ANNE PHILLIPS
Queen Anne’s Lace is apparently the duo of William B. Phillips and his (apparent) wife Anne Phillips, whence (again, apparently) came the name.
Anne Phillips has had a varied career as a performer and songwriter and in advertising; a venerable Pepsi-Cola jingle, “Taste that Beats the Others Cold” is among her work. However, her website www.annephillips.com/ only mentions Queen Anne’s Lace in passing, with no details at all. Her husband Bob Kindred though is prominently featured on the website; whether or not a bad marital breakup is behind the omission, this band was evidently her only foray away from her jazz roots. Her first album, Born to be Blue came out 10 years earlier (in 1959); and her second solo album, Gonna Lay My Heart on the Line didn’t appear until 2001. Anne Phillips’ eclectic work includes inner-city children’s jazz choirs, an Easter Mass that was first performed at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, a children’s musical called The Great Grey Ghost of Old Spook Lane, and a Christmas album, Noel Noel.
Of interest to some I imagine (certainly me): Anne Phillips’ great-great-grandfather Rev. Aldert Smedes founded St. Mary’s School for Girls (later St. Mary’s College) in Raleigh, North Carolina. His surname surfaced in the name of Raleigh mayor Smedes York, the son of prominent real estate developer J. W. York (whose own name graces a local elementary school). Ford S. Worthy, Jr. , the founder of the real estate company where I spent the first half of my career as a real estate appraiser, Worthy and Company (later Worthy & Wachtel), worked for J. W. York for several years before starting his own firm.
(August 2010)
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