James McDonnell, known by the stage name Slim Jim Phantom, is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band Stray Cats. Alongside bandmates Brian Setzer and Lee Rocker, he is considered a pioneer of the neo-rockabilly movement of the early 1980s. Phantom plays in the band Kat Men with former

Imelda May Imelda Mary Higham (; born 10 July 1974), professionally known as Imelda May, is an Irish singer, songwriter, television presenter and multi-instrumentalist. She is known for her musical style of rockabilly revival and has also been compared to ...

guitarist Darrel Higham and is the host of the weekly radio show "Rockabilly Rave-up" on the satellite radio station Underground Garage.

Biography

Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and raised in Massapequa, New York, Phantom grew up listening to his parents'

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and rock records and began playing drums by the age of ten. He took lessons with Mousie Alexander, who played with

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

, studying

and working through books by Jim Chapin and Ted Reed. Phantom has stated that discovering

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

's recordings from the Sun Records studio sessions was when he "felt that rock and roll changed my life." By the late 1970s, Phantom was playing in bands with his childhood friend, bassist Lee Rocker. They soon joined forces with

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Brian Setzer to form Stray Cats. When performing with Stray Cats, Phantom did not sit behind a standard

drum kit A drum kit or drum set (also known as a trap set, or simply drums in popular music and jazz contexts) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and sometimes other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one p ...

like most drummers, but instead opted to play in a standing position with a minimalist set-up of

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...

snare drum The snare drum (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often u ...

, hi-hat, and

crash cymbal A crash cymbal is a type of cymbal that produces a loud, sharp "crash" and is used mainly for occasional accents, as opposed to a ride cymbal. It can be mounted on a stand and played with a drum stick, or by hand in clash cymbals, pairs. One ...

. During downtime from Stray Cats, Phantom played in swing,

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

, and

jump blues Jump blues is an uptempo style of blues, jazz, and boogie woogie usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues wa ...

combo Swing Cats with Rocker and ex- Polecats guitarist Danny B. Harvey, as well as rockabilly and glam rock project Phantom, Rocker & Slick with Rocker and

Earl Slick. In 1985, he appeared with

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...

and a host of other musicians including

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

, Dave Edmunds and

Rosanne Cash Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Cash. Although Cash is often classified as a country artist, her music draws f ...

for '' Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session'' in

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Phantom also played with

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...

. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Phantom formed the rockabilly supergroup The Head Cat with Danny B. Harvey and Motörhead vocalist and bassist Lemmy, the eponymous

roots-rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in contemporary folk music, folk, blues, and country music. First emerging in the late 1960s, it is seen as a response to the perceived excesses of the then dominant psychedel ...

band Slim Jim's Phantom Trio, the rock band Col. Parker with former

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

guitarist Gilby Clarke, and joined the

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

supergroup Dead Men Walking with Kirk Brandon, Mike Peters and Captain Sensible. Phantom also hosts the "Rockabilly Rave-up show" on '' Little Steven's Underground Garage''. In 2021, Phantom formed a rockabilly band with Jimmy Barnes and Chris Cheney. In March 2023, Barnes announced the supergroup The Barnestormers, featuring Barnes, Cheney, Phantom with Jools Holland and Kevin Shirley. A self-titled album was released on 26 May 2023.

Personal life

Phantom was married to Swedish actress Britt Ekland from 1984 to 1992 and has a son, T.J. (born 1988), with her. , he was married to musician and solo artist Jennie Vee.

Discography

With Stray Cats

With Swing Cats

* ''Swing Cats'' (1999) * ''A Special Tribute to Elvis'' (2000) * ''Swing Cat Stomp'' (2000) * ''A Rock'A-Billy Christmas (2002)''

With The Head Cat

* ''Lemmy, Slim Jim & Danny B'' (2000) * '' Fool's Paradise'' (2006) * '' Walk the Walk...Talk the Talk'' (2011)

With Col Parker

* ''Rock N Roll Music'' (2001)

With 13 Cats

* ''In the Beginning'' (2002) * ''13 Tracks'' (2003) * ''In the Beginning 2'' (2004)

With Dead Men Walking

* ''Live at Leeds'' (2003) * ''Live at Darwen'' (2004) * ''Live at CBGB's New York City'' (2005) * ''Graveyard Smashes Volume 1'' (2006)

With Kat Men

* ''Kat Men'' (2006) * ''The Kat Men Cometh'' (2013)

With The Barnestormers

* '' The Barnestormers'' (2023)

References

External links

*
Slim Jim Phantom Interview
at NAMM Oral History Library (2019) {{DEFAULTSORT:Phantom, Slim Jim 1961 births Living people Stray Cats members American expatriates in the United Kingdom American rock drummers American rockabilly musicians Musicians from Brooklyn People from Massapequa, New York 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Dead Men Walking members The Head Cat members Drummers from New York City