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But such have been the accusations (read: flattery) of the press that's surrounded the release of her new album, "Martinis and Bikinis." She's had just about enough.
"I'm really tired of that. The Beatles have influenced so many people. They basically changed rock 'n' roll," 32-year-old Phillips says. "Any time someone writes melodic songs and uses older instruments instead of synthesizers, they say they're Beatles-influenced."
The comparison is anything but insulting, though. Besides, what about the album's closing song - a cover of Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth" performed icily and powerfully enough to deflate her strongest argument?
OK, OK. She surrenders. "But I do feel that I bring something to it," she says.
The rest of the album's songs are all hers, though, from the minute-and-a-half psychedelia of "Love and Kisses" to the power-pop of "When I Fall" to the folksy blues rock of "Wheel of the Broken Voice."
But will the new album, her third for Virgin Records, turn her into a star? She says Virgin executives have been hoping to make her a hitmaker since 1988's "The Indescribable Wow."
"They've seemed determined from the very beginning to do that. They have their own agenda. They really loved the last two records and had a hard time trying to find a place to play it," she says.
One song, "Baby I Can't Please You," has been seeing airplay on college radio stations.
"This record's been selling a lot more than the others, which is great," she says. But for herself, she says she doesn't really care if she's a celebrity in 10 years, or if she's "in Northern California doing yoga."
What won't hurt her chances at success, though, is touring with baby megastars the Counting Crows, which is bound to bring her lots of visibility. The tour kicked off May 2, with dates primarily in the Southeast.
The Counting Crows debut album, incidentally, was produced by Phillips' husband, T Bone Burnett, who also produced "Martinis and Bikinis." Burnett is touring with Phillips' band, playing guitar.
Phillips talked briefly about what it's like balancing a marriage and a professional relationship with Burnett, the music mogul who has produced albums by the likes of Elvis Costello, The Bodeans and Bruce Cockburn.
"Basically, the decisions are mine at the end of the day," Phillips says. "He's not insecure about his abilities as a producer, so there's a lot of freedom. He tries to make it sound like my record, and to bring out the best in the performers."
She is also likely tiring of people asking her about her nickname, Sam, which was not chosen as an inside poke at the Sun Records king of the same name.
Sam, she insists, was one of her family's nicknames for her. She dropped her first name, Leslie, when she left a Christian music label, before signing with Virgin.