I have written before about Phil’s sailing dingy The Fox which was built for him by his father David who named it after the pub which was next door to their house Orchard in Station Road in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire. Having a pub next door was one of the reasons David chose Orchard Cottage when he bought it in 1949 soon after Phil’s birth. It was the family home of the Miller family and was Phil’s home from the age of six months. He was 14 when David built The Fox. Phil was very interested in sailing and treasured the little 12 foot dingy for the rest of his life. Until his mother died early this century, Phil had housed The Fox in Orchard Cottage’s 19th century barn where David had built it. Although Phil had been taught to drive by his father, he never took a driving test or owned a car, unlike his brother Steve who had never been without a car since passing his test. Phil did have a trailer which was used to take the boat out when he went sailing, as long as he had a friend with a car. He sailed it on the Thames with Benj Lefevre and with Jack Monck and his wife and children at Stone, near the de- commissioned Bradwell power station in Essex and with Pip Pyle and his family when we went on holiday to Polzeath in Cornwall.
Phil loved sailing. I hear it in his music. “The Fox” is the only piece Phil wrote which has to be about sailing, just because it is the name of his boat but I fancy I hear the sailing vibe in lots of his other pieces.
Here are a few that I have put on my walkman this week. I love to listen to Phil’s music on my daily walks around the lovely parks for which Hackney is famous.
The Fox 6:41 mins:
I have chosen this rendition from the “A Life in Music” tribute concert that we put on at the Vortex Jazz Club in Dalston for Phil after he died.
The line up for this piece was: Alex Maguire piano, Theo Travis flute, Patrice Meyer guitar, Jack Monck bass and Paul Dufour drums.
Billow 15:56 mins:
A concert from La Cave Dimiere, Argenteuil in France on the 16th October 1998.
Phil on guitar, Elton Dean on sax, Jim Dvorak- trumpet, Pete Lemer keyboards,, Fred Baker bass and Pip Pyle drums.
Open Sea 6:08 mins
This version can be found on Phil’s CD Out Of The Blue track 7.
The line up was Phil Miller on guitar and synth guitar, Fred Baker fretless bass guitar, Pete Lemer Keyboards, Pip Pyle drums, with guest guitarist Doug Boyle.
Out There 5:30 mins
Track 7 from Phil & Fred’s posthumous CD Double Up 2
Tide 10:16 mins
A concert at The New Morning in Paris on the 19th March 1993
line up: Phil Miller guitar, Elton Dean saxes, Jim Dvorak trumpet, Fred Baker bass, Pip Pyle drums.