Phil was born in Canton, Ohio, December 16th, 1937 to Richard and Iva Kelly. Richard (“Dick”) was a successful executive for Timken Steel who also played banjo and guitar, composed and arranged and led a men’s choir in Canton. Iva was a professional violinist and vocalist on Cincinnati radio stations WCKY and WLWT, appearing on the “Moon River” program. He was an only child and grew up living with his parents and his father’s parents, Thomas and Daisy Kelly. 

Phil Kelly’s high school years (1952-1955) at Timken Vocational High School in Canton were shaped by his band director Cecil “Cec” Armitage, a New York professional musician from the Major Bowes Capitol Theater Orchestra turned music educator. “Cec” not only taught Phil showmanship but also arranging (he “forced” Phil to write his first paid arrangements when he was a junior) and nurtured Phil’s introduction to the live music industry. Phil played piano as well as percussion for the high school dance band and orchestra. Phil graduated from Timken as a valedictorian at the age of 17.

After graduating from high school, Phil briefly toured with the USO in Europe in the summer of 1955. Phil’s first wife Maureen claims he toured with the USO a second time the following summer of 1956, possibly Europe again or maybe Guam and other Pacific Islands.

Phil pursued a major in graphic arts and a minor in music (1955-1960) at Miami University in Dayton, Ohio. His time there was accentuated by his roles in the Campus Owl Band, a local dance band with a steady schedule. Phil played drums and arranged for the Campus Owls, leading the band the final three years. Campus Owls players often fed directly into the pro music world—recording, touring, and teaching. While at college in Oxford, Phil met Maureen Pierce, a transfer student from the Chicago Institute of Art (he married her December 26, 1959 in Cook County, Illinois). Phil also took percussion studies from George Cary, prinicipal percussionist of the Cincinnati Orchestra, at the Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati from 1956-59.

 Between January 1960 and September 1964, Phil Kelly’s work became, as he described it, “pretty spasmodic,” reflecting his transition from college into full-time professional life. During this period, he freelanced based in New York and Chicago, and played frequent gigs in Cincinnati and Newport. Phil worked as an arranger and accompanist for Julius La Rosa, Mel Torme, and Buddy Greco. He also drummed and arranged for various bands led by Tex Beneke, Ralph Marterie, Billy May, Les Elgart, Claude Thornhill and Don “Jake” Jacoby. One of his earliest and most formative road associations was with Chicago singer-guitarist Frank D’Rone; Phil’s first engagement with D’Rone was a live recording at San Francisco’s Hungry i for Mercury Records in 1961. Phil and Maureen had two children during this period, Lauren and Brian.

Touring in Indianapolis, Phil invited vocalist Trella Hart to join Don Jacoby’s band as it headed south. While playing dates in Dallas, they both discovered they loved a city that was rapidly becoming a major hub for working musicians. In 1964, bassist Ernie Chapman helped Phil find a rental house on Binkley Avenue across from Southern Methodist University. After settling in, Phil committed himself to learning the music business in Dallas by taking night jobs and playing constantly. 

Between September 1964 and December 1967, Phil found steady employment as a composer, arranger, producer, and studio musican at International Recording, Inc. Also around this time, Phil began arranging and playing for Doc Severinsen on his Pops tours and did some ghostwriting for Tom Merriman at TM Productions, PAMS and Bobby Farrar. From January 1968 to January 1970, Phil worked as Creative Director at Pepper/Tanner, Inc. under Larry Muhoberac, composing, arranging and producing a television commercial library. Phil continued to be active as a free-lance arranger and player during this period. Phil began to meet and employ players from the One O’ Clock Lab Band at what was then known as North Texas State University, and became close friends with band leader Leon Breeden.

From February 1970 to March 1971, Phil made an ill-timed attempt to break into the Los Angeles market as a freelance composer, arranger and studio drummer. During this time he worked with Buddy Greco and Terry Gibbs, and did some freelance arranging for the Golden Glove Aawards and MGM Records before returning to Dallas, although he kept his LA ties intact for future opportunities.

From March 1971 to December 1981, Phil operated under Phil Kelly Productions as a self-employed arranger and composer for hundreds of firms across commercial music, radio jingles, film scoring, industrial shows, jazz arrangements, orchestral pops arrangements, and broadcast production. From January 1982 to September 1987, Phil served as Creative Director and Vice President of Ken Sutherland Productions, Inc., responsible for many commercial music projects. During this period we wrote scores for three films and composed and arranged over 150 cuts for various music libraries like the Digital Library of Texas and NFL Films Music Library. From September 1987 to 1998, Phil resumed self-employments and stayed quite busy.

Phil was commissioned by various symphony orchestras, most notably with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the direction of John Giordano. Phil met and later married his second wife, Kathy (18 Dec 1992), who was a cellist in that orchestra.

In the late 1990’s Kathy was diagnosed with cancer, and Phil and Kathy decided to move to Bellingham, Washington to enjoy retirement and get away from the heat, traffic and stress in Dallas. Only two years later, Kathy succumbed to cancer and passed away. Phil healed from grief and returned to music in the Seattle scene and made himself a presence in the jazz scene there as well as online. He formed the NW Prevailing Winds to play his arrangements and held concerts, coached big band arranging at the Bud Shank Centrum Jazz Camp, and recorded Convergence Zone with his new band, which earned a Grammy nomination. Over the next few years he recorded a second album with an LA group dubbed The SW Santa Ana Winds (My Museum), arranged for recording artists like Stix Hooper, Primo Kim, Frank D’Rone, and others, and recorded a third album with the NW Prevailing Winds again (Ballet of the Bouncing Beagles).

 Phil developed macular degeneration over his final years, rendering him increasingly blind, homebound and dependant on help. Mostly Phil communicated by phone, and had contact only with phone calls and home visitors. His mind stayed strong and alert to the end. On November 22, 2023, Phil fell at home and did not recover from the fall.