(Excerpt) When Liz Phair's debut album, Exile in Guyville, proved to be an alternative-rock sensation, the Chicago-based singer-songwriter was deluged with record-company come-ons. "I was getting Bolex cameras," Phair recalls. "Everyone was sending me books. None of it meant anything. What meant something was somebody who was just going to let me run, and tie in when I needed it." While major and independent labels wooed her, she says, "Danny just let me be. He wasn't fussing around me. He would just call and say, 'Whatever you want, just tell us what you want.' Then I wouldn't hear from him, which I appreciated." Phair's second album, Whip-Smart, has just been released on Matador/Atlantic.