“People would ask me, ‘What's it like to replace Keith Moon?’ I said, ‘I didn't replace Keith Moon – I replaced Kenney Jones!’”: How a legendary drummer followed in the footsteps of two other legendary drummers in The Who

When drummer Simon Phillips joined The Who for their 1989 Tommy reunion tour, he was no stranger to guitarist Pete Townshend.

Phillips had played on Townshend’s solo albums Empty Glass (1980), All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes (1982), White City: A Novel (1985) and The Iron Man: The Musical (1989).

Phillips had also studied The Who’s previous drummer – the man who had replaced the seemingly irreplaceable Keith Moon.

And when Phillips speak to MusicRadar about his time in The Who, he is keen to pay tribute to his predecessor.

“I think it's very important to mention this,” Phillips says. “People seem to forget this. Journalists forget this. There was a drummer in The Who before me and after Keith Moon – and that was Kenny Jones.”

Kenney Jones made his name with The Small Faces and then the Faces before joining The Who in 1978 following Keith Moon’s death aged 32.

Phillips recalls: “I saw The Who live with Kenney, and he was fantastic, absolutely fantastic.

“I loved the way he played with the band. It was a very different thing. He knew he was not gonna play like Keith. I mean, no one plays like Keith! I don't think Kenney was given nearly enough recognition for what he did in the band.”

Kenney Jones did receive widespread acclaim for his drumming on The Who album It’s Hard and particularly the song Eminence Front, of which Phillips now says: “Great pocket.”

But he adds: “People would ask me, ‘What’s it like to replace Keith Moon?’ I said, ‘I didn't replace Keith Moon. I replaced Kenney Jones!’

“You know, I don't think Kenney gets enough recognition, and I think it's very important. He was the bridge.

“The Who is always Keith. He’s such a big part of it, character-wise.

“Kenney and I, we joined already as professionals and with a very professional band. But when they started, as most bands of that era, they were just kids playing.”

Phillips says he recently saw The Who on their farewell tour in the US. “I went to the show in LA, at the Hollywood Bowl.”

There, he reconnected not only with Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey, but also with British percussionist Jody Linscott, who performed alongside Phillips on the Tommy tour in ‘89 and the Quadrophenia tour in 1996.

“I've known Jody since 1974,” he says. “A long time. We both played on the Robert Palmer album Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley. We did a lot of studio work back then.”

Ultimately, Phillips is proud of his role with The Who.

THE WHO - Who Are You - live 1989 - YouTube

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He also applied lessons learned with that band when he later joined Toto.

“It’s important that the time that you have in a band is great,” he says. “And I took the same approach with Toto as I did for The Who – to serve the music.”