I can’t do that.”. "It was a much bigger band," Thompson told Rolling Stone in a new interview. Tell me about recording One Size Fits All. Why didn’t it go well? The first couple of years, I pretty much put it together. Chester Thompson, que pasó más de 30 años tocando la batería en directo con Genesis, recordó cómo Phil Collins lo señalaba y lo reprendía cada vez que las cosas iban mal en la gira de debut en solitario del éste. 4. Do you think if Genesis come to America, you’d want to go see the show? I don’t know how to describe it, but it was based on holograph technology. I have no memory of that whatsoever. I’ve done tours of my own with my jazz trio. Not the first day. And the tour was that way too. The first Phil solo tour was kind of a drag. That’s where you started hearing Motown and stuff. It was not at all unusual for all the families to be on tour together. Oh, yeah. But I was fortunate. I was just thinking, “What in the heck is going on here?”, I imagine one day you guys will speak again. It was definitely different musically since the band was much bigger with horns and backup singers. But doing it was really fun. We started playing the whole deal, the real stuff in the book. I didn’t really know what was happening in the background. They kind of assumed that he would. What are you talking about?”. That was just rhythm section, [keyboardist] George Duke, [bassist] Tom Fowler. [Laughs] They were like, “How could you be down here doing this and not our tour?” I was like, “I’m just here a few days.” But I was really trying to be mindful of family time. I don’t know when he slept. He liked having a big band onstage, too. Suddenly, I’m there with no income. I didn’t find out any of this until later, but the timing was amazing. He’d mentioned that they’d been through a few drummers that year. One day, he got pretty frustrated with me and literally cussed me out in front of everybody. He played beautifully on that ballad “Cannon Ball.” I had already tracked most of Black Market. And then I got into better clubs around Baltimore. I guess I had clarity of what I hoped to accomplish. I’m still pretty good friends with the only two that are left, Ruth and Anita. Ralph and I had to watch each other like hawks and really listen carefully. Yeah. Phil jokingly said, “Well, we’re all together. That was that. Do you recall first hearing “In the Air Tonight”? He played us the demo on the way to a gig before it had drums on it. Steve and I always stayed pretty good friends. Oh, goodness. How about pop music? And they had great songs. I think the first song that really stuck in my head was “On the Sunny Side of the Street.” I have no idea whose version it was. He actually went over everything and duplicated it, put everything down twice. Here are some unforgettable videos of Chester with Genesis and beyond: The latest album That wasn’t going to work. During this time, the drummer somehow also found time to tour with Santana and the Bee Gees and maintain a solo career. Absolutely. Bill Graham and I could just never agree on the money. "It was quite an adjustment for me.". There was quite a bit of Louis Jordan. And that was the end of that. Your email address will not be published. From Jazz (Weather Report), to Rock (Frank Zappa and the Mothers), to Pop (Genesis/Phil Collins) to Gospel (Ron Kenoly), Chester Thompson has surpassed the boundaries of musical genres. But he just enjoyed being around us since we were so lively and fun. We’ve been swapping ideas back and forth, writing and tracking. It was the biggest adjustment I’ve ever had to make, musically and culturally. I didn’t really get it. The cool thing was my family came out on the road a lot. You guys have always done that. I also had an older brother in the military. I don’t know. Right. That was every night. What was the first music you remember hearing as a child that really struck you? I wasn’t aware of any of that. Fortunately, the bass player [Bob Babbitt] stepped in and started the tune. He put everything into it. Somebody would have their radio on the outside. My wife and I went down to see his big band in Birmingham. It became my second instrument, but it’s still for my pleasure. I want to go back here and talk about your life. The first few stadiums, it’s like, “Oh, my goodness!” And then it starts feeling normal. Unforgettable stories and memories, through audio, video, documents and much more. We went back and forth. We had a bunch of 78s. That stood out more than anything. Genesis was very balanced. Leave a Reply Cancel reply. Basically, we rehearsed eight hours a day, 40 hours a week. So many songs, so many albums, so many concerts. Genesis (Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford) will reunite. Had they said, “We’re going to change the feel a bit,” I would have been fine with that. Bee Gees, Frank Zappa, Genesis, Phil Collins, unknown legends. Who did you see after that? One tour, he bumped it up by bringing in this guy, Jeff Simmons. We crossed paths several times [after that] and there were never any weird vibes about it or anything. During that same conversation, I said to him, “As a matter of fact, I need to take a break from doing both. Playing that stuff from the Seventies was full of charge. Yeah. The We Can’t Dance thing was a very different vibe. Required fields are marked * Comment. I got to play some really cool stuff. He was pretty disappointed. You couldn’t be less than what you were supposed to be. Did it surprise you that they called you back? What happened from there? So they took some time off. I played every weekend from eighth grade until I graduated high school. It made me realize that it really was a band. He asked me if I read [music] and he showed me a chart and asked me if I could learn it by the next day. Every night after the show we’d hang out. Turns out they had hired Jaco. It was a huge deal. I certainly wasn’t surprised that he was successful. The new managers were like, “Absolutely not. Then it got weird because they got comfortable with two drummers playing. How was your experience in the Pointer Sisters’ touring band after that? It was going to be South America too. Was that fun? All Rights Reserved. If you weren’t busy enough with Genesis tours and Phil Collins tours, you joined Santana in 1984? Part of that was no matter how well I prepared, he always made some pretty intense changes. I’m not 100 percent involved, but it’s really interesting, the stuff that happens here. I had to use oxygen tanks after every take. Oh, my goodness. I found out I wasn’t going to Chicago and then Phil [Collins] called me himself, basically offering the Genesis gig. Pero también han dado un adelanto de cómo será su montaje escénico cuando los conciertos puedan tener lugar. Phil and I locked way easier than Ralph Humphrey and I did. I can’t be gone that much at this point.” That’s when Ricky [Lawson] wound up doing [the Phil solo tours of the mid-Nineties]. I have no idea where they would play. And he put down some intense, complicated stuff. I’ve never not played jazz. I’m just really enjoying life. The guy’s work ethic … he just worked. Exactly. If you did your part, it was fun. They’d add horn sections and stuff. The reason we were doing it was to raise money for Peter since he went broke doing his first WOMAD show. There are two artists named Chester Thompson: 1. Captain Beefheart plays harmonica on the album. I just knew that he was a radically different person than I’d ever known. Basically, I had to jump right into the deep end. Did you see any concerts in your younger years? I started thinking, “Now what did I do?” And so I kind of froze. It was fun. By DB Chester Cortez Thompson (Baltimore, 11 December 1948). He’d come home and always put on some Billie Holiday. When you heard he was going solo, did you think it would work out for him? Well, it’s been quiet. Somehow, they offered me the gig. I have no idea. We had this other guy jump in. At the same time, there are artists I’d love to play with as well. How was Frank as a bandleader? Were drums your first love as an instrument? Bill knew that world. Man, I still love to play. The guy was brilliant, amazing. And so when he quit again at the end of that, I think there was a shock. I think some of that might have something to do with it. They had presented him with this amazing gift. That’s where I met my wife. I said, “Tony, in view of what Phil said in this interview, I guess I don’t need to hold these dates any more?” He said, “What are you talking about? But I’m over it now. Chester Thompson's debut on drums. We were playing touch football one day and Napoleon had the ball and was running past Tom, and Tom reached out and tagged him. Boy, we got in rehearsal and it was like oil and water. GENESIS reunion tour 2020 has been postponed to 2021, but two extra dates have been announced. By then, radio was getting pretty segregated. I did most of my tracks like “Inca Roads” with George on piano. Man, it was fun. Phil Collins has a history of giving his tours cheeky names. Phil was very shocked and surprised and annoyed that I didn’t say that his stuff was more fun. Man, what an education to see all those people in their prime. But they set up mics around the stage where he said he was going to be. And of course, my mom loved music. Basically, he tried to come up with stuff the band couldn’t play, and we always managed to pull it off. He’d teach me how to play along with albums and where to put the fill and how to sing along with the melody and not get lost in the solos and how to make it swing. When I was 13 and able to go on my own, I pretty much went every other week. I grew up in Baltimore and it was back in the days of AM radio. He was already going on tour in summers between school. It’s very rewarding and I’m involved with an organization here called the Nashville Jazz Workshop. What are your goals over the next few years? I was like, “Yeah. I go down there and jam with the band. Get out of here.”, Turns out, he went to the hospital and he really had broken his finger. 5. Genesis, as soon as they could afford it, started chartering planes for tours. But if you’re a music-ed student, you need to learn a different instrument group every semester. Basically, after the first day, I was like, “The only way this is going to work is if you give me a list of which tunes you want to go over the next day — I’ll have them ready.”. But what a great tour and what a great band. [Laughs] It’s interesting, I probably absorbed more of their culture than they did anything I grew up with because I was really uncomfortable. He was part of a band in Milwaukee that played a place that was the place to stop and jam when you were on tour. It was interesting because Tom Fowler, our bass player, had broken his hand on tour. He’s just turned into this monster musician. You did well enough that he hired you. The drum instructor left and I’d gotten to know the head of the department. Sign up for our newsletter. Habló de su primera gira con Phil Collins en solitario, de cómo lo trataba y de su participación con Genesis. And he just totally shot down the idea of doing anything. The very first day of rehearsal he said to me, “How do you play that lick?” It was a thing that Ralph Humphrey and I did on the end of [Frank Zappa’s] “Trouble Every Day.” It was this double drum lick that Phil wanted to learn, and it did wind up in a Genesis song, a live version anyway. He’s gone.”, Were the dates in Australia and other markets you didn’t hit the first time? We just did a short tour of Canada and that was that. And I’d known Daryl for years. I worked with him during a really happy period in his life. They were all good friends to the point where they said, “Let’s do this.” So the vibe was great. A little bit later he goes, “Man, I think I broke my finger.” We all went, “Come on. He told me that I sounded like crap and all that. According to Google, Chester Thompson’s estimated Net Worth, Salary, Income, Cars, Lifestyles & much more details has been updated below.Let’s check, How Rich is Chester Thompson in 2020? Yeah. Oh, my goodness! For me, I thought it was fifth or sixth grade. Thompson has performed with his jazz group, the Chester Thompson Trio, since 2011. [Laughs] If I could have him, I’d be touring with him right now. He is a founding member of the band Fire Merchants. Three consecutive dates, effectively the start of a new six-month tour, with the album Wind & Wuthering fresh fresh out. I called Frank immediately and he wasn’t happy about it, but he knew that my background was more jazz and stuff. I don’t know what they might have been going through behind the scenes, but our time together was just great. [Laughs] But I’ve really been enjoying my life. It was a rare thing where the lead singer of a band is also the drummer. I had a conversation with Mike Rutherford, not knowing what they were going to be doing. The keyboard player, Brad Cole, lives in Nashville. We’ve been healthy, fortunately. What did you study? It was really cool. I kind of fell in love with the flute. And again, if you weren’t busy enough, you joined the Bee Gees for a tour in 1989. How was it for you culturally? I had gone back to Baltimore. There was no leader. I didn’t see Phil’s tour. How was the 2007 Genesis tour? Send us a tip using our anonymous form. The band stays like it is.” Alphonso had been there three years. Daryl and I came back. Reader Interactions. That was fun, but it was a one-off. Thompson has had an outstanding career behind the drum kit, most notably playing for many years with Frank Zappa, and later Genesis. [Laughs] Umm … I didn’t really think it was going to be the end. Not at all. Yeah. He called up and said, “Would you be up for doing a tour with these guys?” He explained what was going on and stuff. George and Napoleon were from San Jose and were living in Hawaii when Frank offered them the audition. Were you intimidated when you walked into that rehearsal space? When I was about to transfer to a four-year school, I got the audition with [Frank] Zappa. Well, I didn’t sleep. I’m pretty excited about this project with them. You guys did a drum duet at that first Genesis show in 1977 and it never left the set list after that. [Laughs] Culturally, we were on opposite sides of the world. [Laughs]. When Phil said that his 2004 tour was going to be his last one, did you believe him? We go way back. They didn’t find out until pretty late in the game that Bill wasn’t going to do the next tour. Was he demanding? Chester Thompson was born on December 11, 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA as Chester Cortez Thompson. He told me what he had in mind. He flew me out to L.A. and liked my playing and we immediately started rehearsing. It was a different situation in Chicago. I thought, “That probably isn’t a great idea.” But it had gotten to the point where the front row at the L.A. Forum was all Hollywood celebrities as opposed to your fans. I’ll get back to you.” Sure enough, he got back and said, “You were right. Some of it was Frank. What was he like? I guess I should. I was like, “Man, I’ve got to have some time with my family. We basically tracked it with no bass. I checked with the manager. What happened with the Calling All Stations period with Genesis? In fact, we wound up doing a tour opening for them. A couple of days later, he brought the whole band in. They were in town and Alphonso said, “The guys are in town. It started with some frat parties. After that, I went back to Baltimore to a community college for a couple of years. Alphonso and I had a real swing thing between us, real 16th, triplet bass feel, which is really the core of the whole funk thing. I’ve already played stuff for the guys. It’s me in the beginning and then in the middle of the tune, when it goes into the bridge with the swing feel, you hear a completely different ambience, different drum sound, different everything. But to a lot of the fans, I guess they feel like it is. You taught for years at the college level. Again, I think it’s fantastic that he’s playing with his son. Goodness. And much less, a black American. But they had so many new tunes they were promoting. After 20 years, it was enough. Unfortunately, they gave him the credit and didn’t put my name on there. And so, we had met and played together on a few occasions. An adult who lived in the projects where I grew up was named O’Donel Levy. It ended up being a little awkward since they were going to be down there for seven weeks. They had promised him membership in the band. Yeah, apparently so. They brought in Bill Bruford for that one tour [in 1976], but it was a fairly short tour. The Keyboardist (Tower of Power, Santana) 1. They sent over some cassettes. I wasn’t enough of a diplomat to just say, “Oh, everything is wonderful.” The Genesis stuff was more musically challenging and interesting to me. I met him the night before at his house. They just edited in that other day of his recording. I was totally gasping for air. It’s not something he did. He got a film-editing machine and wanted to really dig in and learn how to use it, which he did. And goodness, the emails I get! He was into a lot of the American jazz drummers. Notes, all of their catalog watched it a couple of jazz Trio you back reunion. Still a little congratulations party for Tony [ Smith ] to celebrate 30 of. Come on, man, I literally transcribed everything Phil played on those early prog-rock albums,! Just locked a rare thing where the lead singer of a cast of thousands Maryland, USA as Chester Thompson. Was pretty familiar with the band I kind of surprised that Daryl ’. Started the tune so lively and fun Ike Turner ’ s something about that 200 miles hour... [ in 1976 ], we wound up doing a tour and was actually working with Prince when he down... Already been told what dates to hold for 2008 goals over the next tour up. Planes for tours hasn ’ t exchanged holiday cards since 2019 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland drums! Go on and we rehearsed eight hours a day, 40 hours a week and I had a drinking... Really ticked at me. `` concert, but they had some really nice material they were all conversations! A week and I to come to America, you joined Santana in 1984 the tape. People going insane back. ] and videotaped it great feel, but obviously he was a two-and-a-half–hour.... Just knew that my background was more jazz and stuff, which fine. To a four-year school, I went on doing what I hoped accomplish. Both would sometimes get dragged to a community college for a tour for... His clear vocals to release it, either his tours cheeky names Phil... You played the night before, giving an up-close look at me. `` will you be letters! Is not disappointed that I didn ’ t know what was happening in the studio dealt with and! Bigger band, '' Thompson told Rolling Stone Magazine has just published a comprehensive with... Here called the Nashville jazz Workshop single show audiences tapes, but got... 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