P. F. Sloan

P.F. Sloan (born Philip Gary Schlein, 18 September 1945, in New York) is an American pop-rock singer and songwriter.

Songwriter

His family moved to West Hollywood, California in 1957. Sloan recorded a single, "All I Want Is Loving," for the R&B record label Aladdin Records, which folded soon after its release.

He became part of the burgeoning Los Angeles music scene, landing a job on the songwriting staff at startup label Dunhill Records. Using the name Phil F. Sloan or P.F. Sloan, he wrote hits for many performers. His "Kick That Little Foot Sally Ann" was done by a [[Watts, California]- born performer named Round Robin, and given an arrangement by Jack Nitzsche. He wrote "Eve of Destruction", recorded by Barry McGuire; "You Baby" The Turtles; and "Secret Agent Man" Johnny Rivers. The last was the theme tune for Secret Agent, a British TV series that had been given a new title and theme for the U.S. market. (In Britain it was called Danger Man). Sloan also wrote, sang and produced songs for The Grass Roots, Jan and Dean, and various others along with his then writing and production partner Steve Barri.

Tribute from fellow songwriter

"P.F. Sloan" is also the title of a song by singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb, who is better known for the 1960s hits "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and "Up, Up and Away". Webb released two different versions of the catchy, bittersweet composition, which seems to be about the costs and disappointments of being a creative groundbreaker. Cover versions of this were recorded by The Association in 1971, Jennifer Warnes and by British band Unicorn in the early 1970s - released as a single and album track on Transatlantic Records.

While Sloan helped Webb get started on his career, it was because of a personal dispute with him that Webb denied the existence of "P.F. Sloan" when asked about the song's title character during an article interview, saying that he had made the name up. Ironically, this led Eugene Landy, the controversial psychologist, to lay claim to being the real P.F. Sloan when he was asked by reporters why he considered himself able to direct Beach Boys lead singer Brian Wilson's musical career. Landy claimed to have written the songs attributed to "P.F. Sloan", and this soon led to his losing his license.

Political influence

"Eve of Destruction" was used as a rallying cry by supporters of the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which changed the voting age from 21 to 18.

Performer

Known to friends as "Flip," Sloan was also a singer. After moving to Dunhill he sang lead vocals on "Where Were You When I Needed You," the original 1965 demo record for The Grass Roots (which he also co-wrote). Sloan created and played the guitar intro for the Mamas and Papa's recording of "California Dreamin'". His single "Sins Of A Family", a true folk rock classic, received airplay on 136/KGB (San Diego) and 93/KHJ (Los Angeles) in fall 1965. Sloan also enjoyed some success as a solo performer in the late 1960s and early 1970s, releasing several albums and I Can't Help But Wonder, Elizabeth/Karma (A Study Of Divinations), a solo 45 released under his real name, Philip Sloan. He made an album in 1968 that Sloan says was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, but which listed Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee as the locale. Entitled "Measure of Pleasure," it was produced by Tom Dowd and was his most accomplished bit of record-making (as opposed to songwriting), but it did not sell. Beset by business and legal problems - Sloan essentially signed away the rights to his valuable compositions, and has said that Dunhill made threatening advances to force him to do so - he largely dropped out of sight in the late 1960s and did not record or perform again, save for 1972's Raised On Records, until the 1980s. He made a CD in the early 1990s that was initially released only in Japan. Sloan's early work has been poorly represented on compact disc, with only a smattering of releases to his name. His two Dunhill LPs, "Songs of Our Times" and "Twelve More Times," are scheduled for reissue on CD in June 2008. "Measure of Pleasure" was reissued on CD in January 2007. There is currently a collection of his demo recordings available ("Child of Our Times"), and there was a now-out-of-print 1993 "Anthology" of his Dunhill recordings.

In 2005 he made a series of recordings with producer Jon Tiven in Nashville, Tennessee. The resulting album, Sailover, was released in August 2006 on the Hightone label. Tiven, known for his work with artists such as Alex Chilton and Frank Black, played on the record, as did his wife, Sally Tiven. The record was a mixed bag of old and new songs, including several co-written by Tiven, and includes guests Frank Black, Buddy Miller, Lucinda Williams, Felix Cavaliere, Tom Petersson, and Gary Tallent.

External links

• P.F. Sloan fan website includes biography, discography, and more
• Interview with P.F. Sloan
• P.F. Sloan - Yahoo! Group mailing list - discussion of all aspects of his career and his music
• A Mailing List Interview with P. F. Sloan an email interview with P.F. Sloan
• P. F. Sloan - Who Played What? another email interview with P.F. Sloan
• [1] The Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreamin' "
• End of a Hiatus an NPR World Cafe Interview with P.F. Sloan, Sept 12, 2006
• P. F. Sloan on MySpace