BOB BABBITT,EDDIE WILLIS,AND MYSELF JUST GOT BACK FROM SWITZERLAND. WE RECORDED ON 25 MOTOWN SONGS FOR PHIL COLLINS UPCOMING CD. HAD A GREAT TIME!! PHIL'S A WONDERFUL MAN,AND WHAT AN EAR. HE'S REALLY A PERFECTIONIST.
Thanks for the exciting posts, I'm guessing the " Anonymous" were from you. Cool pics. I can't wait to get my hands of a copy of that CD. I had heard good things about Phil Collins and have always had admired his work.
You know...hitherto, I've always regarded Collins as a better GENESIS drummer (That's as i when PETER GABRIEL was the frontman for the group) and actor ("BUSTER" was TOPS in MY book!) than a solo performer..
...though I hafta admit that "You Can't Hurry Love" was pretty spiffy..
But I'm just ITCHIN' to get my hands on THIS'n! Without FAIL!
THIS IS A PROJECT THAT PHIL HAS WANTED TO DO HIS WHOLE LIFE. HE'S ALWAYS LOVED MOTOWN,AND THE DRUMMERS. HIS COMPANY IS BACKING HIM FULLY ON THIS. IF THEY WOULDN'T HAVE,HE WOULD HAVE PAID FOR IT HIMSELF.
HE MADE THE RETIREMENT ANNOUNCEMENT BECAUSE OF A PHYSICAL PROBLEM. SINCE THEN HE'S MADE PROGRESS,AND WHILE WE WERE THERE,HIS DOCTOR TOLD HIM HE COULD PERFORM A SURGERY THAT WOULD GET HIM BACK TO NORMAL. HE PLAYED ALL THE DRUMS ON THE PROJECT,PIECING THEM TOGETHER WITH HIS STICKS DUCT TAPED TO HIS HANDS BECAUSE HE COULDN'T GRIP THEM. THE DRUMS SOUND FANTASTIC!!! JUST LIKE BENNY,URIEL, AND PISTOL. I FOR ONE,WISH HIM THE BEST,AND HOPE HE HAS A COMPLETE RECOVERY.
I bet this project will sound really good. Hats off to Phil Collins for choosing session players who know the Motown sound like the back of their hand. I'm wondering if Rare Earth and Genesis ever crossed paths in the 70s at any festivals etc? Did Phil have any memories of Rare Earth? I know his "other" band was a Jazz Rock outit called Brand X but I'd imagine he's the type of guy who's open to all types of music.
You answered my questions while I was still writing them. The retirement / medical problem thing explains it all. I seem to recall a while back hearing a rumour that he might never play drums again. I couldn't imagine him retiring voluntarily. Good luck to the guy. I'm very keen to hear which songs he's putting out!!! I hope he makes a full recovery.
THIS IS A PROJECT THAT PHIL HAS WANTED TO DO HIS WHOLE LIFE. HE'S ALWAYS LOVED MOTOWN,AND THE DRUMMERS. HIS COMPANY IS BACKING HIM FULLY ON THIS. IF THEY WOULDN'T HAVE,HE WOULD HAVE PAID FOR IT HIMSELF.
HE MADE THE RETIREMENT ANNOUNCEMENT BECAUSE OF A PHYSICAL PROBLEM. SINCE THEN HE'S MADE PROGRESS,AND WHILE WE WERE THERE,HIS DOCTOR TOLD HIM HE COULD PERFORM A SURGERY THAT WOULD GET HIM BACK TO NORMAL. HE PLAYED ALL THE DRUMS ON THE PROJECT,PIECING THEM TOGETHER WITH HIS STICKS DUCT TAPED TO HIS HANDS BECAUSE HE COULDN'T GRIP THEM. THE DRUMS SOUND FANTASTIC!!! JUST LIKE BENNY,URIEL, AND PISTOL. I FOR ONE,WISH HIM THE BEST,AND HOPE HE HAS A COMPLETE RECOVERY.
RAY
Yowtch! I had NEVER heard the news about Phil's affliction! SO very sorry to hear...
I, along with all here, earnestly hope & prays he soon recuperates...
An' I *still* wanna feast my aural receptors on the LP when it comes out!
I hope you guys are having a great time. Hope all is going well. Nice pictures too.
I place Phil in the same company as Peter Rivera. Both are solid drummers who can lay down a groove while singing at the same time. The music world is a better place because of both guys.
Oh yes, Phil is an avid Motown fan. As is Peter Gabriel. I dig Phil's cover of You Can't Hurry Love. It's great that he's got the real article (Ray, Bob, Eddie) working with him on those sessions. How cool is that?! I look forward to hearing this one. :)
PHIL STARTED WORKING ON THE PROJECT A YEAR AGO JANUARY. WE CAME IN THIS LAST JANUARY AND OVERDUBBED ALL OUR PARTS. PHIL HAD ALLOWED 3 WEEKS TO GET IT DONE,BUT WE COMPLETED IT IN JUST TWO WEEKS. SINCE THEN,THE HORNS AND STRINGS HAVE GONE ON,AND MIXING IS NEARLY DONE. THE CD IS SCHEDULED TO BE OUT IN SEPTEMBER.
WE WILL RETURN TO SWITZERLAND ON MAY 29 FOR TWO WEEKS OF REHEARSAL. THEN IT'S ON TO NEW YORK TO VIDEO ALL THE SONGS.
I JUST RECEIVED THE FINAL MIXES,AND IT SOUNDS FANTASTIC!!
IT'S BEEN GREAT WORKING WITH PHIL. HE'S A HUGE TALENT,AND A TRUE GENTLEMAN.
Phil is one of the music's true talents and his retiring annoucement shocked me of, because i'm young fan (17) and i'm waited new album eagerly. Also is nice to see that Phil is making his lifetime dream true. Doing motown covers sounds fantastic, because feeling of those songs is realy glad and joyful, i'm eagerly waiting to hear how Phil's done them.
Do you know when the first single or clip/intro is coming out?
Did songs sound like their original one's, like Phil wished?
Is there any little performances coming up?
Why Phil has bringed such little information about concerning the album?
RAY MONETTE wrote:Is this the neck surgery that he had in April 0f 2009???
THIS IS A PROJECT THAT PHIL HAS WANTED TO DO HIS WHOLE LIFE. HE'S ALWAYS LOVED MOTOWN,AND THE DRUMMERS. HIS COMPANY IS BACKING HIM FULLY ON THIS. IF THEY WOULDN'T HAVE,HE WOULD HAVE PAID FOR IT HIMSELF.
HE MADE THE RETIREMENT ANNOUNCEMENT BECAUSE OF A PHYSICAL PROBLEM. SINCE THEN HE'S MADE PROGRESS,AND WHILE WE WERE THERE,HIS DOCTOR TOLD HIM HE COULD PERFORM A SURGERY THAT WOULD GET HIM BACK TO NORMAL. HE PLAYED ALL THE DRUMS ON THE PROJECT,PIECING THEM TOGETHER WITH HIS STICKS DUCT TAPED TO HIS HANDS BECAUSE HE COULDN'T GRIP THEM. THE DRUMS SOUND FANTASTIC!!! JUST LIKE BENNY,URIEL, AND PISTOL. I FOR ONE,WISH HIM THE BEST,AND HOPE HE HAS A COMPLETE RECOVERY.
Thank you so much for sharing your pictures and information. I've been a Phil Collins fan for 30 years now and I'm amazed to hear he chose you guys. You are without any doubt among his heroes and as you know he already played some of those great classics on this or that tour or recod. Get Ready, My Girl, Tears Of A Clown... It's so good to read all those nice words about him from you. What a pleasure and a honor it must have been for him to record the album with you. Indeed, if he wanted his versions to sound exactly like the originals like he said in an interview, there couldn't possibly be any better choice.
Hi Ray, I remember about some gigs in the early '70s, Rare Earth, Genesis, Audience and others, all united under the Charisma flag. Also was Rare Earth that convince Tony Stratton Smith to engage Genesis. Have you some memories from that wonderful age to tell us?
Great to read Phil is getting better :) Many of us are praying and sending healing energy to him!
Phil is the reason I started to play the drums and He gave me my path in life. I am so happy that he finally gets to fulfill his Motown dream!
Just one question...who will be drumming for the videos/showcases? Chester Thompson or one of the Motown cats? Phil is drumming on the album and singing? but live?
So, i meant in the earlier post that Genesis-music.com haven't posted any information about Phil's future projects and this(motown) project was started almost year ago. Although Peter Gabriel's album has got a lot information and hype in news page.
I don't understand it, it should be fair site, because Phil don't have own site at the moment, so you don't get official information almost anywhere. Luckily the Genesis-music.com is shutting down, because they were useless.
I'm hoping that we will get any new information concerning the album, really soon.
I think you must be confusing Rare Earth with the British band RARE BIRD, as Rare Earth never recorded for Tony Stratton Smiths Charisma label, and Rare Bird did.
THANKS FOR ALL THE COMMENTS AND INTEREST EVERYBODY!! THAT'S ALL I CAN SAY ABOUT THE PROJECT AT THIS TIME.
KEEP AN EYE OPEN FOR THE PRESS RELEASES,AND KEEP ON ROCKIN!!
RAY
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Since the Genesis-music .com is closing, it would be hard to know when any of the press releases comes out for Phil Collins Motown Album.... Will Phil be doing any showcases for this album and when would the showcases will be???
Since the Genesis-music .com is closing, it would be hard to know when any of the press releases comes out for Phil Collins Motown Album.... Will Phil be doing any showcases for this album and when would the showcases will be???
You know, I mean, I started it for fun, really, and just chose all the Motown songs, the darker songs that I liked, the lesser known ones. And I ended up with about 40 of them and finished, Ive actually finished about 29 of them.
Is there any dates confirmed about May's "showcase" concert, there isn't very long time to that date, so have you discussed recently with Phil?
Last interview (week ago) he said that he had operation to his elbow and the nerve damage should recover in time. He also said that finishing the motown album is almost ready.
I understand if you can't give any answers yet, but you know, "we" are eagerly waiting this "project" to come out.
Since the Genesis-music .com is closing, it would be hard to know when any of the press releases comes out for Phil Collins Motown Album.... Will Phil be doing any showcases for this album and when would the showcases will be???
Teresa
Teresa,
I am a moderator at the official website's forum...it's all hush hush regarding the site. It's been 6 weeks since that announcement and still no official word.
I saw the Phil Collins concert on opening night at the Electric Factory in Philly on 6/20/10 and it was incredible! The entire band sounded amazing and Phil and the band did Motown proud. I was six people away from the stage and it was one of my favorite concert experiences ever. Congratulations on a great show and thank you!
Phil's version of the Martha Reeves hit, Heatwave, is getting regular airplay here in the UK. I think it's an awesome version and that's honestly not me being biased and saying it because of your involvement. I didn't care that much for his version of You Can't Hurry love, but this is different league. I can't believe how refreshing it sounds.
GLAD TO HEAR YOU ENJOYED THE SONG.THERE IS ALSO A VIDEO ON YOUTUBE OF IT. IT SHOWS US AT VARIOUS STAGES IN THE PRODUCTION. CHECK IT OUT IF YOU HAVN'T SEEN IT YET.
IF YOU LIKE HEATWAVE, YOU'LL LOVE THE WHOLE ALBUM.
I JUST GOT BACK FROM SEVERAL DATES WITH RARE EARTH ON THE HIPPIEFEST. GREAT STUFF!! HEADING OUT THIS WEEKEND FOR MORE.
I bought the Phil Collins CD this afternoon and will look forward to playing it.
What's even more exciting is that tonight they've been plugging a documentary on the album which is on ITV tomorrow in the UK (8.45pm I think). Ray Monette is clearly visible in the trailer so I'm looking forward to that. Ray Monette on British TV, and my "other" favourite band Argent reforming for a few gigs in December, wow 2010 is turning out to be some year!!
Would you believe me if I said I missed it? After alerting everyone else I set my video to record it as I was out that night. I was very careful setting the channel and timings right but whatever I did, I came home to watch it and it hadn't recorded anything. I'm relying on it being shown at some stage in the future but, as nobody had posted anything about it (until now), I just assumed it hadn't been that interesting and that Ray hadn't been featured.
Glad you posted your purchase Dave, with my up coming birthday next month I can drop a few hints to my wife & kids on what to get me.Of course if not then well,Christmas is on it's way.
One of my Christmas gifts this year was the Phil CollinsCD Going Back, just a great album.The photos in the booklet, are a history lesson for anybody who loves music.While going through the pages I got a kick out of the now and then photos. Hey Ray I loved the "Then" photo,such a "COOL DUDE",I use to have that same style shirt.
Wow, I just found this site. Was a huge RE fan. Never got to see them live...I was around 13 when they broke up the first time and lived in Glide Oregon...home to Hoyt Axton at the time...very rural.
This is really cool, and thanks to Ray and Pete for being here to contribute.
Hey Robert welcome to rareearthworld the guys here are a great bunch yea and it is cool to have the guys from Rare Earth post.One thing do not believe what UK Dave says about me,I don't bite!!!!even in the winter.
AL Grand Bay New Brunswick
Dave There hasn't been any snow lately,so no chomp!chomp!