He didnt know all the tunes, but obviously he was pretty familiar with the whole prog-rock thing. A great experience to see. Neal Peart: great drummer, lyricist, and sometimes composer of the music in Rush. It was great. How about pop music? As it turned out, I wound up doing a little, brief drum-clinic tour down there in Australia. Theyre such great singers. Bruno Primas Forum Resident Location: Wisconsin I guess I had clarity of what I hoped to accomplish. The way my life has gone down, I cant say that I planned any of it. It just turned out to be a one-off, but fortunately we recorded and videotaped it. It turned out he was Ben E. Kings musical director. The last solo thing I did ventured a little outside that format. Wed just sit in a side room because all they really wanted was the three guys. "This album is dedicated to Richard MacPhail who left April, 1973.". It was this huge frame of all their albums. Always wondered what happened to Chester. I absolutely loved this round table discussion of Zappa's drummers. Not the first day. It was a different situation in Chicago. So, youre a freelance drummer hoping to get re-upped for a gig with a guy who has hired you again and again over more than two decades, and you dont send a holiday card? One tour, he bumped it up by bringing in this guy, Jeff Simmons. But not only did Thompson stick with Genesis all the way through their Turn It On Again reunion tour of 2007 Collins also brought him over to his solo career in 1981 and used him for nearly all of his tours between 1981 and 2010. Oh, my goodness! I guess I should. Mike, Tony and Peter seem to be working very well together composing and its hard for Phil and Stevein the beginning to contribute. But I recently read some speculation here on Chester and Phil's falling out, and I thought people might like to hear it from the man himself. That was every night. Billy Cobham: a very good drummer who shimnes mostly as soloist. Phil Collins (onion head) <-nickname), is a great drummer and that is where i believed he should have stayed. I had no idea. Let me remember: Leee Kerslake. [Laughs] Umm I didnt really think it was going to be the end. They were really nice, cool people to work with. Was that fun? Much of the show is just you playing drums, but during a lot of the instrumental breaks, Phil would come back and play along with you. Long story short: Collins turned up in a bad mood for the 2010 "Going Back" tour and griped at Thompson because Thompson hadn't prepared the Motown drum parts in enough detail. Peter Criss (Even lead vocals), Keith Moon, Carmine Appice, Roger Taylor (Much better backing vocalist than anybody else and even lead a couple of times). Did you watch Bobs show a lot? Why not? And I gotta tell you, man, Barry Gibb might have been one of the most professional people Ive worked with in my life. Basically, I literally transcribed everything Phil played on those early prog-rock albums. The manager of Chicago [Jim Guercio] supposedly bought it as a tax write-off. During that same conversation, I said to him, As a matter of fact, I need to take a break from doing both. Chester Thompson on Decade-Long Rift with Crab Apple Phil Collins I no longer teach at the university, but I have taken on some private students. The drum instructor left and Id gotten to know the head of the department. I dont know if I had an expectation one way or the other. I know my reaction to Hacketts "Genesis revisited" was- Hmm, I guess hes running out of money As I wrote, I find Hacketts soloalbums uneven but on the other handhis music is solid (apart from that GTR-thing, didnt like it!) Phil helped survive Genesis. It didnt surprise me. Man, it was wonderful. Sat 27th Nov 2021 20.00 GMT. But they asked Daryl and I to come to this little room on the side. Thanks guys and gals for more than one million views and almost 6000 likes. All are renowned in the business, but some are less well known to the general public. He turned around and stared at me. We did it at Ike Turners studio, Bolic Sound. My first drum lessons were in jazz. Phil Collins on lead vocals. This means nothing at all, it's almost a tradition. Why? Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Hed then go off to a studio and work on whatever he had in the can. Why did you leave? How about if I come in and play some percussion along with Alex [Acua]? But it was uncomfortable. You knew it at five years old. In the meantime, the few months before, they went with different management, the same people that managed Earth, Wind, and Fire. Genesis, as soon as they could afford it, started chartering planes for tours. 1; 2; 3; . When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, Phil Collins was always skittish about leaving the drum stool. Even Collins, Bruford (who only received a few musical lessons), Steve Howe, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, etc. Peter says that Stevewrote things they all liked but quite a lot that they didnt like. In my mind, these guys were almost hippies compared to what I was used to. Exactly. I met him the night before at his house. Other than that, Id go back to the hotel. All of the above. Frank had a blackboard onstage with all the note names on it. I was thinking back to the clinic I saw in 84-85 at DRUMS in Crafton PA. That was just rhythm section, [keyboardist] George Duke, [bassist] Tom Fowler. After a year with him, I spent some time in Boston with a keyboard player named Webster Lewis, who was phenomenal. Show more 8:40. It pretty much broke me up. Phil was very shocked and surprised and annoyed that I didnt say that his stuff was more fun. Chester Thompson on Decade-Long Rift with Crab Apple Phil Collins. I think that Bruford said that in 1992-93 for the "Notes of the Edge" website. That was their first tour in 10 years. Many of them are self-taught. This new thing Ive been working on with my friends in L.A., its [bassist] Pee Wee Hill and [keyboardist] Michiko Hill, his wife. It came up again [in 1984] and it was just great. Oh, yeah. How was Frank as a bandleader? I don't subscribe and I sat and read it for a good 20-25 minutes. It was really disturbing because for the first two weeks. He was into a lot of the American jazz drummers. World of Genesis - Chester Thompson Biography They brought in Bill Bruford for that one tour [in 1976], but it was a fairly short tour. I just knew that he was a radically different person than Id ever known. Thank you, I agree with you about the intelligent debate and even if we disagree about somethings in the end its down to a matter of opinons. How was that? [Laughs] Its interesting, I probably absorbed more of their culture than they did anything I grew up with because I was really uncomfortable. The guy was brilliant, amazing. I found Richard Mc'Phaill here, at that point and due to the 1973 in memorian, I thought McPhaill was dead, later I found an interview by him (2001) and new he was alive and healthybutonlytoday found he made backing vocals in Genesis Revisited. Suddenly, Im there with no income. And again, if you werent busy enough, you joined the Bee Gees for a tour in 1989. But Im over it now. He was brilliant. But he deserves more respect. I could track one guy, kind of, but then somebody else would jump in. Thats where I met my wife. yet (see the forest thru the trees) don't miss the interesting and insightful drum life Chester has led. Its going very well. And they had great songs. He was a virtuoso, no question, but most of his stuff was straight 16ths. Basically, Phil flipped at Chester during the Going Back tour, for not playing exactly what he wanted to play, and they haven't spoken since. We were playing touch football one day and Napoleon had the ball and was running past Tom, and Tom reached out and tagged him. Enjoy! It didnt frustrate me so much that I didnt do it. They are phenomenal musicians. Ive done tours of my own with my jazz trio. I just love the adventure of life. We had a bunch of 78s. Several times we were on Phils tour in 2005 and they had meetings about how to put this tour together. He made the comment at his press conference to announce his Not Dead Yet European comeback tour, which kicks off with a five-night residency at London's Royal Albert Hall in June 2017. They really enjoy life and love to laugh. No. Basically, Alphonso left during the Christmas break [of 1975]. Their manager was someone I knew from L.A. We had worked on a couple of things together. Basically, he tried to come up with stuff the band couldnt play, and we always managed to pull it off. And Phil and I had a lot of the same roots. It is an impressing line up. Id always be checking out the rhythm section because some of them brought their own rhythm section. Breaks Down His Killer White House Correspondents Dinner Set, Bernie Sanders: Many GOP Leaders 'Don't Even Believe in Democracy'. His guys werent fun, so he hung out in our tent the whole time before the show. They said to me, Youre playing it wrong. But the manager had gone out of his way to call me before we took the Christmas break since they were so happy with the tracks wed done. Phil Collins: A Nasty Man? - Progressive Rock Music Forum - Page 5 I got to play some really cool stuff. Hes passed away now, but we were in about 10 or 12 bands together growing up. Yeah. Its just that on tour, Daryl and I both would sometimes get dragged to a media thing. Im always very aware of whats going on. He was a phenomenal player oh, my goodness. He might have been. Man, what a wacky period. When he turned around, it just freaked me out because I was already nervous since I didnt know what was going to come next. First of all, I arrived in California straight out of the hood in Baltimore. I am reminded of this Amazon review of "Dance Into the Light" (which, incidently, has the funniest Phil Collins album cover). In fact, we wound up doing a tour opening for them. Chester Thompson sheds some light on relationship with Phil Collins I still remember that. Id say we agree on his drummingskills. Did they talk to you about being a part of that? It was really awesome. But Steve wa always a Genesis fan, even when he wanted to make some modifications, he only could achive that making it himself, and lets be honest, he used an expensive cast: LOL. JavaScript is disabled. Phil was not sure family-wise and he hasnt had the easiest of times there. It was a fun tour. Everybody had a say. It ended up being a little awkward since they were going to be down there for seven weeks. I like Genesis lps up until the release of Abacab (grabascab) after that they really went down hill for me. When Phil Collins moved from the drum kit to the front of the stage in 1976, Genesis hired former Yes drummer Bill Bruford to join them on tour. Drummers are not really "musicians", because they don`t play "musical notes", so let`s keep them in the background. Mick Fleetwood: owner of the band`s name, thier main founder, but not a composer in the band. If you werent busy enough with Genesis tours and Phil Collins tours, you joined Santana in 1984? I dont know how to describe it, but it was based on holograph technology. Chester Thompson Unfiltered:On Drumming With Genesis & Phil Collins I cant be gone the whole time. He spent 30 years in Genesis as a touring drummer, but he had a falling out with Phil Collins in 2010 and they haven't spoken since, "Culturally, we were on opposite sides of the world," says Chester Thompson of touring with Genesis. That aint me., Despite thoseearly troubles, Thompson recalled that he hit it off immediately with Collins, which made their regular drum duets easy to perform. We arent, like, chums, but we stay in touch. One day, he got pretty frustrated with me and literally cussed me out in front of everybody. Ive never not played jazz. Oh, my goodness. That's pretty much the zest of it. He had seen what turned out to be my last Weather Report concert, but he was very familiar with the Zappa stuff. Chester's performance and recording experiences have influenced over three decades of music and musicians. Soon after that, I wound up touring with [jazz organist] Jack McDuff. Chester Thompson Interview: Drummer on Genesis, Phil Collins, Zappa Id always wanted to teach myself. We were out there hitting it together and theres something about that. He told me that I sounded like crap and all that. So I am a huge fan of the bearded Collins in the 70's, especially that dance he did with the tamborine when they performed I Know What I Like live. As far as I know he doesn't have the health I also think he made a very significant positive contribution to Genesis' heyday. He made Frank laugh and a big part of those days was humor. Getting the gig was no walk in the park. I mean to be keep in the background in their importance in the bands. Daryl and I came back. I learned some people don't like unpleasant realities like a great drummer describing a falling out with Phil Collins followed by a decade-long silence between them. Man, what an education to see all those people in their prime. He liked having a big band onstage, too. You were still able to pack stadiums. But they had so many new tunes they were promoting. Yeah. And then I ended up doing Phils Motown thing and that didnt go well. In 2017, Collins revealed that he was a type-2 diabetic, undergoing treatment with a hyperbaric chamber after the condition caused obsesses on his foot which became infected. [Laughs]. But back to the point, the investment in this album was big, Bruford, Levin, Wetton, Ian Mc'Donnald, Julian Colbeck, etc are not cheap, and he knew from thestartthis album would never be a hit. Unfortunately, somehow Ike or his people lost the master tape. And I grew up with that Motown stuff, so I think maybe I took it for granted. I dont know. This means nothing at all, it's almost a tradition. He wasn't the only member of the band, and it wasn't a chnage that happened overnight. I was leaving straight from San Francisco. I mean, I know what I hoped for. That was fun, but it was a one-off. What happened with the Calling All Stations period with Genesis? They kind of assumed that he would. Even though he played with Brand X, he was not comfortable with soloing. And so when he quit again at the end of that, I think there was a shock. Look At The Sussudio LP Cover. I was wide-eyed and paying attention and had no idea what was going on. Max Roach and Art Blakey were first. But I was fortunate. It was this whole haunting thing that was really cool. I managed to get 11 songs tracked with my own band in L.A. because we decided a while back not to just sit around. There was quite a bit of Louis Jordan. What are you talking about?. Not at all. Ive done a couple of jazz trio albums that I really enjoyed. Ralph Humphrey was very helpful that whole time because I had been getting into odd times, but not at the level Frank was doing it. I did not write this, but it always makes me laugh. Its one of those What Will You Be letters. Some info from Hugh Fielders book:In 1965 Ant Phillips formed the band Anon with Richard Macphail, Rivers Job, Rob Tyrrell & Mike Rutherford. Napoleon Murphy Brock was auditioning at the same time for vocals and saxophone. But he just enjoyed being around us since we were so lively and fun. I worked with him during a really happy period in his life. By then, my son was starting college. Part of that was no matter how well I prepared, he always made some pretty intense changes. It was a weird, lonely feeling to be in the room with people that supposedly speak the same language and not be able to understand what was going on., Phil Collins and Genesis Sell Song Rights for Over $300 Million, Phil Collins Son Nic Joining Mike and the Mechanics Tour, Phil Collins Is Definitely Retired According to His Son, Jimmy Page Blasts Phil Collins Playing in Led Zep Live Aid Show, Phil Collins Sells Stunning $40 Million Miami Beach Estate, Watch Phil Collins in Lost Footage of Pre-Fame Band Flaming Youth, Phil Collins Sues Ex for Alleged Armed Occupation of Miami Home, Viral Video Sends Phil Collins In the Air Tonight Up the Chart. 155K views 1 year ago NASHVILLE CHESTER THOMPSON PLAYED DRUMS WITH GENESIS FROM 1976-2007 . At one point on that show, I was supposed to play a backbeat to go into the last tune. I agree, one weak album, because GTR was a multi members enterproce that involved even Steve Howe, but it wa a disaster. most great drummers won't ever do that, because they live for their drums. I said, Man, I cant do that. The very first live concert I saw was Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. He was a drummer deep down in his very soul, one that would take on occasional backing vocal or songwriting duties only if he had to. Bill knew that world. No. Chester Thompson, who spent more than 30 years playing drums live with Genesis, recalled how Phil Collins targeted him every time things went wrong on the frontmans debut solo tour. It was a rare thing where the lead singer of a band is also the drummer. He called up and said, Would you be up for doing a tour with these guys? He explained what was going on and stuff. Hed then go off to a studio and work on whatever he had in the can. But to a lot of the fans, I guess they feel like it is. I checked with the manager. It was a much bigger band. But after reading the (excellent) interview, I have to say I'm quite surprised at how Chester was treated by the guys through the years. He was a great writer and arranger. It wasnt his most intense stuff, but fortunately I knew who he was and that it was going to be good stuff. Genesis' Reunion Tour: 8 Questions We Have - Rolling Stone Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Chester Thompson took to the drums at an early age.James Harris, a family friend and jazz drummer, first introduced Chester to the drum kit at age 11, and by the time he was 13, Thompson was already doing club gigs in the greater Baltimore area. I don't think he was ever going to be on board with expanding it to additional legs. Sorry man, but Steve is the only Genesis member that released a whole album with new version of Genesis songs, i can't understand how somebody can say he didn't liked the music. They were great writers. But after reading the (excellent) interview, I have to say I'm quite surprised at how Chester was treated by the guys through the years. It had been years. Say It Right, Aug 16, 2018 #152 The_Windmill likes this. That was incredible! Id come in and read it down the next day, which was pretty new to them because none of them read [music] at all. That was my introduction to that. Im pretty excited about this project with them. Rolling Stone interview series Unknown Legends features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and veteran musicians who have toured and recorded alongside icons for years, if not decades.
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