Phil Vassar first appeared on the country music scene in the late 1990s. That doesn’t exactly place him in my category of “classic” country.
However, he’s older than me … so that makes him a classic in my book. Plus, it’s hard to ignore his discography when it comes to some of the best music of the past 30 years.
Just “American Child,” an autobiographical hit suggests, Phillip George Vassar was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1962. An accomplished athlete, he earned a track scholarship to James Madison University in Harrisonburg in Northern Virginia.
During his time at university, however, he took up the piano — and he became genuinely interested in music. He later decided to pursue his new passion as a career. He traveled to Nashville, where he played the piano and performed original songs in local clubs.
One listener took a special interest in Vassar’s music and took a demo tape to his father, who just happened to be easy-listening crooner Engelbert Humperdinck. The star, who had by then had many hit songs of his own, took a special liking to the tune “Once in a While,” a song Vassar had co-written.
It was the break the young singer-songwriter needed.
In short order, Vassar signed a publishing contract with EMI and began churning out hit records for artists ranging from Collin Raye (“Little Red Rodeo”) to Jo Dee Messina (“I’m Alright”). Other hit makers like Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson and Blackhawk also recorded his music.
Once he broke into the business, Vassar’s path to success was short and quick.
By 1999, when he was a performer for Arista Records, he took home ASCAP’s songwriter of the year award. His first album, simply titled “Phil Vassar,” produced the Top 5 hit “Carlene,” a song about running into an old high school acquaintance years after graduation.
He followed it up with his first No. 1 song, “Just Another Day in Paradise.” Two other songs from the album — “That’s When I Love You” and “Six Pack Summer” — also reached the Top 10. That first album sold half a million copies and was certified Gold. His follow-up album, “American Child,” was released in 2002. The title track earned Vassar another Top 5 hit.
When reviewing the album “American Child,” country music critic Rick Cohoon credited Vassar with a “solid, enjoyable effort with few flaws.”
“What makes Phil Vassar a true find in today’s Nashville climate is his rock-solid ability to pen a convincing song and then turn around and sing it in an equally convincing manner,” Cohoon wrote. “His writing has been embraced by everyone from Alan Jackson to Cledus T. Judd to Engelbert Humperdinck. Vassar’s sophomore album on Arista Records, ‘American Child,’ is exactly what he wants it to be: 12 songs that he had a hand in writing and knew he could convey to his audience.”
While “American Child” only produced two hit songs — the title track and “This is God” — the significance of the title single in the early 2000’s cannot be ignored.
While many artists, particular those in the country vein, rode the wave of patriotism following 9/11 to hit song after hit song, Vassar was a little more subtle in his praises for his home country. Unlike Toby Keith’s “in your face” patriotism and Alan Jackson’s classic “When the World Stop Turning,” “American Child” wasn’t a direct reference to the terrorist attacks — but it did get Vassar’s point across about the virtues of growing up in the United States.
His lyrics, “I was ten, I was thin, I was playing first base, with a secondhand glove, and dirt on my face,” gave a sense of Americana to which most listeners could relate. “419 Lakewood had no silver spoons, just an old beat-up upright that played out of tune,” revealed that Vassar was just an ordinary person in an ordinary town. Then he proved the value of the American dream with the lyric, “Now, I’m singing and living the life that I love.”
If you ask me, “American Child” ought to be required material for any country music fan’s playlist.
Vassar’s next album, “Shaken, Not Stirred,” produced only one hit — but it was a good one. “In a Real Love,” shot to No. 1. Just three albums and five years into his recording career, Vassar released a Greatest Hits album chronicling his career thus far; but the album also included a new song, the No. 2 hit “Last Day of My Life.”
The fact that Vassar only released a few albums early in his career was not because of lack of production; rather, it was due to the quality of the songwriting. Recording his own material, Vassar churned out song after song, and many of them were released as singles.
His next album, “Prayer of a Common Man,” produced another hit single — “Love is a Beautiful Thing,” a song that carried him to No. 2 on the charts. The album hit No. 3 on the U.S. Charts, Vassar’s top performing record.
Following “Prayer of a Common Man,” Vassar’s recording career slowed.
He released two more albums between 2009 and 2011, neither of which received significant airplay or produced hit songs. Since then, he has released only two additional albums, both with similar results.
But by no means did he slow down. He continued to perform live around the country throughout the 2010s, and his appearances on television kept him in the limelight. In addition, throughout the decade he continued to produce material for other artists like Kenny Chesney, Neil McCoy, Kenny Rogers and even accomplished songwriters like Skip Ewing.
For all Phil Vassar has achieved in his career, it almost came crashing down in 2023 when the 62-year-old performer suffered a heart attack. As he told “Taste of Country,” he actually died twice during the ordeal, but eleven shocks from the paddles of life brought him back.
“I just had genetic heart disease,” he shared. “I wasn’t a drinker and a partier, or any of that. I worked out every day. You know, I kept feeling bad so I kept really concentrating on my health and trying to — I never ate anything fried or anything like that. Never did. It just caught up with me, you know, the genes.”
The heart attack was followed by a stroke during which Vassar was clinically dead for 30 minutes.
“Thank goodness for medicine,” he said.
Needless to say, Vassar’s touring and recording schedule has slowed in the months since his medical ordeal, but he still appears regularly at various venues fairly.
Until next time, perhaps Staci Zaretsky, editor of James Madison University’s “Above the Law” said it best: “Phil Vassar is a poet, and if you can’t get through your day by listening to his beautiful words, you are a monster.”
Since retiring from a career as an outdoor recreation professional from the State of Arkansas, Kris Rutherford has worked as a freelance writer and, with his wife, owns and publishes a small Northeast Texas newspaper, The Roxton Progress. Kris has worked as a ghostwriter and editor and has authored seven books of his own. He became interested in the trucking industry as a child in the 1970s when his family traveled the interstates twice a year between their home in Maine and their native Texas. He has been a classic country music enthusiast since the age of nine when he developed a special interest in trucking songs.
