Born Esther Mae Jones in Galveston, Texas, when she was an adolescent, her parents divorced, and she was forced to divide her time between her father in Houston and her mother in the Watts area of Los Angeles. Because she was brought up singing in church, she was hesitant to enter a talent contest at a local blues club, but her sister insisted and she complied. A mature singer at age fourteen, she won the amateur talent contest in 1949 at the Barrelhouse Club owned by Johnny Otis. Otis was so impressed that he recorded her for Modern Records and added her to his traveling revue, the California Rhythm and Blues Caravan, billed as 'Little Esther Phillips' (she reportedly took the surname from a gas station sign).
Her first hit record was Double Crossing Blues, recorded in 1950 for Savoy Records. After several hit records with Savoy, including her duet with Mel Walker on Mistrusting Blues, which went to number one that year, as did "Cupid Boogie". Other Phillips records that made it onto the U.S. Billboard R&B chart in 1950 include "Misery" (number 9), "Deceivin' Blues" (number 4), "Wedding Boogie" (number 6), and "Faraway Blues" (number 6). Few female artists, R&B or otherwise, had ever enjoyed such success in their debut year. Phillips left Otis and the Savoy label at the end of 1950 and signed with Federal Records.
But just as quickly as the hits had started, they stopped. Although she recorded more than thirty sides for Federal, only one, Ring-a-Ding-Doo, charted; the song made it to number 8 in 1952. Not working with Otis was part of her problem; the other part was her drug usage. By the middle of the decade Phillips was chronically addicted to drugs.
In 1954, she returned to Houston to live with her father to recuperate. Short on money, she worked in small nightclubs around the South, punctuated by periodic hospital stays in Lexington, Kentucky, stemming from her addiction. In 1962, Kenny Rogers re-discovered her while singing at a Houston club and got her signed to his brother Lelan’s Lenox label.
Phillips ultimately got well enough to launch a comeback in 1962. Now billed as Esther Phillips instead of Little Esther, she recorded a country tune, Release Me, with producer Bob Gans. This went to number 1 R&B and number 8 on the pop listings. After several other minor R&B hits on Lenox, she was signed by Atlantic Records. Her cover of The Beatles' song And I Love Him nearly made the R&B Top Ten in 1965 and the Beatles flew her to the UK for her first overseas performances.
She had other hits in the 1960s on the label, but no more chart toppers, and she waged a battle with heroin dependency. With her addiction worsening, Phillips checked into a rehab facility. While undergoing treatment, she cut some sides for Roulette in 1969, mostly produced by Lelan Rogers. On her release, she moved back to Los Angeles and re-signed with the Atlantic label. A late 1969 gig at Freddie Jett's Pied Piper club produced the album Burnin'. She performed with the Johnny Otis Show at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1970.
One of her biggest post-1950s triumphs was in 1972 with her first album for Kudu Records. The song penned by Gil Scott-Heron, Home Is Where the Hatred Is, - an account of drug use — was lead track on From a Whisper to a Scream which went on to be nominated for a Grammy Award. When Phillips lost to Aretha Franklin, the latter presented the trophy to Phillips, saying she should have won it instead.
Taylor continued to cut albums with her until in 1975, she scored her biggest hit single since "Release Me" with a disco-style update of Dinah Washington's What a Diff'rence a Day Makes. It reached a high of a Top 20 chart appearance in the U.S., and Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. On November 8, 1975 she performed the song on an episode of NBC's Saturday Night hosted by Candice Bergen. The accompanying album of the same name became her biggest seller yet, with arranger Joe Beck on guitar, Michael Brecker on tenor sax, David Sanborn on alto sax, and Randy Brecker on trumpet to Steve Khan on guitar and Don Grolnick on keyboards.
She continued to record and perform throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, completing a total of seven albums on Kudu and four with Mercury Records, for whom she signed in 1977. In 1983, she charted for the final time on a tiny independent label, Winning with Turn Me Out, which reached #85 R&B. She completed recording her final album a few months before her death, but it was not until 1986 that the label (Muse) released the record.
Phillips died at UCLA Medical Center in Carson, California in 1984, at the age of 48 from liver and kidney failure due to drug use. Her funeral services were conducted by Johnny Otis, and she was buried in the Morning Light section, at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. The bronze marker recognizes her career achievements, as well as quoting a Bible passage, "In My Father's House Are Many Mansions" - St. John 14:2
Shangri-La
Esther Phillips Lyrics
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Each kiss is magic that makes my little world a Shangri-La
A land of bluebirds and fountains and nothing to do
But cling to an angel that looks like you
And when you hold me, how warm you are
Be mine, my darling, and spend your life with me in Shangri-La
For anywhere you are is Shangri-La
Each kiss is magic that makes my little world a Shangri-La
A land of bluebirds and fountains and nothing to do
But cling to an angel that looks like you
And when you hold me, how warm you are
Be mine, my darling, and spend your life with me in Shangri-La
For anywhere you are is Shangri-La
Esther Phillips's song "Shangri-La" is a song about the transcendence of love. The lyrics speak of a love so powerful that it can transport the singer to a mystical land where there are bluebirds, fountains and nothing to do but be with the object of her affection. The chorus repeats the idea of being taken to Shangri-La by the power of the lover's kisses, as each kiss is described as magic that transforms the mundane into the extraordinary.
The lyrics suggest that the lover is an angelic figure who is warm and comforting. Being held by this lover is enough for the singer to want to spend her life with them in Shangri-La, a utopian paradise that is often portrayed in literature and legend as a mystical, hidden place of great beauty and peace. The idea of being transported to a better place through the power of love is a common theme in popular music, and "Shangri-La" is a shining example of this type of song.
Line by Line Meaning
Your kisses take me to Shangri-La
Your lovely kisses take me on a journey to a paradise called Shangri-La.
Each kiss is magic that makes my little world a Shangri-La
Every single kiss of yours is so enchanting that it transforms my ordinary world into a magical Shangri-La.
A land of bluebirds and fountains and nothing to do
Shangri-La is a utopia full of bird songs and water fountains, where there is no need for any activity as everything is simply perfect.
But cling to an angel that looks like you
In this paradise, all I want to do is to hold on to the angelic being that is you, because you are the embodiment of perfection itself.
And when you hold me, how warm you are
When I am in your embrace, I feel so comforted and safe because of the warmth and tenderness that radiates from you.
Be mine, my darling, and spend your life with me in Shangri-La
My one and only love, please become mine forever and let us spend our lives together in this paradise of Shangri-La.
For anywhere you are is Shangri-La
As long as I am with you, my love, any place in the world can become a dream-like Shangri-La, because you are the source of all my happiness and contentment.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: WALTER WIDEMAIR, HANS GREINER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind