The Genesis of Phil Collins

The pop hitmaker is 75 and about to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for the second time.

Phil Collins (bearded) was a largely unknown drummer when he signed with Genesis.

In the summer of 1970, 19-year old drummer Phil Collins was looking to join a band. He’d played percussion on George Harrison’s album All Things Must Pass and his confidence was sky high. While scouring the music journals, he came across an ad: “Tony Stratton-Smith is looking for 12-string guitarist plus drummer sensitive to acoustic music.”

Stratton-Smith was a music manager and founder of Charisma Records. He knew Collins from Phil’s days as drummer for the band Freehold. Collins tracked down Stratton-Smith at a London bar called the Marquis. He learned the band holding the audition was called Genesis. They’d released two albums and were featured in Melody Maker magazine.

Collins obtained the band’s phone number and gave a call. He spoke with “a soft-voiced, nervous-sounding, well-spoken chap” named Peter Gabriel. Collins pitched his drumming credentials and was invited to audition at Gabriel’s parents’ house in Surrey. He convinced his friend Ronnie Caryl to audition for the guitarist role.

A week later, the two men crammed their instruments into Caryl’s battered Morris Minor and drove out of London. Surrey was a posh countryside, home to…