Shocked: Why Phil Collins Could Never Be a True Beatles Drummer—And Why Genesis Was the Perfect Fit
Collaboration is a key aspect of musical expression and has been for hundreds of years. Even self-advertised ‘solo’ artists often have their own bands, session musicians, or musically inclined friends who might have an influence over their work. At the same time, rock and pop music is regularly dominated by egos, with musicians butting heads over minor differences and generally refusing to get on. Even the comparatively mellow soft rock star Phil Collins is not free from this landscape of disagreements, rivalries, and ego battles.
Collins dominated the pop charts of the 1980s, penning a multitude of groundbreaking chart hits that typified the optimistic sounds of the decade. However, his journey through the music industry far predates the tones of ‘In the Air Tonight’ or ‘Sussudio’.
Initially, Collins had set his sights on becoming an actor, starring in the West End version of Oliver! in addition to being cast as an extra in a variety of films throughout the 1960s, most notably The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night. However, Collins found himself increasingly drawn to the world of music.
After a few years of performing as a session musician, Collins auditioned to join a young group named Genesis as a drummer. With the band, the budding young musician became a key figure in the rise of progressive rock. Genesis were out to reinvent the wheel when it came to rock music, and, in the minds of many, they achieved as much. As they progressed, Collins moved further and further to the forefront of their existence.
Moving into vocal work, particularly after Peter Gabriel left the band in 1975, there came a time when Genesis had to recruit a second drummer to support Collins. At the time, very few bands boasted two drummers, with the now-disgraced glam rock band Glitter Band being one of the only prominent examples. “Well, I think the Glitter Band just used it in case one of them got drunk and didn’t turn up,” Phil Collins once said of their decision to have two drummers.
Despite his dismissal of the Glitter Band’s two-drummer line-up, he also recognised the technical difficulties in having two drummers in the same band, something he came face to face with during the Genesis years. “It’s a certain type of discipline; you can’t just throw two drummers together,” he shared. “I played with Bill Bruford when he was in Genesis, and it was great fun, but it didn’t really lock in anywhere close to me and Chester [Thompson] now.”
Bruford was brought onboard the Genesis ship following the departure of Gabriel, giving Collins a chance to focus on vocals. Prior to joining the group, the drummer had cut his teeth as a founding member of fellow prog titans Yes and performed on multiple King Crimson tours during the early 1970s. He appeared on the band’s ‘A Trick of the Tail Tour’, their first since Gabriel left the band, but he never seemed to gel well with his fellow drummer.
“I was just concerned with doing a good job on drums as a kind of ‘hired gun’,” Bruford later recalled of his short tenure in Genesis. “I behaved badly, sniped critically and impotently from the sidelines.” Although this bad behaviour didn’t appear to make Bruford an enemy of Collins, their playing styles simply did not work together, and the Yes drummer was replaced by Chester Thompson a few months after the tour concluded.
