John Mayhew RIP
MartinC
John Mayhew, early Genesis member and drummer on the "Trespass" album, died
of a heart-related condition on 26 March 2009:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mayhew_(musician)
His life became a bit of a mystery when he silently moved to Australia in
the late 70s and vanished from public focus, including Genesis. Apparently,
the Genesis management carefully collected his royalties through the decades
but couldn't locate him - not even during the "Archive #1" production and
public/press attention.
In 2006, John suddenly "appeared" and attended the UK Genesis convention
with Anthony Phillips (where he even played drums with a tribute band) and
later that year he came to the German fanclub convention where he joined
Armando Gallo for the weekend, with many interviews, talks and memories of
the early days.
Sadly the website is missing the original transcript, but (if you speak
German) you can still read the German translation:
www.genesis-fanclub.de/c-Genesis-Interview-mit-John-Mayhew-2006-s159.html
At that weekend he told us the story of his recent "reappearance"... His
Australian boss was a huge early 70s rock fan and got suspicious when "his"
John Mayhew occasionally mentioned that he was drumming with "some English
band". So one day he came with his old "Trespass" LP, looked at John and
shook his head (in question). John looked back and nodded. They did this
three times before his boss started to realize that it was true... :-)
We remember John from this German weekend as a very nice, shy and modest
gentleman. He was proud about his involvement with this early Genesis gem
but also frankly admitted that his playing skills were not suitable for the
further musical adventures that Genesis would soon launch with Phil Collins
- and so he accepted their decision to replace him without regrets.
A friend of ours was driving him back to the airport the following day and
he remembers that he was in great mood and did enjoy the whole weekend (and
the massive sympathy and support that he got from "us fans") quite a lot.
However, soon afterwards he decided to "vanish" once again and secretly
moved to Scotland. A few weeks ago, the UK EveningStar was running a huge
story about his brother trying to contact him (it looks as if his family
wasn't aware about his appearances in 2006). Sadly he came too late and
discovered his death on March 26th:
http://tinyurl.com/JohnMayhew (www.eveningstar.co.uk article)
John Mayhew is the first original Genesis members who died, so this indeed
sadly marks a time in Genesis history. We will remember him as a very nice
and kind man and it was an honour to meet him in 2006.
Rest in Peace
Umberto
> John Mayhew, early Genesis member and drummer on the "Trespass" album, died
> of a heart-related condition on 26 March 2009:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mayhew_(musician)
>
A very sad and unique story. He was very special, in his own way. A pure
one in a world of sharks.
Umberto
progea
jon.in.durham
> John Mayhew, early Genesis member and drummer on the "Trespass" album, died
> of a heart-related condition on 26 March 2009:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mayhew_(musician)
Strange, there has been no mention of it on genesis-music.com, the
offical site.
Mark Rae
news:gra0d4$ouu$1...@news.motzarella.org...
> Strange, there has been no mention of it on genesis-music.com, the offical
> site.
John Mayhew has been very much persona non grata with Hit and Run over the
last few years due to an ongoing lawsuit over missing royalties...
Mark Rae
news:neudnds-Ds88UUTUnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@motherlodeinternetinc....
>>> Strange, there has been no mention of it on genesis-music.com, the
>>> offical site.
>>
>> John Mayhew has been very much persona non grata with Hit and Run over
>> the last few years due to an ongoing lawsuit over missing royalties...
>
> So what. [Were] We're talking about fucking death
Don't shoot the messenger, mate...
Sal Video
"Mark Rae" <ma...@mark.com> wrote in message
news:wR%Bl.8747$OO7....@text.news.virginmedia.com...
Bet they're happy
Mark Rae
> I wonder if Ant were to pass if GENESIS would not make a blip of a
> mention.
Ant has always remained one of the inner circle, one of "the six" - when the
first of them dies, it will be big news and the others will acknowledge it
publicly, just like they did when Strat died...
Mark Rae
> When Richard Wright passed away both Waters and Floyd paid tribute.
Just like Genesis will when the first of the "big six" dies...
N Y
about John Mayhew's death yesterday. I'm so very sad to hear the news.
Even though John's time with Genesis was so short, I, for one,
appreciate his fine drumming work on "Trespass." I know it will be said
forever by diehard Genesis fans/purists that, "If only Phil had played
drums on 'Trespass'....", but let's give John credit where credit is
due: he was a good drummer! He wasn't Phil by any means, but, for this
one album, he got the job done. His drumming on "The Knife" alone is an
excellent assault on the drumkit, but all of his drumming on the album
is quite good---I don't think the band would've hired him in the first
place if it wasn't.
I'm also pleased that John finally came out of hiding a few years ago,
after having gone missing for so many years. It was great to know that
he was alive and well, and I also enjoyed his insights about his time
with the band, both in his interview with worldofgenesis.com, and the
"Chapter And Verse" book.
John Mayhew, I greatly appreciate your drumming contributon to Genesis,
and you will be missed. Thank you, and farewell.
Sincerely,
NY
N Y
Mike, Tony Smith and Richard McPhail all sent flowers to John's funeral
in Scotland a few days ago (although Ant didn't---perhaps he didn't know
where to send them? Well, I don't doubt at all that Ant was saddened by
John's passing, too). Tony also wrote a very kind, heartfelt message in
remembrance of John that's also posted on worldofgenesis.com. Do check
it out.
R.I.P. John,
NY
Chuck
It has been said that JM had quite a bit of royal$y building after all
of these years for Tresspass.(I think it was stated in the Armando
Gallo book). Did he ever collect and if so about how much? Just
curious.
CB
N Y
read a couple of years ago that said John did indeed receive his royalty
check, which was worth about $77,000 (or was it 77,000 pounds?). You'd
think his amount would've been more, but then you figure in that John
had just a one-fifth royalty on an album that was not a brisk seller,
so, 77,000 bucks (whether dollars or pounds) sounds about right.
Unfortunately, the article went on to say that John then went and spent
it all with his buddies on drinking and partying, as John had a drinking
problem of sorts at the time.
With his royalty money gone, he went back to his dayjob of carpentry.
But at least he made a good living doing it, and he was happy, according
to his friends & neighbors.
Cheers,
NY