Phillip Alleman, Sr. was born in Rayne in 1940 and started playing and singing at age nine. He plays drums, guitar, steel guitar, does vocals, and learned from Clarence and Ellis "Brud" Alleman, his brothers. He wrote lyrics to "The Last Waltz' and "I'll Be Lonely." He played his first dance when he was 11 with Aldus Roger and the Lafayette Playboys, replacing his brother Clarence on guitar and starting a 25 year career with that group. When he was 14, Fernest "Man" Abshire quit as drummer and Phillip took over that position with the band. He replaced Rodney Miller on steel guitar at the age of 15 and continued playing that position with the band. At the height of the Lafayette Playboys' popularity, they were working seven nights a week in the more popular Cajun night clubs in Louisiana such as the Welcome Club in Crowley, the Reno Club in Kaplan, the Midway Club in Breaux Bridge, the Country Club and Bon Temp Rouler in Lafayette.