“You go through fads”: The artist Phil Collins thought Yes were ripping off
All roads lead to Rome, and the vast majority of musical roads lead back to the inspiration of jazz. Emerging from the Black communities of New Orleans during the late 19th century, the inventive sounds of jazz have played a part in virtually every musical movement since. From the flapper boom of the 1920s to the avant-jazz mastery of civil rights-era America, the movement has experienced countless different eras, and has inspired countless different artists, including prog and pop titan Phil Collins.
During the 1980s, Collins rose to the very top of the pop music pyramid, achieving a string of colossal hits, including the likes of ‘In The Air Tonight’ and ‘Sussudio’, making him one of the most commercially successful musicians of the decade. However, Collins’ artistic aims were not always so dominated by record sales. It was during the late 1960s that he took his first steps into the music industry, mainly working as a session musician as well as working with the group Flaming Youth.
The late 1960s was a particularly prolific time for British music, as the revolutionary era of the swinging sixties gave way to a diverse range of styles and genre conventions which seemed to splinter off in every direction. Psychedelic rock had dominated the late 1960s, thanks both to American outfits like Jefferson Airplane, and groups closer to home, like Soft Machine or Pink Floyd. By the turn of the decade, however, psychedelic rock had begun to morph into something much more complex and expansive: progressive rock.
It was this style of progressive rock which captivated a young Phil Collins. In the summer of 1970, the budding young musician had gained a notable enough reputation to arrive on the radar of Genesis, who were advertising for a new drummer at that time. Still in their relative infancy, the band – with Collins behind the sticks – would go on to become a definitive outfit of the progressive rock age.
Throughout that period, Collins drew upon countless different styles and sources of inspiration within his drumming. Namely, the musician was influenced by the world of jazz. “I was always fascinated by big bands,” he once told Interview Magazine. “I loved the very first Buddy Rich big band. I was a huge fan. I bought all of his albums.” This should come as no surprise; Buddy Rich is among the most influential drummers of all time, and helped to define the big band era of jazz.
Seemingly, though, Rich’s inspiration did not last forever. “You go through fads of drumming and I no longer idolise Buddy Rich; I do admire him. I respect what he is and what he’s done, and how he still kicks it around when he’s 60.” Collins added the rather cutting remark, “What he was doing with big bands has been copied by lots of different groups, the band Yes being one of them. That style of arranging crept into rock and roll.”
Yes were another colossal band of the progressive rock age and were routinely pitched against Collins’ old band, Genesis. In fact, prior to joining Genesis, the drummer was offered an audition to join the ranks of Yes but failed to show up for the audition – although he did end up collaborating with Yes drummer Bill Bruford a few years down the line.
Bruford, like the revolving cast of other drummers recruited by Yes over the years, clearly took influence from the sounds of Buddy Rich. However, Collins’ choice to single out the prog giants above everybody else feels a little harsh. After all, as we previously mentioned, Rich influenced virtually every percussionist who came after him; you could analyse the playing style of most drummers – including Collins – and find a resemblance to the titan of big band jazz.
