Lord Woodbine

Harold Adolphus Phillips (15 January 1929 – 5 July 2000), known as Lord Woodbine, was a Trinidadian calypsonian and music promoter. He is regarded by some as the musical mentor of the Beatles, and has been called the "sixth Beatle".

Early life Phillips was born in Laventille, Trinidad. In 1943, at the age of 14, he lied about his age and joined the RAF. After World War II, he went back to Trinidad in 1947, where he started to sing calypso. He returned to England in 1948 on the HMT Empire Windrush, the ship which carried the first boatful of West Indian immigrants to post war Britain. The boat also transported two other calypso singers, Aldwyn Roberts (Lord Kitchener) and Egbert Moore (Lord Beginner).

Phillips lived in Clapham before moving to Wellington in Shropshire. His calypso band, Lord Woodbine and his Trinidadians, was one of the first to tour England.

Phillips had a variety of jobs in the 1950s, and opened the New Colony Club in Liverpool. He also sang calypso and played the guitar. He played a tenor pan as part of the first professional steel band in England, the All Caribbean Steel Band, which was formed by Gerry Gobin in 1955, and played regularly at the Joker's Club and then the Jacaranda Club in Liverpool, owned by Allan Williams. Phillips later played with the All Caribbean Steel Band in their television appearance on the Opportunity Knocks in July 1965. His music and its influence remain relatively obscure because little of his music was recorded. Phillips became the manager of another Liverpool club, the Blue Angel, in 1961, also owned by Williams. After an argument with Williams over fees, the Beatles engaged Brian Epstein as their manager in November 1961 and lost contact with Phillips. He was buried in Liverpool's Allerton Cemetery.

His daughter Barbara Phillips became a playwright, and wrote episodes for Brookside. He will be played by Jorden Myrie in the 2026 BBC television drama Hamburg Days.