this video rules
At some point in the 80s, I stumbled across Chester Thompson. He was backing Frank Zappa at the time but he was so good he wound up getting tapped to tour with Phil Collins' drumming-centric solo tours. https://t.co/IA0q2uukJ2— Timothy Hensley (@geistweg) September 1, 2020
― Give me a Chad Smith-type feel (map), Wednesday, 2 September 2020 19:33 (three years ago) link
Yeah Thompson was/is a fine musician in his own right, as well as a very skilled interpreter of Collins's drumming. I understand that he didn't audition - Collins just called him up and asked, and he had that gig (Genesis/Collins) for like 30 years. There are a lot of really good drummers who wouldn't have fit as well in the role. Bill Bruford is good, but too different in style.
Anyway, map, I've watched that clip several times before and it's very satisfying. A couple things stand out.
At the beginning, Chester is playing that tuned-percussion ostinato live, with a real instrument, whereas it was most assuredly programmed on the record. I guess it makes sense that a band of that size, in a live setting, might not want to be chained to a sequencer. A human performer can adjust. It's cool, but almost sad when he stops playing it. (Could no one else on that stage have played it?)
The main floor-tom-based line is Very Phil; Chester is so focused on bringing it across with power. Mad respect, but there is also a longer, more sneaky fill (phill?) that starts on the higher toms and crosses the bar line - it's the one that ends on the china cymbal. The recording has it like twice; Thompson pulls it out rather more often - but with such assurance that the overall pulse never wavers.
And - BONUS SKLAR!
― tater totalitarian (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 2 September 2020 20:33 (three years ago) link
The Sklar the merrier.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 2 September 2020 21:33 (three years ago) link
There are few drummers quite as melodic as Phil Collins.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 2 September 2020 21:36 (three years ago) link
"Feed The World (Do The Know Its Christmas?)" is on a whole nother indefensible level but... I always liked Collins' drum track. There's a clip of him recording the final segue out of the bridge into the final chorus/outro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeZnZfxGKvg
Always loved the sound of those big bottomless Gretsch toms.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 2 September 2020 21:47 (three years ago) link
He used to be a Premier guy (same concert tom configuration and everything)...not sure why he switched to Gretsch.He has such a great sound and approach, but watching him sit with his shoulders slumped, arrrg, Phil, sit up straight! Otherwise, you’ll have major back problems in the ‘00s!
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 2 September 2020 22:04 (three years ago) link
That "Do They Know It's Christmas" song was apparently a first take from Phil!
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 2 September 2020 22:57 (three years ago) link
I think it was because of ilx - maybe this thread, I dunno - that I bought (and even freaking READ) his cutesy-poo autobiography.
And I'm not even mad.
Dude is, probably, corny and choochy as fuck. But in his prime(s) he certainly brought something. That "something" will always be bracketed by "if you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you will like."
He has been supremely lucky, but to deny that he was gifted is churlish in the extreme.
― tater totalitarian (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 3 September 2020 00:42 (three years ago) link
I put his 80s ubiquity - and the reason why people got sick of sight of him - is that he just never said “no” to anyone. And was generally an affable guy who got on well with pretty much everyone inside the industry
(Granted, the Genesis and solo stuff is on him, for better or worse)
― Master of Treacle, Thursday, 3 September 2020 00:53 (three years ago) link
xpost I mean, you sort of hit on it inadvertently.
But in his prime(s) he certainly brought something.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 3 September 2020 00:58 (three years ago) link
And what was it someone observed/noted about Genesis? How each album sold more than the one that came before it? That's a pretty impressive feat.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 3 September 2020 00:59 (three years ago) link
Sorry to have put it that way, Josh. I shouldn't have taken the diminishing tone - I totally stan for phil as an artist and musician.
― tater totalitarian (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 3 September 2020 01:02 (three years ago) link
That downplays so much! In his prime he: played with Genesis, sang with Genesis, had a solo career,
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 3 September 2020 01:24 (three years ago) link
Imagine how insane his resume would have looked if in addition to all of the above he also joined the Who and Zeppelin. Though I guess he did sort of do the latter.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 3 September 2020 02:55 (three years ago) link
I think he mentions in his memoir that Eric Clapton really had no idea who he was or that he was already a successful musician when he hired him, just that he was a good drummer and neighbor.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 3 September 2020 02:56 (three years ago) link
this is pretty intense https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYV6KZpnEak
― corrs unplugged, Monday, 14 September 2020 11:30 (three years ago) link
It might not be him that needs the defense:
https://boingboing.net/2020/10/20/phil-collins-ex-wife-has-allegedly-taken-over-his-mansion-with-armed-guards.html
Then in August, Cevey broke up with Collins again via text message, informing him that she had apparently gone to Vegas and married a businessman / musician 15 years her junior.And now — according to a lawsuit filed by Collins — Cevey and her new husband, Tom Bates, are allegedly living in his $33 million dollar Miami beachfront mansion. And they've hired four armed guards to protect them. According to the Miami Herald:The new couple are "threatening, implicitly and explicitly, to prolong their unlawful occupation of the property through force," the filing states. "An injunction is urgently needed to end an armed occupation and takeover of the Phil Collins home by his ex girlfriend and her new husband, the defendants in the action."
And now — according to a lawsuit filed by Collins — Cevey and her new husband, Tom Bates, are allegedly living in his $33 million dollar Miami beachfront mansion. And they've hired four armed guards to protect them. According to the Miami Herald:
The new couple are "threatening, implicitly and explicitly, to prolong their unlawful occupation of the property through force," the filing states. "An injunction is urgently needed to end an armed occupation and takeover of the Phil Collins home by his ex girlfriend and her new husband, the defendants in the action."
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 20 October 2020 17:03 (three years ago) link
Ouch.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 20 October 2020 17:06 (three years ago) link
stay away from the pool
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Tuesday, 20 October 2020 17:20 (three years ago) link
think twice
― they see me lollin' (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 20 October 2020 17:47 (three years ago) link
hello I must be staying
― logout option: disabled (Matt #2), Tuesday, 20 October 2020 18:06 (three years ago) link
The People's Republic of Phil Collins's Mansion will not go down without a fight.
― Donald Trump Also Sucks, Of Course (milo z), Tuesday, 20 October 2020 18:06 (three years ago) link
eh
I don't care anymore
― Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 20 October 2020 18:07 (three years ago) link
He has a bunch of houses tho
― they see me lollin' (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 20 October 2020 18:14 (three years ago) link
Sounds like he's less worried about the house itself and more about the irreplaceable instruments and awards in it, which, I mean seems fair to be concerned about as a musician?
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 20 October 2020 18:23 (three years ago) link
we always need to hear both sides of the story
― PaulTMA, Tuesday, 20 October 2020 19:19 (three years ago) link
another day in paradise
― gman59, Tuesday, 20 October 2020 19:23 (three years ago) link
(Baby)Mama, please
― Walter Draggedman (stevie), Tuesday, 20 October 2020 19:41 (three years ago) link
Welcome to the home by the sea
― they see me lollin' (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 20 October 2020 19:55 (three years ago) link
Homeless (“Another Day in Paradise” demo)
― Welcome to Nonrock (breastcrawl), Tuesday, 20 October 2020 22:13 (three years ago) link
She seems to have that invisible security force, yeah
― they see me lollin' (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 20 October 2020 22:27 (three years ago) link
Don't Change My Numbers
― PaulTMA, Wednesday, 21 October 2020 01:17 (three years ago) link
Take My Home
― PaulTMA, Wednesday, 21 October 2020 01:20 (three years ago) link
Dance Into The Litigation
― PaulTMA, Wednesday, 21 October 2020 01:21 (three years ago) link
Folks, let's not jump to any conclusions about this story. We don't know the whole situation...
I mean...
There must be some misunderstanding
― do as thou wilt, as long as thou dost punctuate it correctly (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 21 October 2020 01:56 (three years ago) link
but this is the world we live in!
― Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 21 October 2020 02:01 (three years ago) link
It's always the same, it's just a shame
― eat my room temperature ass (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 21 October 2020 02:17 (three years ago) link
I think an amicable settlement of this is... against all odds.
― do as thou wilt, as long as thou dost punctuate it correctly (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 21 October 2020 02:20 (three years ago) link
I hear he’s living in a Stu-stu-studio.
― bagel in the streets, donut in the sheets (morrisp), Wednesday, 21 October 2020 02:49 (three years ago) link
― PaulTMA, Wednesday, October 21, 2020 2:20 AM (six hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
the winner
― Walter Draggedman (stevie), Wednesday, 21 October 2020 07:44 (three years ago) link
I think a pretty solid defense of phil is that we have collectively spent 18 hours riffing on this, drawing on a pretty deep storehouse of memorable lyrics and song titles from 30 years or so, without much effort. Even if you hate him or think he's corny, the dude has left a pretty sizable cultural footprint.
― do as thou wilt, as long as thou dost punctuate it correctly (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 21 October 2020 10:40 (three years ago) link
Phil's great. His memoir is heavily and unintentionally Partridge, imo.
― Walter Draggedman (stevie), Wednesday, 21 October 2020 10:46 (three years ago) link
Subpoena's Ready
― logout option: disabled (Matt #2), Wednesday, 21 October 2020 12:52 (three years ago) link
Joking aside, can't help but feel awful for Phil what's happened to him in recent years. This latest development is just.... fuck's sake.
― PaulTMA, Wednesday, 21 October 2020 13:18 (three years ago) link
it's going to end pretty badly for his ex-wife
― eat my room temperature ass (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 21 October 2020 13:21 (three years ago) link
lol but seriously
― nashwan, Wednesday, 21 October 2020 13:21 (three years ago) link
ok now we're in too deep here, c'mon guys
― eat my room temperature ass (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 21 October 2020 13:22 (three years ago) link
To think she could be in his house now just trashin' the camp.
― nashwan, Wednesday, 21 October 2020 13:24 (three years ago) link
in a moment he'll be on his knees
― eat my room temperature ass (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 21 October 2020 13:25 (three years ago) link
Well, what did he expect, now that they're living separate lives?
― do as thou wilt, as long as thou dost punctuate it correctly (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 21 October 2020 13:35 (three years ago) link