Back in his day, Tony was one of the most talked about drummer in history. He totally shook the world up with his album ‘Believe It’. When I first listened to that record… I could not believe what I was hearing. I still play it once in a while just for fun – Yet, there's no way I can come anywhere near what he did. Tony influenced me with the open flams, his loose high-hat rhythms, and the amazing sound of his snare drum and tom toms.
Tony was a genius with his ability to switch from Bebop style with Miles Davis to Jazz –Fusion with his very own Tony Williams Lifetime group in 1969… Easily transitioning between the two. He later joined up with guitarist Allan Holdsworth who was a contributor to Tony’s album ‘Believe It’ in 1975 and ‘Million Dollar Legs’ in 1976 - which was a little more commercial - but still sounded incredible.
Next, there was ‘The Joy Of Flying’ featuring Ronnie Montrose on guitar, which was even more amazing since Ronnie was more of a rocker. I also have a recording of him and Tony live in Japan with Billy Cobham sitting in -- which was in itself was pretty spectacular.
