Description
Martinis & Bikinis is the third studio album by the American singer and songwriter Sam Phillips, released on Virgin Records in March 1994. The album was recorded by Joe Schiff at various studios in the Los Angeles area of California (at The Sound Factory, Sunset Sound, and Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood, and as well at Record One in Sherman Oaks, Groove Masters in Santa Monica, and Kiva West in Encino); with T Bone Burnett of The Alpha Band fame producing, except track 4 co-produced by Colin Moulding. (Recorded to analog tape.) Mixed by Tchad Blake at The Sound Factory. Featuring “songs framed in settings that find the sweet spot between power pop, Americana and psychedelia,” according to HM Magazine. All songs written by Sam Phillips except tracks 3 and 8 co-written with T-Bone Burnett, as well as track “Gimme Some Truth”, the John Lennon classic.
Behind an amazing set of songs lay a brilliant cast of musicians including XTC’s Colin Moulding, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, Marvin Etzioni and Don Heffington from Lone Justice, Heartbreaker Benmont Tench, avant-garde guitarist Marc Ribot, T-Bone Burnett and David Mansfield of The Alpha Band fame, bassist Jerry Scheff of TCB Band fame (the rhythm section of Elvis Presley’s band), and drummer Mickey Curry. The album track “Circle of Fire” was nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards.
Peculiar, innovative, soulful, and reasonably undiscovered, with a deeply expressive voice and challenging and unusual topics for songs. Kurt Weill with a revolver. Her cracked vocals and surreal lyrics make for an odd and familiar ride. She and producer T-Bone Burnett make her face yellow and her hair red, and give her a third eye, and together they make tough records. She’s Dusty Springfield via Marianne Faithfull with a dash of Jackie De Shannon, but very much her own woman. [Tom Waits]
With Martinis and Bikinis, Sam Phillips’ music turns decidedly Beatlesque: edgier and more psychedelic than her previous work, songs like «Strawberry Road» and «Same Rain» springboard from John Lennon-inspired origins, while «Same Changes» brazenly borrows from «If I Needed Someone» – Van Dyke Parks’ string arrangement for the stunning «Baby, I Can’t Please You» even recalls «Tomorrow Never Knows». (To punctuate matters, the album closes with a cover of Lennon’s «Gimme Some Truth».) The difference between Phillips and the vast majority of her pop-revisionist contemporaries, however, is that she never coasts on the fumes of her influences, but turns them on their head and gives them new life – regardless of the approach, her impassioned, spiritually charged songs remain the product of a singular vision. [Jason Ankeny, AMG]
If the stubborn spirit of John Lennon has whispered in anyone’s ear this year, it’s probably Sam Phillips’. Unlike pretenders who copy rather than create, Phillips doesn’t so much mimic Lennon as filter his influence – lovingly and angrily – into her own style. Martinis and Bikinis (produced by Phillips’ husband, T-Bone Burnett) is her most vibrant release in a string of already remarkable records, notably Cruel Inventions (1991) and The Indescribable Wow (1988).
Exploring not only the poetry of words but the poetry inherent in stunning production techniques, Martinis and Bikinis makes the most of Phillips’ wry delivery. From the twisted invitation of «Love and Kisses», the album gallops headlong through songs of breathless imagery, dry passion and fevered doubt.
«Signposts» is a controlled shriek of longing over a distorted reggae stomp. On the aggravated psychedelia of «Same Rain», Phillips’ take is wise and weary (“I knew a man, a refugee, survival was his art/ All that he held valuable he carried in his heart”). «Baby I Can’t Please You» is a gem, a mean little love song ricocheting among the pretty finery of strings, a sitar vibe and a percussive mantra.
As a writer, Phillips employs dreamy metaphors to mask more horrible truths. “The hunger behind our memories/ We’ve buried it in code,” she sings on the Beatles homage «Strawberry Road». The issue seems to be the strength to tell the truth – and to face the disaster that such revelation might bring. Phillips’ words derive from self-observation, bending rage into vulnerability. “Control is letting go,” she confesses in «When I Fall», “and I’m the last to know.”
It is instantly karmic that Phillips covers Lennon’s «Gimme Some Truth» to close this album. Her fierce, half-sobbed interpretation suits both the song and the bitter conviction of its singer. Sam Phillips is a rarity – an artist who seduces and disturbs. And Martinis and Bikinis is equally rare, a rude and lovely awakening for this compelling talent. [Kara Manning, Rolling Stone Magazine, March 24 – 1994]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/martinis-and-bikinis/723387845)
CD tracklist:
01. Love And Kisses – 0:56
02. Signposts – 2:19
03. Same Rain – 4:11
04. Baby I Can’t Please You – 3:30
05. Circle Of Fire – 3:12
06. Strawberry Road – 4:05
07. When I Fall – 5:07
08. Same Changes – 4:44
09. Black Sky – 4:03
10. Fighting With Fire – 3:00
11. I Need Love – 3:39
12. Wheel Of The Broken Voice – 4:00
13. Gimme Some Truth – 3:27
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Virgin Records. Re-issued by Omnivore Recordings in 2012 as a 12-inch double vinyl album pressed on white vinyl limited to 1,500 copies, featuring four bonus tracks: “I Need Love” (With The Section Quartet) (3:19), “Fighting With Fire” (Remix) (2:56), “Black Sky” (Version 2) (3:04), “Strawberry Road” (2012 Version). Cut at Capitol Mastering by Ron McMaster. A remastered version was reissued on CD as well by Omnivore Recordings, featuring the same four bonus tracks. (“The company that I partnered with for the rerelease of Martinis and Bikinis – Omnivore – did a beautiful, thoughtful job. They chased down the master tapes, the guy who did the original artwork for the album, the photographer, and the pictures. It was done with such great care.” – Sam Phillips). In 2021 a live recording from a KSCA 1994 broadcast, including an interview, was released.
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