Philip Claypool

Philip Claypool
Philip Claypool 2013
Background information
Origin	Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Genres	Country
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Curb, HeyDay Productions
Associated acts	Bad Company Travis Tritt
Website	www.philipclaypool.com/home/

Philip Claypool (born in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American country music artist. Between 1995 and 1999, he recorded two studio albums for the Curb Records label (1995's A Circus Leaving Town and 1999's Perfect World), in addition to charting four singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. His highest-charting single was a cover of Bad Company's 1975 hit "Feel Like Makin' Love."

Philip Claypool was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. His mother, a church organist, influenced him to take interest in gospel music. By the time he was in high school, Claypool had begun writing songs as well, and by age 21, he had made his first professional performance.

By 1995, Claypool had signed to Curb Records as a recording artist. Working with producer Jerry Crutchfield, he released his debut album A Circus Leaving Town that same year. This album produced four chart singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts (now Hot Country Songs). Among these were the title track (which was later recorded by Travis Tritt on his 2004 album My Honky Tonk History) and Claypool's highest-charting hit, a cover of British band Bad Company's 1975 single "Feel Like Makin' Love".

Claypool's debut album received a three-star rating from Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic, who called it "a diverse collection [b]uilding on a solid contemporary base", with "intriguing" production that "sav[ed] even the weakest tracks". Dan Kuchar of Country Standard Time noted Claypool's "leather and velvet" voice but said that, except for the Bad Company cover and one other song, the material was largely "tired, cliché-laden… [and] devoid of any hooks". Claypool himself described the album as being "left of center". In a 1996 interview with Modern Screen's Country Music magazine, he called it "more mature" but "a little distanced from what is happening radio-wise".