.jpg)
John Edmund Andrew Phillips
(August 30, 1935 – March 18, 2001)
was an
American musician,
singer,
and songwriter.
He was the leader
of the vocal group
and remains frequently
referred to as
Papa John Phillips.
In addition to writing
the majority of the
group's compositions,
he also wrote
"San Francisco
(Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)"
in 1967
for former
Journeymen
bandmate
Scott McKenzie,
as well as the
oft-covered
"Me and My Uncle",
which was a favorite
in the repertoire of
the Grateful Dead.
Phillips was one
of the chief organizers
of the 1967
Monterey Pop Festival.
His years of
drug addiction
resulted in
health problems
that required a
liver transplant
in 1992.
Several months later,
photographs of him
drinking alcohol
in a bar in
Palm Springs, California,
were published in
the National Enquirer.
On March 14, 1994,
during his first
Howard Stern Show
appearance since
the transplant,
he said,
"Occasionally I have a drink",
when asked
if he still drank.
Phillips spent his last years
in Palm Springs, California,
with Farnaz Arasteh,
his fourth wife.
On March 18, 2001,
he died of heart failure
in Los Angeles
at the age of 65,
days after completing
recording sessions
for a new album.
He is interred at
Forest Lawn Cemetery in
Cathedral City,
near
Palm Springs
