The classic album Phil Collins was too “bad” to play on
Phil Collins may be a blue-eyed soul legend, a hero of 1980s yuppie music, and the driving force behind Genesis’ evolution, but he is no stranger to artistic failure. Like many world-renowned creatives, his path to the top was long and winding, shaped by a mix of fortune and missteps along the way.
Though Collins started out as a drummer, his teenage years saw him prioritise an acting career, even landing an uncredited role as an extra in A Hard Day’s Night, the movie of his musical heroes, The Beatles. However, as his acting career progressed, Collins found himself increasingly drawn to music, immersing himself in London’s vibrant late 1960s scene. Yes frontman Jon Anderson even invited him to audition for the role of their new drummer, but, in a surprising and inexplicable turn of events, Collins failed to show up—an oversight that could have drastically altered the course of his life.
In 1969, Collins and his school friend Ronnie Caryl joined the backing band for John Walker on a European tour. Upon their return, the group was renamed Hickory and later rebranded as Flaming Youth. That same year, they signed with Fontana Records and released their concept album Ark 2, an early progressive rock effort that would lay the groundwork for Collins’ eventual entry into Genesis.
Due to drummer John Mayhew leaving following the recording of 1970’s Trespass, Collins answered the advert in Melody Maker looking for a drummer who was sensitive to acoustic guitars. They hired him quickly, but yet again, his life might have panned out differently if Queen drummer Roger Taylor – another master drummer and songwriter – had accepted their invitation to audition. Luckily for Collins and Genesis, they were too prog for him.
Remarkably, before this life-changing moment, Collins had already suffered a major setback, which would have been enough for many to leave music behind for good. Despite being young and at the start of his creative journey, prior to joining Genesis, he’d already directly worked with a former member of his favourite group, George Harrison.
In May 1970, after Flaming Youth split, Collins played the congas on George Harrison’s ‘Art of Dying’, a song on his classic solo album, All Things Must Pass. He played in the company of an array of heavyweights during the sessions, including Harrison, his friend Eric Clapton and influential producer and later murderer Phil Spector. Still, he didn’t make the cut and admits he played “badly” on the recording.
The session materialised after Flaming Youth’s manager received a call from Ringo Starr’s chauffeur, who said they needed an extra percussionist for the sessions at Abbey Road. Collins eagerly scampered across to the famous home of British rock and joined the star-studded cast. Nobody told him what to play, and as he wasn’t a conga player by trade, his hands started to bleed. He was also so incredibly nervous that regardless of being a non-smoker, he was repeatedly bumming cigarettes off the former Beatles drummer.
Following two hours of nervousness, Collins laid down his take, but the mic was off. Everybody laughed, and they disappeared. He thought they’d gone to watch TV, and he was told he could go home. Skip forward a few months; when he bought the record, he saw that he wasn’t on the credits and that a different version of the song was included.
However, this wasn’t the end of the story. Years later, when Collins bought former F1 hero Jackie Stewart’s house – a friend of Harrison’s – he was informed by the racing driver that Harrison was remixing the album. Asked if he had performed on it, Collins explained htat he had been there, and two days later, a tape from Harrison had arrived. As he recalled to Classic Rock in 2021, a note with the record said: “Could this be you?”
Of course, Collins rushed to listen to the track. He said: “Suddenly the congas come in – too loud and just awful. And at the end of the tape you hear George Harrison saying: ‘Hey, Phil, can we try another without the conga player?’ So now I know, they didn’t go off to watch TV, they went somewhere and said: ‘Get rid of him,’ cos I was playing so badly.”
Collins soon realised he’d been had. Stewart rang him and put Harrison on the phone. When Collins informed him he’d discovered after all those years that a Beatle had fired him, it was revealed that it was all a ruse. The take he heard was Ray Cooper playing terribly on purpose as a “piss-take”, which was dubbed over. That must have made not being included really hurt.
