arpeggios in 6/4 time. They draw harmonically from the full thanks to the extraordinary guitar tuning. The passage then transitions into open chords, a sunny, peaceful June comes to mind. Before the quiet ending, things get very spirited once again.
July
This is one of my personal favourites. It is carried by a lively and catchy theme in 6/8 time, played on the bass strings and accompanied by arpeggios on the treble strings in such a way that you would think two guitarists were playing. A second, quieter theme then appears, and finally the mood and key changes, becoming darker and more agitated with fast-beating rhythms, then a redemptive chord, followed by a slow transition, until the individual themes are artfully interwoven at the end, ending with a striking final chord.
August
August begins quietly with overtones. A theme in the bass, accompanied by broken chords, builds up to the climax: a summer storm? Towards the end, delicate harmonics alternate with single full chords, only to end on a very lyrical and restrained note with soft soundscapes created (perhaps?) by a slide tube, which remind me somewhat of the “glissando guitars” of the early Gong.
September
Soft arpeggios introduce the piece, a kind of call-and-response, again working with the position of the attack. The tinkling notes, played close to the bridge, give the first hint of frosty nights to come. Then broken chords unfold, colourful, dynamic and full of life. It seems to be a late summer in September. 4/4 and 6/8 time alternate, the piece builds to a climax and at the end the chords and the little melody from the beginning are heard again in a restrained way.
October
Colourful chord arpeggios like swirling leaves, bright sunny days, but also the melancholy of autumn, billowing wafts of mist, all this is conveyed in this piece. Major and minor alternate. This is also a very atmospheric piece with many tonal colours.
November
For me, this is the most “rocking” track on the album, if I may use that term. Chords and two-note chords that are struck hard and work with dissonant intervals like the tritone, which also gives the piece an eerie quality at times. Finally, an orgiastic build-up with rapidly played solo runs. The force of a violent autumn storm is unleashed. In terms of character, the composition reminds me a little of King Crimson in the “Larks Tongues” era. Just not with crashing electric guitar, bass and drums, but played exclusively on acoustic twelve-string guitar. November is certainly one of the album’s highlights due to its intensity.
December
A suspenseful intro introduces the last month. Then, a beautiful vocal melody is heard that seems to have been taken from a hymn. Perhaps inspired by one of the chorales that the teenage Genesis musicians at Charterhouse boarding school were so fond of, who knows? The melodic line develops, sometimes in the middle voice, then in thirds and finally in the upper voice. The solemn mood ends with a rich, polyphonic chord that is allowed to fade away. Then, at the end, no fireworks, but contemplative sounds, clanging chords that symbolise nature’s freezing in the cold. A few plucked chords, then a quiet, unresolved final note that is not the keynote.
And so Anthony Phillips’ musical journey through the year comes to an end. Incidentally, when I first bought the jewel box edition of the CD from Virgin, I made an interesting observation due to a technical defect in my player: the CD could only be played in its entirety if I put it on repeat. When you do that, you realise how seamlessly January follows December. It’s brilliant how the cyclical nature of Twelve has been implemented in such a musically appropriate way that you can practically start listening to every track!
Conclusion
As you will notice when you read this, this is someone who has been touched by this album and loves the music on it. I would like to encourage you to give this – in my opinion – misunderstood masterpiece a second chance. This is certainly not music that you should just leave playing in the background. It is worth listening to more closely. And many subtleties only become apparent on the second, third or fourth listen. Twelve is an album with music in which you can still discover new details years later. And if only some of those who have not yet had access to this great work would listen to it and learn to appreciate it anew as a result of this review, I would be delighted.
Author: Gereon Schoplick
References:
* Ant’s Guitar Tuning
** Simmons, Michael. “The origins of Twelve String Power”. frets.com. Acoustic Guitar Magazine. Retrieved 16 January 2019.