Philip Gary "Flip" Sloan (born Philip Gary Schlein; September 18, 1945 – November 15, 2015), known professionally as P. F. Sloan, was an American singer and songwriter. During the mid-1960s, he wrote, performed, and produced many ''Billboard'' Top 20 hits for artists such as Barry McGuire,

the Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John W ...

, Jan and Dean,

Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English beat, rock and pop group formed in 1964 in Manchester, originally called Herman and His Hermits and featuring lead singer Peter Noone. Produced by Mickie Most, the Hermits charted with number ones in the UK ...

, Johnny Rivers, the Grass Roots, the Turtles and

the Mamas and the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of A ...

. Sloan's signature song is " Eve of Destruction," a 1965 U.S. number one for McGuire. Many of his songs were written in collaboration with Steve Barri. Their partnership yielded two US Top Ten hits—Herman's Hermits' "

A Must to Avoid "A Must to Avoid" is a song written by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri and performed by Herman's Hermits. It was featured on their 1966 album, '' Hold On!'' and on their 1966 EP, '' A Must to Avoid''. The song was produced by Mickie Most. Backgrou ...

" (1965) and Johnny Rivers' " Secret Agent Man" (1966)—and the Turtles' " You Baby" (1966).

Biography

Early life and career

Sloan was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, United States, to an American father and a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n-born mother. His family moved to

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages in ...

in 1957, where his father, a pharmacist, changed the family name from "Schlein" to "Sloan" after repeatedly being denied a liquor license for his store. When Sloan was 13 his father bought him a guitar. While at the music store in Hollywood, Sloan met

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

, who gave him an impromptu music lesson. In 1959, at 14, "Flip" Sloan recorded a single, "All I Want Is Loving" / "Little Girl in the Cabin" for the L.A. R&B

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...

Aladdin Records Aladdin Records was a record company and label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by brothers Eddie and Leo Mesner. It was originally called Philo Records before changing its name in 1946. Aladdin was known for jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock mus ...

, which folded soon after its release. At 16, he became part of the burgeoning Los Angeles music scene, landing a job on the songwriting staff at music publisher

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

, which was then the largest publisher on the West Coast. There, he formed a partnership with Steve Barri, and the duo made several attempts at recording a hit single under names such as Philip and Stephan, The Rally-Packs, The Wildcats, The Street Cleaners, Themes Inc., and The Lifeguards. In 1963, they came to the attention of Screen Gems executive Lou Adler, who decided to use them as backing singers and musicians (Sloan on lead guitar and Barri on percussion) for Jan and Dean, whom he managed. Sloan and Barri wrote the theme song for the '' T.A.M.I. Show'' (Teen Age Music International Show) and were credited on all Jan and Dean albums from ''Dead Man's Curve / The New Girl in School'' in early 1964 through ''Command Performance'' in 1965. Jan Berry used Sloan as the lead falsetto voice instead of

Dean Torrence Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles ...

on the band's top 10 hit " The Little Old Lady from Pasadena". Around that time, Sloan and Barri also wrote their first U.S. Billboard Top 100 hit, "Kick That Little Foot Sally Ann", arranged by

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spe ...

and performed by a Watts, California-born artist named Round Robin. Soon they also appeared on surf records by

Bruce & Terry Bruce & Terry was an American rock music duo from Los Angeles that was active from 1963 to 1965. Consisting of Columbia Records staff producers Bruce Johnston and Terry Melcher, the pair recorded under a variety of names, and most notably with ...

and the Rip Chords, and they recorded their own surf singles and album as

The Fantastic Baggys The Fantastic Baggys were an American surf and hot rod group, created by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri. The studio group released several unsuccessful singles. They released one album internationally, ''Tell 'Em I'm Surfin' '' (1964) on Imperial ...

Dunhill Records

Adler then doubled their salaries to hire them for his startup publisher Trousdale Music and startup label

Dunhill Records Dunhill Records was started in 1964 by Lou Adler, Jay Lasker, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts as Dunhill Productions to release the music of Johnny Rivers on Imperial Records. It became a record label the following year and was distribute ...

. Using the name Phil F. Sloan or P.F. Sloan (the "F" stood for "Flip", his nickname), Sloan wrote or co-wrote

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

for many performers, including " Eve of Destruction" ( Barry McGuire); " You Baby" and "Let Me Be" ( The Turtles); "

" and " Hold On!" (

); "Take Me For What I'm Worth" (

The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John W ...

); and "Secret Agent Man" ( Johnny Rivers). This last song was the theme tune for '' Danger Man'', a British TV series that had been given a new title (''Secret Agent'') and theme for the US market. Due to its line "You're old enough to kill, but not for votin'", "Eve of Destruction" was used as a rallying cry by supporters of the

Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Twenty-sixth Amendment (Amendment XXVI) to the United States Constitution prohibits the states and the federal government from using age as a reason for denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States who are at least eighteen yea ...

, which changed the voting age from 21 to 18 as of 1971. Sloan also became a session guitarist as part of the group of L.A. session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew, working with such well-known backing musicians as drummer Hal Blaine, guitarist Tommy Tedesco, bassist

Joe Osborn Joseph Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018Larry Knechtel, among others. While working with Barry McGuire, Sloan created and played a guitar introduction as a hook to a new song by John Phillips entitled " California Dreamin'", and the same backing track was used for the hit version by Phillips' group The Mamas & the Papas, which led to Sloan being a regular in their recording sessions. Sloan generally played the lead guitar tracks on most of the songs he wrote, including the famous riff in "Secret Agent Man". Sloan and Barri also were performers while on Dunhill. They released Dunhill's first album, a collection of surf instrumentals, as the "Rincon Surfside Band", and the album was later issued by RCA under the name "Willie and the Wheels". Sloan's successful folk-influenced songwriting caused Dunhill to record two solo albums by him. His single "Sins of a Family" reached the Billboard top 100 in fall 1965, in the wake of the huge success of "Eve of Destruction". During this time, Sloan & Barri continued to do session work with Jan Berry of Jan & Dean, until Jan's near-fatal car wreck in April 1966, which basically ended Jan & Dean's career. They also produced a number of other acts, from

Ann-Margret Ann-Margret Olsson (born April 28, 1941) is a Swedish–American actress, singer, and dancer. As an actress and singer, she is credited as Ann-Margret. She is known for her roles in '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), '' ...

The Robbs The Robbs were an American 1960s pop and rock band from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. They are best known for being the house band on Dick Clark's mid-1960s show ''Where The Action Is''. They are also known for placing the most singles on ''Billboard ...

to Canadians

Terry Black Terry Black (February 3, 1949 – June 28, 2009) was a Canadian pop singer and teen idol, born in Vancouver, British Columbia. Career Black's debut U.S. single, " Unless You Care", was released in 1964, when Black was 15. The song was wri ...

and Patrician-Anne McKinnon (both of whom had hits in Canada with Sloan-Barri songs) to Dunhill acts such as

Shelley Fabares Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (; born January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom '' The Donna Reed Show'' (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitco ...

, The Ginger Snaps featuring Dandee Duncan, The Thomas Group (headed by Danny Thomas's son Tony), and The Iguanas (a Mexican band that did not speak English). The main Sloan-Barri recording effort for Dunhill was done under the name The Grass Roots. However, after The Grass Roots enjoyed a Billboard Top 30 single with "Where Were You When I Needed You", the band's first album failed to chart, and Dunhill forced Sloan and Barri to recruit a real band to perform as The Grass Roots. Ultimately, a second band had to be recruited after the first one quit. Sloan and Barri continued as producers for the band, and they quickly generated a U.S. top 10 hit with a cover of the European hit " Let's Live for Today" (by the British band

The Rokes The Rokes were a pop rock band formed in 1963 in Italy by English expatriates. Their most successful songs included "Piangi con Me", the original version of " Let's Live for Today", a US hit when re-recorded by The Grass Roots; and "Che Colpa ...

). After that, though, the new Grass Roots wanted to write their own songs, and Sloan, who still wanted to be a recording artist, became alienated from both Barri and Dunhill management. During this period, P.F. Sloan's growing experience and reputation also attracted the attention of other young and aspiring musical artists, seeking both musical and business advice. As a favor to a friend, Sloan in 1968 first met the relatively unknown

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", " By the Time I Get to Phoenix", " MacArthur Park", " Wichita Lineman", " Wo ...

at a private home for an informal but eye-opening visit. The very first song Webb played for him was " Wichita Lineman". Sloan recalls, "He played a couple of chords and began to unload. I was aware immediately that I was listening to a songwriter's voice. It was filled with feeling and emotion. Most songwriters don't have a voice, but this one was haunting and unusual and raw and wonderful." Sloan further explains, "There are singers and there are songwriters, and only rarely is there something known as a singer-songwriter. Singer-songwriters were a threat to the establishment. And I was one of them." Sloan explains that as the song continued, he felt relaxed at first, then nervously on edge "...figuring that he would screw the song up in some way. But he didn't. The song got better and better." This was followed by " Up, Up and Away" and an early version of " MacArthur Park". The next song, " By the Time I Get to Phoenix", brought Sloan to tears. Sloan assured Webb that every song could be a major hit, quipping that "Songwriters don't cry tears, they cry diamonds." According to Barri, Sloan changed after the success of "Eve of Destruction": "He was two people. We were just two Jewish kids from New York. We liked the same movies. We played Wiffle ball together. But when 'Eve of Destruction' became such a smash, he went with Barry McGuire to England, and he came back a different person. His girlfriend, who I later married—both of us felt he never returned from England. He was a major, major talent. God, he was good." Sloan himself also described a change at this time: "I wanted to be loved. I wanted to be Elvis. ... But P.F. Sloan? He wanted honesty and truth." During the

Summer of Love The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people, mostly young people sporting hippie fashions of dress and behavior, converged in San Francisco's neighborhood of Haight-Ashbury ...

, Sloan played as a solo artist on the final day of the '' Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival'' on Sunday June 11, 1967. A famed celebration of pop music, this seminal event occurred prior to the Monterey Pop Festival held the following weekend, although unlike the Monterey event no film or audio recordings were preserved and its history is much less known. Sloan's final Dunhill release was a solo single, "I Can't Help But Wonder, Elizabeth" b/w "Karma (A Study of Divinations)", once again released under the name Philip Sloan.

After Dunhill

After leaving Dunhill, Sloan recorded an album in 1968 titled ''Measure of Pleasure''. It was produced by

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recording ...

and released by ATCO. In 1969, Sloan's "New Design" was included on the ''

Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" is a song written by Mel Tillis about a paralyzed veteran who lies helplessly as his wife "paints erselfup" to go out for the evening without him; he believes she is going in search of a lover. As he hears the ...

'' album by Kenny Rogers and The First Edition. Sloan left the music scene due to numerous business and legal problems. He repeatedly reported that Dunhill made threatening advances to force him to sign away the rights to his valuable compositions and that the reason for his absence from the music scene was to battle illnesses. After 1969, he did not frequently record or perform until the new millennium. He finally found relief from his long illness with help from Indian guru

Sathya Sai Baba Sathya Sai Baba (born Ratnakaram Sathyanarayana Raju; 23 November 192624 April 2011) was an Indian guru. At the age of fourteen he claimed that he was the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, and left his home to serve his devotees. Sai Baba's ...

. In 2006, describing this period away from the world, Sloan said, "I was ill I guess for a good 20, maybe 25 years. ... Catatonia for a long time." Sloan only released two albums during this period: ''Raised on Records'', released on

Mums Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in 1972 while he was recovering from illness, and ''Serenade of the Seven Sisters'', released on Pioneer Records in Japan in the early 1990s, because Sloan's ''From A Distance'' (from his second solo album) had been successful there. Positive response led to the Japanese album being released worldwide. In 2005, Sloan made a series of recordings with producer Jon Tiven in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. The resulting album, ''Sailover'', was released in August 2006 on the Hightone Records label. ''Sailover'' was a veiled reference to the guru that helped him get well, proclaiming that Sloan was indeed a "Sai Lover". Tiven played guitar on the record and his wife Sally played bass. The album was a mix of classic and new compositions, including several new songs co-written with Tiven. Guests included Frank Black, Buddy Miller, Lucinda Williams, Felix Cavaliere, Tom Petersson and Gary Tallent. In 2014, Sloan's final series of recordings appeared on his album titled ''My Beethoven''. These recordings began when Sloan attended a concert in Los Angeles, featuring

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

compositions, that affected him deeply. He focused on fully understanding the similarities between the legendary composer and himself. This journey of discovery took him a full decade to complete. He learned to play and compose with a piano during the process. The work enabled him to heal the wounds that he encountered during the trials and tribulations of his life. This last musical project led to him forgiving his transgressors, leaving his anger behind him and moving forward with peace, love and serenity for the remainder of his life. In 2015, Sloan published a book, co-written with S.E. Feinberg, entitled ''What's Exactly the Matter with Me? Memoirs of a Life in Music''.

Death

Sloan died on November 15, 2015, at his home in Los Angeles, aged 70. He had pancreatic cancer for several months and his death was attributed to that disease.

Hit songs as songwriter

Discography

Solo

Singles

Albums

* ''Songs of Our Times'' (1965, Dunhill) * ''Twelve More Times'' (1966, Dunhill) * ''Measure of Pleasure'' (1968, ATCO) * ''Raised on Records'' (1972, Mums) * ''Precious Times: The Best of P.F. Sloan (1965–1966)'' (1986, Rhino) * ''Songs of Other Times'' (1988, Big Beat) * ''Anthology'' (1993, One Way/MCA) * ''Serenade of the Seven Sisters'' (1994, Pioneer) * ''Child of Our Times: The Trousdale Demo Sessions 1965–1967'' (2001, Varèse Sarabande) * ''Sailover'' (2006, Hightone) * ''Here's Where I Belong: The Best of the Dunhill Years 1965–1967'' (2008, Big Beat) * ''My Beethoven'' (2014, MsMusic)

With Steve Barri

Singles

Albums

* ''Tell 'Em I'm Surfin – The Fantastic Baggys (1964, Imperial) * ''The Surfing Songbook'' – Rincon Surfside Band (1965, Dunhill) * ''The Surfing Songbook'' – Willie and the Wheels (1965, RCA) (identical release) * ''

Where Were You When I Needed You ''Where Were You When I Needed You'' is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Grass Roots, released in October 1966 by Dunhill Records. Most of the album is performed by the songwriter/producer duo of P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri. S ...

'' – The Grass Roots (1966, Dunhill) * '' Let's Live for Today'' – The Grass Roots (1967, Dunhill)

Reissues

Sloan's early work has been poorly represented on compact disc, with only a smattering of releases to his name. ''Measure of Pleasure'' was reissued on CD by Collectors' Choice in January 2007. There is a collection of his demo recordings available (''Child of Our Times'', on the Varèse Sarabande), and there was a now-out-of-print 1993 collection of his Dunhill recordings (''Anthology'', on the One Way label). In 2008, UK-based

Big Beat Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as th ...

label did a near-definitive reissue of Sloan's solo recordings for Dunhill. Entitled ''Here's Where I Belong: The Best of the Dunhill Years 1965–1967'', the CD omits the album tracks "When the Wind Changes" and "Patterns Seg. 4", while Sloan's final Dunhill recording, "I Can't Help But Wonder, Elizabeth", made its legal CD debut on this release.

Eponymous song

"P.F. Sloan" is also a song by singer-songwriter

, who is better known for the 1960s hits " By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and " Up, Up and Away".

Cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

s of the song were recorded by

The Association The Association is an American sunshine pop band from California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the ''Billboard'' charts (including " Windy", " Cherish", " Never My Love" and " Along Comes Mary") a ...

in 1971, Jennifer Warnes, and by British band ''Unicorn'' in the early 1970s – released as a single and album track on Transatlantic Records.

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...

performed the song with Webb on Webb's 2010 album ''

Just Across the River ''Just Across the River'' is the twelfth album by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb, released in June 2010 by Koch Records. The album features thirteen classic Jimmy Webb tunes performed by Webb with guest appearances by friends, collaborators ...

''. In 2012 it was covered by the British singer Rumer, who treated it as the signature song on her '' Boys Don't Cry'' album. While Sloan's insistence on becoming a recording artist was an inspiration to fellow songwriter Webb, who had worked with Sloan with Bones Howe and

The 5th Dimension The 5th Dimension is an American popular music vocal group, whose repertoire includes pop, R&B, soul, jazz, light opera, and Broadway. Formed as the Versatiles in late 1965, the group changed its name to "the 5th Dimension" by 1966. Betwe ...

, a personal dispute led Webb to deny 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. Eugene Landy laid claim to being the real P.F. Sloan when he was asked by reporters why he considered himself able to direct

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop music, pop composition, ex ...

's musical career. Landy claimed to have written the songs attributed to "P.F. Sloan".

References

External links

*
P.F. Sloan fan website
includes biography, discography, and more
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
End of a Hiatus an NPR World Cafe Interview with P.F. Sloan, September 12, 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sloan, P.F. 1945 births 2015 deaths American male singer-songwriters American rock songwriters American rock singers American rock guitarists American folk guitarists American male guitarists Singers from New York City American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Jewish American musicians Dunhill Records artists Atco Records artists Jewish American songwriters American pop rock singers Deaths from cancer in California Guitarists from New York City 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American Jews Singer-songwriters from New York (state)