Original Budgie drummer Ray Phillips has a new autobiography out now. It’s called The Ray Phillips Story: An Awful Biography Of A Great Life - From Budgie To Tredegar And Beyond. The first 150 copies will include a 12-track sampler CD of Phillips' work over the years with Ray Phillips Woman, Titus Oats, Tredegar, Six Ton Budgie and solo, including four previously unreleased tracks.

​The original Budgie lineup made three albums from 1971–73 that punched above their weights to influence heavyweight bands to come - Megadeth, Metallica and Soundgarden, to name three.

In the book, Phillips tells the story of his life. It’s a personal and musical journey filled with trials, tribulations and triumphs… and a jolly good laugh! He answers the question, once and for all, about whether he jumped or was pushed from Budgie, only a few months after drumming up a storm on classics from Budgie’s third album such as Breadfan, Parents and In The Grip Of A Tyrefitter’s Hand.

After leaving Budgie in late 1973, Phillips formed Ray Phillips Woman, a group that would tread the boards all over the UK from 1974-77. Phillips reunited with ex-Budgie guitarist Tony Bourge in Freeze, Storm and then Tredegar - the latter band releasing an accomplished self-titled album in 1986. After Tredegar, Phillips recorded albums under the Six Ton Budgie moniker and then in 2011 he released his first solo album, Judgement Day. In the book, Phillips talks about his battle to pay off a huge debt he incurred financing the Tredegar album.

The 496-page book is printed in full colour on high-quality 115gsm gloss paper. The book contains 118,000 words and over 600 images, many of which are unseen.

Phillips is busy rehearsing a three-piece band and plans to tour the UK as Ray Phillips Budgie in 2018, belting out Budgie classics from across the catalogue with renewed enthusiasm.

The book can be ordered here and will ship from later this week.

More information about the book, including a gallery of 30 pages, can be found here.

A short video about the book from Ray:

A longer video with more detail about the book, and audio from Tredegar’s "Battle Of Bosworth":

CD tracklisting:

"Rock ‘N’ Road Song" - Ray Phillips Woman [previously unreleased]
"Coming Home" - Titus Oats
"Betty’s Baby" - Titus Oats [previously unreleased]
"Love To Tango" - Ray Phillips [previously unreleased]
"I Love That Lady" - Ray Phillips [previously unreleased]
"Which Way To Go" - Tredegar
"Battle Of Bosworth" - Tredegar
"Love It Or Hate It" - Tredegar
"You Need Respect" - Six Ton Budgie
"Southern" - Six Ton Budgie
"Our Life" - Six Ton Budgie
"For The Love Of Cleo" - Ray Phillips