Genesis
were formed in early 1967 out of a couple
of bands that met at Public School, Charterhouse.
(In England, the posh expensive Schools
are called Public Schools, which has always
puzzled this dog. They certainly were
not public as they all cost a fortune
to attend). They recorded their first
album "Genesis To Revelation"
and released it in 1969. That was before
the band had even played before a live
audience. That by itself is an amazingly
long incubation period. They also had
already a change of drummers by that time,
Chris Stewart left and John Silver (great
name for a drummer) came in. This album
hardly caused a ripple in record stores
round the country, and is unrecognizable
as anything Genesis were to do after this
point.
A re-think was in order. It was decided
that drummer Silver was unsuitable. Out
with him and in came John Mayhew. They
all de-camped to a conveniently empty
cottage just outside Dorking to work on
their sound and a possible stage show.
Eventually Tony Stratton Smith signed
them to his new Charisma label, which
on the strength of watching one dodgy
rehearsal, and one badly recorded demo
tape, must be one of the most inspired
signings in the history of Rock 'n' Roll.
The album "Trespass" was recorded
and the band began to gig. However, before
the album was released disaster stuck.
Anthony Phillips, original lead guitarist
with the band and instrumental in defining
the guitar sound that stayed with the
band all through their career, decided
that the Rock 'n' Roll lifestyle within
a band was not for him. At the same time
the three remaining original members decided
that John Mayhew was not the man to be
sitting on the drum stool (scratch deep
enough all bands have had their Spinal
Tap moments). Replacing Anthony Phillips
was not going to be easy, but finally
Steve Hackett was found. He was a very
earnest and intense young man, whose character
was in keeping with his guitar playing.
The drum stool was the next problem.
After fourteen drummers had a go, a certain
young chap by the name of Phil Collins
answered a Melody Maker small ad and was
drafted into the Genesis ranks straight
away. As a child actor Phil Collins had
been in several T.V. and stage shows including
the part of the artful Dodger in the Londoner
West End production of "Oliver".
After “Oliver” he drummed in several bands,
the last of which had been a group called
"Flaming Youth". They were just
rapping up in the aftermath of some ill
advised and unsuccessful publicity, so
Phil Collins was glad to get the gig with
Genesis. But I am sure the other four
did not realize what a useful little chap
their new drummer was going to be in years
to come.
So by early 1971 the re-shaped Genesis
was finally gathering some real momentum
with growing approval from the press and
a steadily increasing hard core fan base.
Each album they released outstripped the
last (“Nursery Cryme” in 1971 and British
breakthrough album "Foxtrot",
which followed in 1972). By now they were
out on the road almost consistently wowing
their fans with their unique blend of
rock music, dexterous skills, and groundbreaking
stage show. A quite remarkable sight on
stage they were, too. Steve Hackett would
play his blistering solos from a seat
on the left hand of the stage, while multi-instrumentalist
Mike Rutherfood would wander the stage
with his twin necked guitar enabling him
to play the bass and twelve string guitar
at the same time.
Tony Banks would be on the right hand
side of the stage, almost invisible from
the audience as he was completely surrounded
by his multi collection of keyboards.
But the wonderful wall of sound that became
the trademark of Genesis left you in no
mind that he was there.
Then of course, out the front, was charismatic
lead singer Peter Gabriel, who would often
go through eight costume changes per concert
in an effort to better put across the
story of each song. Not for Genesis to
play short sharp little songs; most clocked
in at over eight minutes. The only single
that Genesis had released at this point
was "The Knife". To accommodate
it into the single formula it had literally
been cut in two with side ‘A’ being "The
Knife - part one" and Side ‘B’ being
''The Knife - part two". That didn't
exactly endear them to radio play. So
Gabriel's role was crucial in "Genesis"
to keep the audience's attention. His
flute playing also gave the band an extra
dimension.
While the band was on the tour promoting
"Foxtrot", several of the concerts
were recorded to give the fans something
while they came off the road to record
their next album. ("Selling England
By The Pound " 1973 became their
worldwide breakthrough album for them.)
Five songs were selected for "Genesis
Live", which rocketed into the charts
in Britain reaching # 9. What you got
were five epics all clocking in at over
eight minutes, in all forty five minutes.
A lot for the days of vinyl. And although
not a whole concert, the running order
of the songs worked very well.
First we have two songs off the “Foxtrot”
album, but no problem there as the band
had quickly adapted the songs for the
road, beefing them up quite considerably.
In the case of opener ‘Watcher of the
Skies’ Tony Banks had added an awe inspiring
opening played on the Mellotrone and the
Moog Syntersizer, By the time Phil Collins
comes thundering in showing the chops
on the drums that would soon have him
rated as one of the best drummers in rock
music (this was way before anybody had
thought about putting him out front to
sing), you are already caught up in the
web Genesis set out to catch you. Tony
Bank’s keyboards rather dominate the opener,
using the guitars to keep up a strong
but slightly slower beat than on the studio
album.
Then Peter Gabriel takes over on ‘Get'em
Out By Friday’, a tirade against despicable
landlords. Gabriel plays all the roles
in different voices. With the amount of
energy this must of taken up, it is no
real surprise that two years later he
stunned the rock world by leaving Genesis
when they were on the crest of the wave.
‘The Return Of The Giant Hogweed’ was
always a favorite of Genesis fans and
was probably as close to actual Rock 'n'
Roll that Genesis would ever get to; something
to actually bang your head to - heavy
metal style. ‘The Return of the Giant
Hogweed’ was one of two from “Nursery
Crymes”, the other one being ‘The Musical
Box’. This is the center piece of this
album and shows all the light and dark
that the band put into their music. The
mid section features a guitar solo from
Steve Hackett that would lay the template
for all progressive rock guitarists to
follow. The final climax to this epic
as the band hammer their way home with
Gabriel wailing over the top of them all,
has often been imitated but never bettered.
After ‘The Musical Box’ has left you
exhausted, the band carries on with a
track from "Trespass", ‘The
Knife’. You can tell by the audience reaction
to Gabriel’s announcement of what the
band intended to play next that this was
another crowd favorite. Expectations were
running high. But the band gave an interpretation
that exceeded the studio version in astonishing
fashion. This must be partly due to the
relative new inclusions of Phil Collins
and Steve Hackett into the band. Phil
Collin’s drums gave the song a much crisper
definition, while Hackett's guitar work
reached new heights. A dramatic conclusion
to a fine album.
Pawed by Mott The Dog
Remastered by Ella Crew
E-mail: review@mott-the-dog.com
