In the Air tonight DRUMS - phil collins on LP

I don't believe that's Collins---I think it's Chester Thompson who blows Mr Collins away!!!!!

Collins is a hell of a drummer. I'll never understand why he gets no respect from some people.

Listen to his work on Brand X's "Livestock".

Can't comment on a particular pressing of the Collins' solo record, but there's plenty of great drumming to be found on the early Genesis records (Peter Gabriel period) or a mid-period record like "Trick of the Tail."

Phil can play.

I saw Phil Collins and Chester Thompson drumming together on the 'Wind & Wuthering' tour, and both of them are stunning drummers. Phil Collins is up there with the best of them, in fact I think it's his strongest and most natural ability. He is a truly gifted drummer.

I don't think it's any accident that Buddy Rich's daughter Cathy and Phil Collins are fast friends. If Collins weren't a serious drummer, I doubt Buddy would have posed for this picture.

I find no record of Chester playing on that track.....

Collins is a hell of a drummer. I'll never understand why he gets no respect from some people.

I agree. He's one of my favorite drummers.

He gets no respect because he is a pompous ass.

He gets no respect because he is a pompous ass.
Dan_ed (System | Threads | Answers)

As was Buddy Rich. Legendary pompous ass. Didn't seem to matter when it came to respect for his drumming.

Collins is a good drummer, but he's nothing special in my opinion. We all know him simply because the other members of Genesis didn't want to be the front man.

Chester Thompson plays on two of Phil's live albums 1)Serious Hits and 2) Finally - the first farewell tour. Both albums feature In the air tonight, but the credits leave a lot to be desired.

Buddy may have been acerbic, moody, unpredictable, self-confident, and volatile, but pompous he was not.

He also toured his band tirelessly, playing at least 60% of his gigs at high schools to expose the next generation to jazz. He also threw a party for Gene Krupa when Gene was in the last stages of leukemia, and made sure all the jazz greats that Gene had played with had a chance to say good-bye. Heifetz and Horowitz were known in their lifetimes for a bit of arrogance as well, but they--and Buddy--represented the pinnacle of what could be done with their instruments.

In most all studio recordings Phil is the only drummer. On tour Chester was always there so Phil could be up front on stage. My favorite was the invisible touch tour when Phil and Chester go at it head to head. I saw them in Chicago and the 'Live at Wembley' is on dvd.

05-11-09: Johnnyb53
Buddy may have been acerbic, moody, unpredictable, self-confident, and
volatile, but pompous he was not.

In my dictionary, pompous fits with several of the other adjectives in the list.

Anyway, the comment was based on anecdotes from musicians with whom I
have spoken. I never met Buddy Rich, so I had no business making the
comment in the first place.

I would recommend picking up a copy of Genesis Seconds Out recorded live in Paris 1976/1977 Phil& Chester do alot of the songs together plus Bill Bruford also plays on that album.

Im a drummer...not pro, just a crazy amature. Phil, for those who understand drumming technique, is an AMAZING drummer. Period. The only reason that he has Chester playing with him (aside from the fact that hes an excellent drummer) is because Phil cannot sing and drum to every song. Its quite simple. He is one of the most relaxed technical drummers out there. So much so, that he looks like he is not doing much. Thats one way you can tell whos great and who ok. Vinnie Coliuta (studio drummer and most recently with Sting) is VERY technical and it shows. But that does not necessarily means he is better than Phil (as an example). If you want to see, or hear, one of the BEST drummers of all time (IMHO) check out Billy Cobham.

Also, I second TVAD's suggestion about Brand X. Heck...Im going to look at my LP FFS...(you never know, Tvad may be in the credits...lol...)

nuff said.

>>I'll never understand why he gets no respect from some people<<

I think his cover of "You Can't Hurry Love" says it all.

Yuk.

Double yuk.

FWIW I am no fan of the gated reverb drum sound - it was one of the steps on the way towards the loudness wars. This was one of the first few songs to use this technique and may have popularized it.

Being this is a thread about Collins' drumming, my comment about not understanding why he doesn't get more respect was in reference to his drumming rather than about his singing, songwriting, or being a cover artist.

A Wiki link about how they got the drum sound for that recording. It appears that there were two drummers and a drum machine.

Onhwy61, I read the Wiki link you posted, including the section titled "Drum Sound", and I could not find any reference to two drummers and a drum machine being used on "In The Air Tonight". All I found was an explanation of the drum sound being an accidental discovery during a Peter Gabriel recording session when Collin's drums were accidentally recorded with the recording engineer's talkback mic engaged, which resulted in the drum sound that was later replicated on "In The Air Tonight".

Maybe, you would cut and paste the two drummer, drum machine reference.

The piece states they used a Roland drum machine up until the climax section. A second drum part was added at the behest of Ahmet Ertegun. It's unclear whether it's Collins or another drummer. So I read it that there were three separate drum parts.

I still don't understand why this thread isn't under Music. I mean, just because it has LP in the title does it really belong here?

I'm just asking because I'd hate to see the Analog forum filled up with posts of this kind, ala AA.

I agree with the previous post about getting Seconds Out. Chester and Phil both have an amazing drum solo on Dance on a Volcano/Los Endos. Far superior to In the Air Tonight, IMO.

Phil was quite good and unique in his prime (aka Brand X) and probably still is to some degree. But we all mellow and change over time, so he's not nearly as adventerous.

Of course, you can't write a pop song in 11/8, so his technical drumming on those is quite different from what you hear on the commercial Genesis and solo stuff.

Bob

Onhwy61, I found the section to which you referred. The Roland drum machine
was not used for the now classic "Phil Collins" drum sound, which is
described in detail later in the link, and which I thought was being discussed
when the topic of the "In the Air Tonight" drum solo was mentioned.

Anyway, thanks for getting me to read more thoroughly.

I am not sure if anyone is aware but Phil Collins has been involved in trials testing a new drug that fights baldness - you can see him in this recent performance of In the Air Tonight. Obviously the new product seems to work but they have not released the drug yet to the public, as there still appears to be some side effects. (Phil Collins has since started a Broadway musical, "Tarzan" and has been spotted more than once climbing New York skyscrapers with a beautiful TV anchorwoman under his arm)

:-)! :-)!

It'll never work until they figure out how to shrink his head (ego).