Phil Collins’ favourite drummers of all time
Phil Collins is experiencing a bit of a resurgence of late, with a new generation finding his extraordinary work without prejudice. Collins might have become the frontman of Genesis and gone on to have a lofty solo career with a microphone in his hand, but in his heart of hearts, he remains a drummer. Like any budding percussionist, that means he has always had a few favourite sticksmen.
Collins’ favourite drummers are the crème de la crème of the instrument and feature names that make it on every list of this kind that’s worth its salt. Even after the former Genesis man graduated to the front of the stage from the drumkit, he remained the drummer in the studio, and Collins’ switch to becoming a singer was a happy accident.
Following Peter Gabriel’s departure from the group, Genesis could easily have faded into obscurity, but Collins became an unlikely superstar. Although the music that he’d go on to make as a solo career would veer into a soulless territory, on occasion, as Collins enjoyed the thrills that came with being one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.
But this stardom often does more damage to his reputation than benefit it. Becoming such a popular figure can often lead to unfair dismissal of your work, and certainly Collins’ prowess as a musician is too often swept under the carpet in an attempt to focus on the stonewahs jeans and bright white trainers he seemed to endlessly wear.
Throughout everything that Collins has done throughout his career, the most comfortable place for him is still behind the drumkit, and it’s intriguing to discover the five drummers that occupy the most special place in his heart, which he discussed with BBC 6 Music in 2016.
Phil Collins’ favourite drummers
Steve Gadd
Collins was never known to be a snob about his musical taste. Going through his solo career and work with Genesis, he had gone through progressive rock, pop, soul, and even a few stints with big bands. Genres didn’t seem to matter much to Collins, but his love for jazz was helped by the madness of Steve Gadd.
While Collins’s and Gadd’s careers ran parallel, Gadd’s attention to detail when working with acts like Steely Dan was staggering to Collins. In an interview with David Sheff, Collins mentioned Gadd alongside some of his favourite jazz drummers like Tony Williams and Buddy Rich. Although Gadd’s reputation as a session musician may have slid towards easy listening, his combination of groove and swing wasn’t lost on Collins.
Going through some of the complex sides of A Trick of the Tail, Collins is studying under Gadd, playing monster drum fills just like the drum solo heard on the song ‘Aja’. Collins always left his unique stamp on whichever song he played, but the drum performance on Genesis’ ‘Dance on a Volcano’ could have easily been pulled from Gadd’s playbook.
Nic Collins
Towards the end of his run in Genesis, Collins was in no shape to perform anymore. After undergoing back surgery, Collins’ time on the road was reserved for singing, which became even harder when walking around with a cane off the stage. Instead of finding a clone for Collins’ style, Genesis kept it in the family by getting his son Nic behind the drumkit.
While Nic Collins was barely in his 20s, Collins was complimentary of his drumming the minute he stepped behind the kit, saying (via Smooth Radio), “The band fell in love with him… suddenly it was like he knew what he was doing and wasn’t in awe of the situation. I’m very pleased for him, and for me, that we get to go through this together”.
As Phil’s physical condition worsened, Nic always provided the backbeat, even coming onstage for some of their final dates before retirement. Although most kids might find it embarrassing to work with their parents, this should rank fairly high on any ‘bring your child to work day’ scale.
Chester Thompson
After years of playing with Genesis, Collins had to deal with every drummer’s worst nightmare: becoming the frontman. Since most drummers set up at the back of the stage, Collins’ turn as the singer without any attention to the backbeat would be a sea change live. Luckily, Collins knew just the guy to come in after hearing Chester Thompson playing with Frank Zappa.
When looking for different drummers, Genesis selected Thompson after his work with Zappa and the fusion supergroup Weather Report, saying (via Drumming News Network), “I never thought of him as a jazz drummer. His natural habitat would have been that. He was able to play very complicated music. We weren’t going to throw anything at him that he wasn’t going to be able to play”.
While Thompson admitted to having some hiccups at the start, he mentioned that he and Collins were cut from the same cloth, telling Ultimate Classic Rock, “Phil and I, from the very first rehearsal when he sat down, and we started jamming together, we just locked,” he said. “It was just there. And Phil and I had a lot of the same roots. He was into a lot of American jazz drummers”.
Charlie Watts
Charlie Watts has been a vital cog in The Rolling Stones’ machine for almost 60 years. He’s an underappreciated sticksmith. Despite being in one of the biggest groups of all time, Watts doesn’t get his fair share of praise, but Collins recognises his talent.
“When I did the big band in 98, this would have been, The Stones were playing or based in Paris, anyway,” Collins recollected. “He called me, and he said, ‘You’re playing the big band show tonight, and I’d love to come’, so I said, ‘Please come’.
“He called just before we were supposed to leave and he said, ‘I can’t leave my clothes, they arrived, and I have to lay everything properly’, and I said, ‘Ok’. This is an interesting look on Charlie Watts, you know. Anyway, he did turn up, he was the most style I’ve seen of any drummer.”
Keith Moon
The Who’s Keith Moon’s offstage antics more often than not overshadowed his onstage performances, and his reputation was very much for his wild behaviour rather than his incredible drumming.
But, behind the kit, Moon was still a devastating force to be reckoned wiht. He would whirl acorss the kit with the kind of unhinged lunancy that would seep itno his wild image. While he notably put bombs in his bass drum, he had some firecrackers attached to his sticks in the form of his rapid hands. Moon was one of the greatest, as Collins can attest to.
“I think that one of the classic rock tracks of all time is ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ and I remember seeing them on TV, they were televised from Charlton Football ground and I saw him with this gaffer tape around his head, with his headphones, you know, it hurts to take it off if you’re foolish enough to put it around. The way he played, there was no orthodoxy at all”.
John Bonham
As well as being one of the pivotal figures in one of the greatest heavy rock groups of all time, Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham was also the archetypal rocker in every single way. If he’s not on somebody’s list of favourite drummers, then something is wrong.
Bonham is a powerhouse percussionist and perhaps the ultimate typifier of what a rock drummer should be. As potent as the vodka he drank with abandon, Bonham was a machine built for heavy metal. A steel pressing plants capable of turning a drum kit into smithereens.
Collins commented: “He had the best bass drum of anybody I’ve ever seen, and I became a convert there and then, you know. So I started to follow him wherever he was doing rude to be playing in a band. Next time I saw him was with Led Zeppelin when they were still called The New Yardbirds. The early Led Zeppelin was something to behold because nobody was doing that.”
Ringo Starr
The Beatles’ Ringo Starr has been on the receiving end of the cruellest rock ‘n’ roll myth, which is the idea that “Ringo Starr isn’t even the best drummer in The Beatles”. No, it wasn’t John Lennon who said that. It was comedian Jasper Carrott, but that hasn’t stopped the sentiment from spreading like wildfire.
“It’s difficult to quite explain to anybody that wasn’t actually young then. It just framed my life,” Collins said. “Those songs, the sound of those records still baffled me and impressed me. ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’, listen to the drum part, you know, ‘Day In Life’ listen to the drum part. I’ve been a staunch supporter of Ringo, while a lot of people have kind of haven’t seen the fuss.
“But what Ringo did, he brought drums out from the back and made people listen to them slightly. I mean, when you say ‘Oh, I love this song’, sometimes people should say ‘Listen to what’s going on behind’, like ‘All My Loving’, which is a difficult kind of song to play. It sounds like an easy shuffle, but to play it properly isn’t easy. You know, he was moving, he was really flashing around.”
Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich was only two years old when he started drumming, and he became a legendary figure in the jazz scene. From a technical standpoint, there’s not much that Rich couldn’t do, and his superhuman talent is something that Collins is still in awe of today — even calling him “the greatest drummer of all time”.
“I think he is (the greatest drummer of all time),” Collins praised. High praise indeed. Considering that collins was just as happy playing on all types of styles of songs, it makes sense that he would find the work of Ric particularly inspiring.
Collins conitnued: “You can say what you like about Buddy, a lot of people have said bad things. I met him once, and first of all, with the playing alongside The Beatles and The Who, and all the pop star, I was also listening to big-band jazz, so Count Basie was someone in his band, and Buddy Rich and I came across this West Side Story medley of Buddy Rich in 1965, and still is an incredible piece of work. If you have never heard, you should. He is on top form throughout the whole thing.”
