Playing that stuff from the Seventies was full of charge. [Laughs] He figured it out pretty quickly. I never liked the idea of re-recording old favourites but Im getting a little bit intrested now. Fortunately, the bass player [Bob Babbitt] stepped in and started the tune. Chester Thompson on His Years With Genesis, Frank Zappa, and Weather Report, Northern California between Sac and SF, CA, (You must log in or sign up to reply here. This is the live version of Inside Out, recorded in Berlin in 1990. 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. Unknown to me, he quit over the Christmas holidays. But Phil Collins still did great things with those two albums. Just trying to make the best use of the time. Id say we agree on his drummingskills. 1; 2; 3; . Man, I still love to play. He told me what he had in mind. The whole band took Tony's side (There's no Genesis without Tony) instead of compromising, giving more songs to Steve, It's ridiculous that Your Own Special Way was in W&W instead of Steve's superior material. Did you watch Bobs show a lot? Theres quite a music community here in Nashville, man. Die DVD-Version zeigt ein ganzes Konzert vom 15. I have no idea. He asked me if I read [music] and he showed me a chart and asked me if I could learn it by the next day. He was happy. They really enjoy life and love to laugh. In San Francisco, they have a minimum on these shows. Who knows what thats going to look like at this point. 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. Hed then go off to a studio and work on whatever he had in the can. Collins was perfectly happy to exist behind his large collection of toms and cymbals during Genesis' Peter Gabriel-led . But you have read him saying that anything after Fragile is crap, and that was a literal quote. The keyboard player, Brad Cole, lives in Nashville. Enjoy! It was sort of weird, though. I never went in under any pretense of thinking it was going to be anything other than what it was. This was so clear that inSeconfsOutduring the mixture they recorded guitar parts withan incredibly low volume. Get out of here., Turns out, he went to the hospital and he really had broken his finger. Yes, it`s true, but none of them became the permanent lead singer in their bands like Collins. No. They sent over some cassettes. Mike says that Phils drumming added a new dimension to Genesis. It sounds like ever thing thing is scripted and being read by a bad actor. How was it for you culturally? I found out I wasnt going to Chicago and then Phil [Collins] called me himself, basically offering the Genesis gig. If I were to sum up my opinions of the five (actually leaving out Ant Phillips seems wrong since I think his guitarplaywas important to the early Genesissound and the fact that Mike calledhim the keymember at the time) members life after Genesis: I feel like Ive sort of left the point wether Phil is nasty or not Summary: I dont think Phil is a nasty man and he doesnt deserve all the critisicm he sometimes gets here at Progarchives. I have no memory of that whatsoever. It scared the pants off me. Heres the crazy thing, man. A couple of the Drum Duets were released as singles in several places in South America and some countries in Europe, which is kind of cool. What were your early impressions of Frank? There were pictures taken and all that. Phil Collins (onion head) <-nickname), is a great drummer and that is where i believed he should have stayed. That was incredible! Its just that on tour, Daryl and I both would sometimes get dragged to a media thing. 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). No. During that same conversation, I said to him, As a matter of fact, I need to take a break from doing both. Come the day of the show, Peter was wherever he was at the moment, which wasnt where he said hed be the day before. Chester was very cool in this article. Were you intimidated when you walked into that rehearsal space? 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. He was into a lot of the American jazz drummers. In fact, I had called. In the book Tony says that Phil liked Yes and brought some of their playing ability to Genesis. He must have a contract for a hundred and one sappy stereotypical songs for Disney movies. I dont think hes holding a grudge. There was a lady with the band I kind of had a crush on and we were very much in touch. ), Forum Policies, Rules, and Terms of Service. The other guy called himself Sonship, Woody Theus. I still remember that. And Maurice too, actually. He actually double-tracked all that stuff. He also has composed good music, not only elevator music, as you say. The Genesis so many of us like wouldnt have been without any of members. I dont know if I had an expectation one way or the other. It got awkward. Ive heard lots of audiences tapes, but its pouring rain and none of them sound great. Really cold of Phil to not reach out after 10yrs. He had seen what turned out to be my last Weather Report concert, but he was very familiar with the Zappa stuff. It was pretty profitable. But I was fortunate. As it turned out, I wound up doing a little, brief drum-clinic tour down there in Australia. Chester Thompson on His Years with Genesis, Frank Zappa, and Weather Report 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 Behind a login thing. I thougfh the consensus was that Collins was not the only reason, but just a small part of Genesis's evolving intoa pop band? Ive done a couple of jazz trio albums that I really enjoyed. Here, these artists tell their complete stories, giving an up-close look at life on musics A list. The cool thing was my family came out on the road a lot. But with Phil, youre one of a cast of thousands. Genesis, as soon as they could afford it, started chartering planes for tours. Beans and Corn Bread was probably my favorite Louis Jordan tune. I was okay one-on-one, but they speak much, much faster than we do. What happened with the Calling All Stations period with Genesis? After Invisible Touch, I remember their conversations where they agreed to take five years off. He had proven to be really close friends with those guys and I never related culturally, so there was always this gap between us. It was going to be South America too. That blew me away. Chester Thompson sheds some light on relationship with Phil Collins. Watcher of the skies is very good and solid vocals by John Wetton, Fountain of Salmacis is great with an acoustic guitar intro and Steve singing ections with vocodsr , but my favorite is the Orchestral version of Firth of Fifth, very beautiful. And then I got into better clubs around Baltimore. Phil was not sure family-wise and he hasnt had the easiest of times there. They were really nice, cool people to work with. I dont know how to describe it, but it was based on holograph technology. Its an interesting gig musically speaking. Music education. I did most of my tracks like Inca Roads with George on piano. Reading some of these commentaries in this threadI started to think that Phil Collins is really underrated because not too many drummers are key members in their bands. I absolutely loved this round table discussion of Zappa's drummers. Basically, after the first day, I was like, The only way this is going to work is if you give me a list of which tunes you want to go over the next day Ill have them ready.. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/llins-frank-zappa-weather-report-1122064/amp/, https://ultimateclassicrock.com/chester-thompson-phil-collins-solo-tour/. I had no idea. Almost a tradition? I grew up in the projects, so in the summer there would be people outside playing music. My wife had her own career when we met. Oh, my goodness. Right. [Laughs] There was no way I could learn it by the next day. . In this 2014. When I was about to transfer to a four-year school, I got the audition with [Frank] Zappa. Discover what he did to anger Thompson so much they haven't exchanged holiday cards since 2019. How did you wind up touring with Ben E. King in 1969? And then it got to be a little more honest. We were out there hitting it together and theres something about that. But there was always a second kit near him, and. We picked what we wanted from them and made something new. It was interesting because Tom Fowler, our bass player, had broken his hand on tour. I cant be gone that much at this point. Thats when Ricky [Lawson] wound up doing [the Phil solo tours of the mid-Nineties]. On the We Cant Dance tour in 1992, did you sense that Phil wasnt going to continue with Genesis after it? note: They chose instead to record with drummers Nir Zidkyahu and Nick DVirgilio. The Edge Calls it a Quantum Leap Forward, Neil Young and Stephen Stills Honor David Crosby, Revive Buffalo Springfield at Light Up The Blues, You Are Grimes Now: Inside Music's Weird AI Future, Pharrells Something in the Water Fest Cancels Final Day Due to Severe Weather, Stagecoach: Kane Brown Breaks Mental Health Stigma With 'Memory,' Talks Depression, Kiss Paul Stanley Has 'Thoughts' About Parents Who Support Kids Gender Identities, Kanye West Fallout Sparks Class Action Lawsuit Against Adidas, Roy Wood Jr. And so the horns would make a mistake and hed turn around and look at me. I didnt know, but he did step back for quite a while. Yeah. Did you get to meet him? This is the same time that Chicago and Elton John are recording there. And even though Im not doing it anymore, Im glad that he decided to go back to work. I might. Most of the drummers have musical studies, to make arrangements you need to read and write music, even if you don't make the arrangements, you need to read music in order to understand the new arrangements that bands do after every tour in old songs. How was that? Rolling Stone suspended its policy on Genesis not being cool enough to report on for a long interview with Chester Thompson. I felt like I needed to work on my playing. Yes, some of his ballads are cheesy. Basically, I literally transcribed everything Phil played on those early prog-rock albums. That aint me. But basically, for 14 years hed tour every other year and Genesis would tour in the off years. However he did turn Genesis into a pop group and laughed all the way to the bank. Somehow, they offered me the gig. ", Chester Thompson on His Years With Genesis, Frank Zappa, and Weather Report, Watch Billy Joel Play Los Angelenos For First Time in 42 Years, U2 Announce Sphere Las Vegas Dates. It was Phils gig, obviously. When my mom showed me that letter I wrote in fourth grade where I had outlined I hadnt done everything in that letter, but so much of it had already happened it kind of blew me away. It was just there. With that said, I love all of the Genesis albums from 1972-1977, including A Trick of the Tail and Seconds Out which both have Phil Collins on lead vocals. Im always looking for the new thing, the next thing to me. They brought in Bill Bruford for that one tour [in 1976], but it was a fairly short tour. We learned how to deal with it. But he still had that American stuff. They just edited in that other day of his recording. Its very rewarding and Im involved with an organization here called the Nashville Jazz Workshop. Its interesting to see peoples perception of what they think it is as opposed to the way it really was. I said to those guys, I dont care if you use another drummer on parts of the album. It was a fun tour. And then he added the drums and it was like, Forget about it. We were all in the car going to the first show in Japan. As a matter of fact, we had already been told what dates to hold for 2008. [Laughs] Again, Im loving what Im doing with my band. Jeff Porcaro: a great drummer but not a main composer in Toto. Show more 8:40. [Laughs] They were like, How could you be down here doing this and not our tour? I was like, Im just here a few days. But I was really trying to be mindful of family time. I read it and just wept because most of it had happened by that point. He got it. Ive still got pretty mixed feelings about it. You are using an out of date browser. Also note that Onion Head didn't do much writting on the good Genesis LPs like: Foxtrot, Trespass, Selling England, Lamb, Nursery, Trick of the tail, EWnd and Wuthering. most great drummers won't ever do that, because they live for their drums. I wish I could afford my son. Everything wasnt that, but a lot of the tunes went that way. This is before they had their own studio. He didnt know all the tunes, but obviously he was pretty familiar with the whole prog-rock thing. And initially, that was so families could travel. Alan White studied a bit of piano, but he is mainly self-taught as a drummer. If you did your part, it was fun. That was Ralph Humphrey on drums. Shed been on the road for three years straight and she got it. [Laughs] Culturally, we were on opposite sides of the world. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Frank was playing guitar. They all put in something that made their music special. But they had so many new tunes they were promoting. What I can't still understand is the almost in memorian picture of him in Live 73. Hed recently wrapped up stints with Frank Zappa and Weather Report that lasted about two years each, and Genesis previous touring drummer, Bill Bruford, bailed after just four months on the road. When Phil said that his 2004 tour was going to be his last one, did you believe him? The only person I didnt see was probably Otis Redding. We basically tracked it with no bass. Getting the gig was no walk in the park. I guess I should. Im still pretty good friends with the only two that are left, Ruth and Anita. Exactly. So Phil did pop some good , some average and some contrived but all big selling. Terry Bozio: good drummer but he didn`t compose anything for the band U.K. Was successful in the Missing Persons Pop band. When Chester Thompson joined Genesis as a drummer for the Wind and Wuthering tour in 1977, he had every reason to think it would be a short-term gig. We did it at Ike Turners studio, Bolic Sound. [Sighs] Thats a whole drama Im not crazy about. It was really cool. I enjoyed it though. All rights reserved. Id say we agree on his drummingskills. Everybody had a say. As far as I know he doesn't have the health They were all good friends to the point where they said, Lets do this. So the vibe was great. In recent years, hes taught at Belmont University in his adopted hometown of Nashville and toured with the Chester Thompson Trio. Phil releases "My favourite Genesis tracks from the 70`s" - rerecorded with old friends. Chester's performance and recording experiences have influenced over three decades of music and musicians. I mean, how many damn sings can one guywrite for Disney? It was just there. One day, he got pretty frustrated with me and literally cussed me out in front of everybody. Man, what a wacky period. I think it's best to keep this stuff to yourself, don't air grievances in public., especially not the press. I certainly wasnt surprised that he was successful. And that was the end of that. Its not something he did. Several times. Phil Ehart: owner of the name "Kansas", who also worked as their manager sometimes, he is not one of the main composers in the band. I was like, Man, when you turned around and looked, it threw me off.. It really was. I agree 100% it0s absurd to consider him nasty, the guy made a solid contribution with his drumming and backing vocals during Gabriel years and a pretty decent job as lead vocalist in ATOTT and specially on W&W. Im not 100 percent involved, but its really interesting, the stuff that happens here. Well, basically, I hadnt prepared in as much detail as I usually did. And the tour was that way too. -Guitarists/vocalists/bassists/keyboardists "heroes" are the most important members in a band . Phil helped survive Genesis. This edition features drummer Chester Thompson. It was a much bigger band. We had a bunch of 78s. Tell me about recording One Size Fits All. Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Progatron, Feb 4, 2021. An adult who lived in the projects where I grew up was named ODonel Levy. Let me remember: Leee Kerslake. I think he got a little annoyed since I had done an interview and they asked which I enjoyed [Genesis or Collins solo] more. Thats where you started hearing Motown and stuff. Was it hard on your marriage that you were never home? Keith Moon, John Bonham: great drummers, yes, key members, because their band never sounded the same without them, butthey weren`tthe main composers in their bands. No. I could not follow a single conversation. Do you talk to Daryl still? Did they talk to you about being a part of that? It must have been interesting to watch them evolve from And Then There Were Three to Duke to Abacab and see them embrace New Wave to some degree and change up their sound. Not sure what's up there? I played every weekend from eighth grade until I graduated high school. It was about to move to Chicago and I was kind of wondering, Why havent I got my contract yet?. If you want the gig, its yours.. In my mind, these guys were almost hippies compared to what I was used to. And Ill never forget. What a nice man, Don Van Vliet. Don Henley: another drummer who is lead singer, and main writter with guitarist Glen Frey, and he also sings ballads without being "hated" as Collins is. Mike, Tony and Peter seem to be working very well together composing and its hard for Phil and Stevein the beginning to contribute. IN THIS 2014 INTERVIEW, PHIL COLLINS DESCRIBES HOW HE RECRUITED THE AMERICAN DRUMMER CHESTER THOMPSON TO PLAY DRUMS WITH GENESIS, REPLACING PHIL AS THE PRIMA. He only truly related to drums. The We Cant Dance thing was a very different vibe. Phil Collins had to hire Chester Thompson and Bill Bruford. And he just totally shot down the idea of doing anything. Again, as humans, we adapt. That stuff smokes. 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. Im just not going to do that.. He could really play. The worst thing you could do in Weather Report was play the exact same thing you played the night before. I was like, Man, Ive got to have some time with my family. Why didnt it go well? But Im over it now. It`s not true. I just love the adventure of life. So I continue quite off topic!Actually I havent heard Hacketts Genesis revisited - is it good? I don't subscribe and I sat and read it for a good 20-25 minutes. [1] Thompson has performed with his jazz group, the Chester Thompson Trio, since 2011. So they took some time off. He asked if Id consider coming in. He passed away [in 2002]. And so we were doing Salt Peanuts at like 200 miles an hour. Not every Rock musician has musical studies. Peter says that Stevewrote things they all liked but quite a lot that they didnt like. In between, were doing this project. He liked having a big band onstage, too. The peak of Genesis on a commercial level was the Invisible Touch period. At the same time, it was a little weird investing that much time in something you were never going to be a part of. I saw online that Phil said in some interview he was quitting the band. Yeah. You can tell he is play acting. He put everything into it. At one point, he toured with us. We had a theater like the Apollo. Did you work remotely? Phil Collins and Chester Thompson Interview for Drummer in 1977 during the period of Seconds Out The new managers were like, Absolutely not. How about pop music? Not at all. He might have been. the Amazon Associates Program via amazon.com. But on that first tour, Id be like, Come on, man. Maybe once in a lifetime. Bands always change, and poor Phil just happened to headline the band as it started turning away from it's roots, and he gets branded as the bands destructor. To be honest, the problem started with all the band specially because many people believe (I also do) that the relation between Tony and Steve wasn't good since he recorded Voyage (Tony was clear, no solo projects, and Steve didn't invited him but calling Mike and Phil), plus the fact that Tony was suposed to be the main songwritter, but Steve wanted to fight this position with him. If Phil made a compilation of 70's albums I wouldn't think he's running out of money (In first place nobody will acept to do a Prog Genesis album with him), I would think hre wants MORE money, and he's trying to recapture Prog' fanbase. None of the other members really knew how to communicate in a funny way with their audiences. "This album is dedicated to Richard MacPhail who left April, 1973.". He was a different kind of guy, but what a nice, gentle kind of person. 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. But he still had that American stuff; it was a big part of his background, and we just hit it off immediately. I saw James Brown, an early Motown revue, Sam Cooke, Chuck Jackson, Jerry Butler, the Impressions, Sam and Dave, all the Stax artists. If you werent busy enough with Genesis tours and Phil Collins tours, you joined Santana in 1984? That's All. [Ed. IMO, he is a good composer, a funny showman, a very good lead & backing singer, and one of the best drummers in Rock music. Phil was in pain, and Chester makes it sound like 2008 didn't happen because Phil was just being difficult. He was already going on tour in summers between school. In fact, most of the names of the drummers appear almost always at the end of the credits in the album covers. I think the first song that really stuck in my head was On the Sunny Side of the Street. I have no idea whose version it was. Except the horrible version of Your Own Special Way (Already horrible) because Paul Carrack sounds as Elmer Fudd , the mediocre Bossa Nova version of I Know What I like and the hard to swallow Waiting Room Only, the rest of the album (8 more tracks) is outstanding. Even though Daryl and I werent technically in the band [Genesis], we toured as the band. I always thought he was a pretty good friend to me. It was really awesome. The 2021 tour is billed as "The Last Domino?" named after the song "Domino" which . 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. Chester Cortez Thompson (born December 11, 1948) is an American drummer best known for his tenures with Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Weather Report, Santana, the progressive rock band Genesis and Phil Collins as a solo artist. Would have to be an idiot not to agree with this, my problem is not with his drumming, I recently had a discussion with a member who said he was only an average drummer not able to play with Yes. But it got very political and it just got ugly. Not the first day. Just like Dean Martin or Perry Como were passe by the 70s prog was out of fashion in the late 80s and I don't think anyone could really change that. O.K.! Phil helped survive Genesis. It's really weird how people attack Phil Collins. But the next thing I know, they started having meetings. I also think that he is underrated, because he likes ballads, and not many people who likes Prog Music likes ballads. Phil Collins was always skittish about leaving the drum stool. Thompson believed he had landed a short-term job when Collins asked him to join Genesis without an audition in 1977, but he went on to take part in every road trip until 2007 and was also a. Did you see any concerts in your younger years? It was great. I wish him nothing but the best. Listen Renaissance, Marillion, Pendragon Barclay James Harvest, Moody Blues, Procol Harum, The Strawbs, etc are full of ballads, and nobody ever made a problem. Duke lp is OK but Misunderstanding shoud not be on that LP that is more of Onion Head solo lp song. Mick Fleetwood: owner of the band`s name, thier main founder, but not a composer in the band. I imagine it was frustrating. A lot of well-known names. That was fun, but it was a one-off. He hung out with the band after the shows and stuff. With Weather Report, I had to learn which ones to leave out. The guy had a great feel, but he wasnt a real reader. Phil double-tracked all the drum parts. You did four sold-out nights at Wembley Stadium. From Jazz (Weather Report), to Rock (Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention), to Pop (Genesis/Phil Collins) to Gospel (Ron Kenoly), Chester Thompson has surpassed the boundaries of musical genres. When I was 13 and able to go on my own, I pretty much went every other week. When I worked with him, the core of the group was Napoleon on saxophone and singing, Bruce Fowler on trombone, Tom Fowler on bass, [percussionist] Ruth Underwood, George ,and Frank. Some of it was Frank. Suddenly, Im there with no income. Good read! It was this huge frame of all their albums. You knew it at five years old. Yeah. Reading some of these commentaries in this threadI started to think that Phil Collins is really underrated because not too many drummers are key members in their bands. I don't think he's bnasty, seems a nice chap, but he said too many stupid things and then contradicted himself depending in the way the market went, He said Prog is crap when Prog was unpopular and harrased by Punk, Discoor New Wave, but when his boring pop became part of the past he changed and said he always was a proghead. It is an impressing line up. Ive done some teaching, not a lot, but at the moment I have a handful of private students at a school. Man, what an education to see all those people in their prime. Turns out it was purely a union thing. Drummers and keyboard players don`t have the same status as them". A little bit later he goes, Man, I think I broke my finger. We all went, Come on. I met him the night before at his house. Not all his music is that way.With the exception of his Disney music albums and his "Testify" album, I have listened to most of his albums.I found some good songs there. Was that fun? I had gone back to Baltimore. This is before they had hits, but they did have Yes We Can Can. In those days, they were doing pretty much doing all Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross stuff. They are like 15 feet away and everyone is wearing masks. But since I had been in his band and on the road so much, I hadnt had time to do any networking or meet many people in L.A. My first drum lessons were in jazz. this can result in this site earning a commission. They were amazing. Wed do eight-hour rehearsals. I was totally gasping for air. Chester has a great attitude. Apparently he was a close friend of the band because in 1969 Genesis moved to cottage owned by Richard Macphail's parents to concentrate on writing. Great drummer. By the time they reached out to me, they allowed 10 days for rehearsal and it was a two-and-a-halfhour show. We were like 9,000 feet above sea level in Colorado. Frank had a blackboard onstage with all the note names on it. Again, Ive got no grudge. I dont know. 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 was really interesting because I never considered that I might learn to play other instruments. Neal Peart: great drummer, lyricist, and sometimes composer of the music in Rush. How was your experience in the Pointer Sisters touring band after that? He played beautifully on that ballad Cannon Ball. I had already tracked most of Black Market. Genesis' The Last Domino? When Phil called, the first thing he said was, Theres no audition. But I did wind up coming back in 1999. No. I just knew that he was a radically different person than Id ever known. I hadnt done that. He was a virtuoso, no question, but most of his stuff was straight 16ths. Breaks Down His Killer White House Correspondents Dinner Set, Bernie Sanders: Many GOP Leaders 'Don't Even Believe in Democracy'. Yeah. Several times we were on Phils tour in 2005 and they had meetings about how to put this tour together. Thompson believed hehad landed a short-term job when Collins asked him to join Genesis without an audition in 1977, but he went on to take part in every road trip until 2007 and was also a stalwart of Collinssolo group fromthe initial Hello, I Must Be Going tour in 1982. Thats because it was getting close to time to go back out with Phil.

Vistana Dashboard Login, Scott Mctominay House, Public Health Conferences 2023, Articles P