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hillip Fankhauser proves there ismuch more to the wonderful countryof Switzerland than mountains,cuckoo clocks, chocolate, cheeseand the occasional yodel.

After serving his musical appren-ticeship in Europe, he was to takeup residence in Harlem and becomethe vocalist in the legendary JohnnyCopeland’s band – an experiencehe put to good use when returninghome, developing a style which has

given him unprecedented chart success for a Blues artist(and sold out major venues!).

Hailed as “Switzerland’s answer to Van Morrison”,Blues Matters! feels honoured to be given time withsuch a major player…

BM: How did a young Swiss lad, born in the ‘60s, get bit-ten by the Blues bug?Phillip: I hate to admit that at first I listened to bands likeThe Sweet, Bay City Rollers and so on. The Beatles werepart of me, as were some songs by The Rolling Stones and Iwas very big on Elvis Presley. Then my brother gave me analbum by piano pioneer Sunnyland Slim in 1975 and thatwas it. I was literally “born all over” and I was only 11 yearsold. There was something in that deep, dark, rich tone ofSunnyland’s voice, the way he touched the keys – I literallyheard him breathe through the loudspeakers. I knew thatwhat I just heard was me, my soul, my heartbeat.

Was there a thriving Blues scene in Switzerland when youwere growing up? Not really, and there is none today. At least not a localBlues scene. However, in the late-70s and early-80s therewere literally dozens of great Blues concerts. The legendary

American Folk Blues Festival came to Zurich almost everyyear. Albert King was there, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, AlbertCollins, Robert Cray, Junior Wells, Johnny Copeland,Memphis Slim and, of course, there’s Montreux where Isaw Willie Dixon, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Luther Johnson, JohnLee Hooker and many, many more. Nowadays we also havethe likes off the Lucerne Blues Festival, Piazza Blues inBellinzona and the Blues Festival in Basel.

Even in your early career, you seem to have had the oppor-tunity to meet and play with some of the greats. What kindof impact did that have on you?It was a heaven sent gift. From an early age, I was able tounderstand that this Blues music is far deeper and moreimportant than just three chords and fast guitar solos. Theheart and soul of the music, the stories, the destinies andthe people behind every Blues song is what I was interestedin. Muddy Waters’ story is a different one than EricClapton’s. Johnny Copeland’s trials and tribulations werevery different from Blind Lemon Jefferson’s. It’s their back-grounds and personal circumstances that formed theirexpression, their way of singing, playing and feeling thismusic called the Blues. So yes, to answer your question, Ido what I do today just because I had the chance of a life-time to sit next to these wonderful people who took the timeand had the patience to share some of their knowledge,some of their philosophy, parts of their life story with me.

Being asked to join Johnny Copeland’s band seems tohave been a pivotal moment in your career...In the early-90s, I managed my own little band called theCheckerboard Blues Band. I received a call from WillyLeiser Montreux, asking me if I’d have the time to book afew shows for Johnny Copeland and the Calvin Owensband in Switzerland. Of course, I jumped at the chance towork so closely with my idol. So that is how I started to get

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“It’s easy for me to understand that theUK would have difficulties in importing awhite, middle-aged Swiss guy to performthe Blues. That just does not seem right.”

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close to Johnny. Later he came back toSwitzerland to perform as a guest withme and my band. In early 1994, he invit-ed me to join him and his band for amonth on a US tour. At the end of thatmonth, I knew that this was it - this iswhat I wanted to do. I returned home toSwitzerland, sold all my belongings -besides the guitars - and just a fewweeks later I emigrated to the US to joinJohnny and his band. I stayed with himuntil his untimely death in July of 1997. Imiss the man a lot!

Did his choosing a European vocalistraise any eyebrows in the US?Oh, yes, you bet! Funnily enough, I waswell accepted by the black community.They welcomed me from the start.Obviously thinking it was cool for a white

Swiss guy to move to Harlem. White folks, for the mostpart, looked at me with suspicion, “Why is this white dudeon the same stage as ‘our idol’?”

After several years in the US, you returned home toSwitzerland. There seems to have been a change to yourstyle since then...Yes, indeed. Before moving to the US, I had a somewhatwatered down and romantic perception of the Blues. After mytime with Johnny and all the great people around him, myoutlook broadened quite a bit. I learned about O.V. Wright,Latimore, Joe Tex, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Johnnie Taylor, HankWilliams Sr., and many more. It was all Blues. There was somuch soul in their music. More importantly, these songs andthese artists all had messages in their music. It was not allabout three chords, or harp solos, it was about touchingsomebody’s heart. So, today I have all these influences inme. I combine the hard core Blues feel of Muddy Waters withthe slickness of Johnny Adams and within my own capabili-ties and parameters; I make Philipp Fankhauser out of it.

Would it be right to say that over the last few years youhave truly developed your own voice?Yes, I have become very comfortable with myself. A greatpart of that is the band that literally surrounds me. I havefound four enormously talented musicians that make mesound good on stage, understand the music and under-stand what I am trying to accomplish.

“Love Man Riding” had lots of acclaim. Must be gratifying...

Oh, it’s wonderful. We have beenin the official Swiss pop chartsfor eighteen weeks. That isunheard of for a Blues musician– besides, of course, B.B. Kingand Clapton’s “Riding With The

King” album. Being a Blues musician in a country whereBlues is considered a niche, it’s amusing to all of a suddensell more records than a whole bunch of pop and rockartists that the media considers to be so much morefamous and mainstream than that Fankhauser guy. All of asudden, we have sold out shows in 600–1000 capacityhalls, and that is truly gratifying - and certainly helps toadequately pay my musicians and staff!

Although the new album is well grounded in the Blues,there is quite a strong mainstream feel. Was this a deliber-ate move to widen your appeal?Yes and no. The previous album, “Watching From The SafeSide”, was the beginning of that development. I came in withsong ideas and sketches, and through the influence of myband’s musicality, the great Dennis Walker as producer and,in part, because of my unorthodox approach to songwriting,the album came to life. This is what pretty much happenedwith this new album, “Love Man Riding”. We had the sameapproach as with “Watching”, but we were even less pre-pared. As a matter of fact, some of the songs were written orcompleted while we were in the studio. But I will admit thatwe - especially Walker - made a few choices, like inserting asax solo instead of a screaming guitar solo that made it fareasier for a radio station to pick up a song. I find this legiti-mate becaus,e at the end of the day, this is our beloved job,and everyone wants to be successful at their job.

Do you have any favourite moments on the album?‘I Got A Love’ and ‘One Of Them’ are favourites; they were


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both first takers and my vocals are the pilots. DennisWalker pulled ‘One Of Them’ out of his pocket while wewere sitting around the studio. All you could hear wasAlan Mirikitani, a.k.a. B.B Chung King, play guitar andsing on the demo. We listened to it twice, and then madea rehearsal pass - I read the lyrics and sang. We didn’tknow that the tape was rolling. That was it!

Is this the material that we couldexpect to hear at a live show? Yes, we pretty much perform materi-al from the last two albums and afew from previous recordings, like‘Members Only’ from 1995 orSolomon Burke’s ‘Down In TheValley’. Quite a few Johnny Copelandsongs are found in our live repertoireas well. He is still my number onesongwriter. Did you know he wrote‘Further On Up The Road’ and sold it toDon Robey back in 1954? He was 17years old and that was a big mistake.Johnny could probably have lived ofthat royalty cheque the rest of his life!

In the UK it is very difficult for Bluesartists to get exposure. How do you find

different countries react to your music? While I do not have to prove myself anymore inSwitzerland, it’s easy for me to understand that the UKwould have difficulties in importing a white, middle-agedSwiss guy to perform the Blues. That just does not seemright. Chocolate, watches and cheese? Yes. A sporadicyodeller? Okay. But a Blues singer? I don’t think so.

You are often referred to as Switzerland’s Van Morrison.How do you feel about such a comparison?That is, of course, an honour and it pleases me.Although I don’t think that it is really true. Even though Iadmire Van Morrison a lot, I have not been a great fol-lower of his and, therefore, I don’t have a major collec-tion of his work, so I’m not particularly influenced by him.I’ve been compared to Joe Cocker; that’s cool and at thesame time it’s not. Would I like to be Joe Cocker? Yes! I’dbe touring the world.

Now that you are such an established star in your ownright, do you find that young musicians come to you foradvice and inspiration?My experience is that young people are mostly afraid toapproach me, because I am such a “big” star. That’s apity, because being a star is not my reality. But yes, everyonce in a while it happens, and I love to share mythoughts and experiences just like Johnny and so manymore did with me. After all, it’s about tradition and tradi-tion is just that: delivering information from one genera-tion to the next. Most of the traditional information Icarry within myself is Johnny Copeland’s.

What was the worst piece of advice you received as anemerging artist?The worst advice was maybe from my guitar teacher whenI was 10 years old. He refused to see me after two les-sons, he told my mum that I had no musical talent what-soever and to please find another hobby for her son, so Inever went back and never took another lesson. TR

Johnny “Clyde” Copelandmay not be generallyregarded as one of thegreat names of theBlues, but he was agreat Bluesman.

Although born inLouisiana, Johnny’s spiri-tual home was Houston,where he was inspiredas a young man by localheroes Johnny “Guitar”Watson, Clarence“Gatemouth” Brownand T-Bone Walker.

Copeland would go onto play and record withmany of the Blues’ elite - he was always highly regardedby his contemporaries - but, for many years, commercialsuccess eluded him. Like many before him, he let oppor-tunities slip away. He co-wrote ‘Further On Up The Road’with Joe Medwick, who sold the rights without Johnnyreceiving either payment or writing credit. What a pensionplan that could have provided! Eventually his justifiedposition as a major talent started to be recognised.

In 1981, his album “Copeland Special” earned him aW.C. Handy award. Then in 1985, Alligator Recordsteamed Johnny with Albert Collins and Robert Cray. Thisgrouping created one of the finest guitar collaborations inthe history of recorded Blues, with the album"Showdown!" It was another huge success, earning bothHandy and GRAMMY Awards. These successes did notpropel Johnny into the upper echelons but did ensurethat, in his remaining years, he maintained a comfortableposition, gaining plaudits wherever he appeared.

Regarded as one of the genre’s real gentlemen, he wasnever one to bad mouth others, and, in fact, would alwaysplay down his own abilities - happy to acknowledge therole of friends and colleagues in his development.

Sadly, as his star was seen to rise, his health deteriorat-ed. It seems rather ironic that such a big hearted gener-ous man should be undone by a congenital heart defect.Throughout a sustained period of illness, he continued torecord and perform. After suffering several heart attacks,he was fitted with a Left Ventricular Assist Device (L-VAD).Eventually, though, a transplant was deemed the onlysolution. His manager, Holly Bullamore, was quoted assaying that "they can't find a heart big enough for him."

Johnny underwent transplant surgery on 1stJanuary 1997. Just four months later, he returned tothe stage. Unfortunately, following complications,Johnny would leave the stage on 23rd July 1997. Hewas 60. TR

(from left) Albert Collins, RobertCray and Johnny Copeland.


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