I'm pretty sure Happy The Man was never recorded live. But I agree with you it's really hard to hear much Genesis sound in this little oddity. I would say it's my least favorite Gabriel-era track.
The way they worded the Genesis Live dedication to MacPhail on that back cover made me think he'd died, with wording similar to "dedicated to Richard MacPhail, who left us in 1973" or something. It was probably 20 years later that I learned that he hadn't died, and Wikipedia says he's still with us. I also just read that he was a member of Anon and The Garden Wall, two proto-Genesis groups formed at Charterhouse public school with Ant, Peter, Michael, and Tony. Those four probably liked Richard better than either Phil or Steve!
Agree about the Armando Gallo book. Careful with the Hewitt book though its littered with errors. I also think it's a terribly written mess but that's personal opinion!
While MacPhail was certainly a close friend in those early years, it would be remiss to discount Steve’s and Phil’s relationships with the band members over time. Ant was gone by the time Steve and Phil joined the band. Phil soon developed a great working relationship with Mike and Tony in particular, and with Peter as well, and that friendship continues to this day. Steve seems to have been a little more of an outsider, but I don’t believe that deminished his role in the group. MacPhail had his time associated with the band. But when it was over, it was over, and they moved on.
I would propose that opinions about Genesis and their documented recorded history is intrinsically related to not only personal viewpoints, but also to when someone became aware of the band’s music. While obviously not black and white regarding an overall assessment of the band’s output, there certainly are personal biases that affect those opinions. I make this point because you seem to be a distinct outlier regarding your opinion about Selling England By The Pound. To be clear, I don’t dismiss your opinion, but I have to admit that that I don’t quite understand it, partly because your explanation seems somewhat vague. Honestly, it makes no difference whether you love or hate the album, but by being vaguely dismissive, it’s difficult to understand your point of view. Also, I can’t help but note that you are notably younger than the average fan of that early era, suggesting you are approaching all this from a retrospective angle. Again, opinions are not black and white, but I find that one’s personal perspective can be a strong influence upon one’s opinion.
I was listening to the live recording from St. Lambert, Belgium in March 1971 and was surprised to find that the band was still playing The Light and Going Out To Get You at this point in time (6 months after Trespass was released and 6 months before Nursery Cryme was recorded). Does anyone know if these were both considered for inclusion on Nursery Cryme?
The Light never materialized into a full piece as such, so I doubt it. Going Out to get You got fully re recorded for a single release as the b-side of Wooden Mask but apparently the recording went missing.
and it is fair that you feel this way, but it is subjective opinion that I disagree with. Nursery Cryme, to me, is the strongest, most consistent album from the Gabriel era. "Watchers" is perfect how it is ... We can back and forth all day about it, but we aren't going to change each others mind
I can’t remember where I read this, but I’d always thought the “lost” single was “Wooden Mask” / “From the Bottom of a Well”... On a quick google search I may have totally made this up
No doubt. I wasn't dismissing the album, I don't hate the album, It just isn't personally a favourite. Edit: for the record "Selling" came out a couple of weeks before my fifth birthday. It would be one of the albums I came to later, and as I stated, my closer listens over the next week may well change my opinion. Having said that though, I am one of those weirdos that think And Then There Were Three was a masterpiece, so who's to say.
This thread seems to have gone all over theplace. Are we still on "Time Table"? As usual, I got no notification of new posts in the thread, despite the fact that I am definitely "watching" it. Gorts, I know I am not the only one experiencing this issue - is there a solution?
It looks like we should be talking about "Time Table"? Great ballad, one of Peter Gabriel's best lyrics set to one of the band's most beautiful melodies. Sadly this is one they've never performed live, that would have been interesting.
Get 'em Out By Friday "Get 'Em Out by Friday" is a rock epic on the 1972 album Foxtrot by British progressive rock band Genesis, lasting eight and a half minutes. It also appears on their 1973 live album. The lyrics were written by lead singer Peter Gabriel. The song takes the form of a futuristic play set initially in the present but ending in 2012.[1] Like "Harold the Barrel" and "The Fountain of Salmacis" from their previous album Nursery Cryme, the song's lyrics are split between different characters, with lead singer Peter Gabriel often adapting a different vocal style to each character. The song uses elements of reality and science fiction as a means of social criticism on the corporate greed and oppression of the UK's private landlords in the 1960s and 1970s, epitomised by Peter Rachman who used "winkling" (a mixture of threats and inducements) to remove tenants on low rents from properties and enable their profitable reletting or redevelopment. Social commentary was an evident theme throughout Genesis's early work, especially in their following album, Selling England by the Pound (1973).[2] The play contains three main characters: John Pebble: A business man of Styx Enterprises. Near the end of the song, he has been knighted and works for United Blacksprings International. Mark Hall (also known as "The Winkler"): A man who works for Styx Enterprises and has the task of evicting tenants. Mrs Barrow: a tenant in a house in Harlow,[3] purchased by Pebble. The song starts with a fast-paced refrain of Pebble ordering Hall to "Get 'em out by Friday". In the following verse, the Winkler tells a disbelieving Mrs Barrow that a firm of men has purchased her property and that she has been evicted. She refuses to leave, so Pebble raises the rent on the property. In lieu of this, the Winkler offers £400 for Mrs Barrow to move; she does, albeit grudgingly. Shortly after Mrs Barrow moves in, however, Pebble again raises the rent. A slow instrumental indicates a passage of time, taking the story to the year 2012. At this time, Genetic Control has announced that they are restricting the height of all humans to four feet. This piece of news is then discussed in a pub by a man named "Joe Everybody," who reveals the reason behind the restriction: so that Genetic Control, who has recently bought some properties, will be able to accommodate twice as many people in the same tower block. The penultimate verse is that of Pebble, now knighted, repeating the process for another set of properties. The last verse is a "Memo from Satin Peter",: With land in your hand, you'll be happy on earth then invest in the Church for your heaven. Both the song and its accompanying album were generally well-received; Rutherford commented that the lyrics were the best that Gabriel had written[5] while AllMusiccited the song as "the truest sign Genesis has grown muscle without abandoning the whimsy".[6] In the late seventies, "Get 'Em Out by Friday" was adapted into a comic by French cartoonist Jean Solé. The lyrics were translated (with many errors) by newswriter Alain Dister, and the art includes some additional drawings by famous cartoonist Gotlib. This adaptation was published in the comic magazine Fluide Glacial. ----------------------------------- I think the intro to this song is very effective, with a leaning to a classical type composition. When the song punches in I think it's worth noting how cool Rutherford's bass is. To me this is one of Gabriel's best Character songs. I think he captures the various tones of the characters really well and puts across an excellent vocal. I also think that lyrically Gabriel really captured the theme really well. It brings things to mind like the Australian movie "The Castle". I am also sure many of us have been familiar with scenarios where a big business or government has pushed a forced purchase on residents of an area (normally lower socio-economic areas .... they're easier to push around) Again this may appeal to me due to coming to the band from more of a hard rock background (which doesn't mean I don't like more gentle compositions). I think it has great dynamics and, for me the transitions work really well. Typically once the residents have submitted and moved, the arrangements change and the prices rise. This track is not a fantasy, it is as poignant as some of Floyd's more cutting social commentaries. From this section we head into a really nice Hackett lead, again using his volume pedal quite a lot. This moves into a reflective sounding keyboard section and falls back to just the bass and then an arrangement comes in around the bass with a gentle reflective tone and we get a nice fill from Phil and move back into the little woodwind sounding section. Then Peter moves into what would be the fantasy section (but it is only just on the edge of fantasy, because if they could, they would) After the reflective nature of the human shrinking to get more rent section, we bounce back into the main rock theme of the song. This leads us to a resolve. I think this is a great song, and I also think that it worked brilliantly live. As I have said, a closer listen to this album has it sitting closer to Nursery Cryme for me in my favourite Genesis/Gabriel era albums.
You're quite welcome to talk more about Time Table, it is an excellent song. It seems many folks see it as a sideline track, but as I said, I think it is much more than that.
Friday is my least favorite cut on Foxtrot but I still like it just fine. Mellotron flute breaks are groovy.
Get 'em out by Friday is probably the weakest song on the album, not much loved even by Genesis fans. Think the band members slatet it on the interview disc on the box sets
That's funny, I guess I am an oddball, but I guess it does speak to the diversity of tunes the band recorded.
I enjoy "Get 'em Out By Friday" more for the amusing narrative than for the music - not that the latter is bad, but I don't think it's as good musically as Hogweed or even Harold the Barrel. That said, although this would be my least favourite track on Foxtrot, I still rank it pretty highly. They were setting the bar very high in those days.
I think it mainly gets that slating for the lyrics, and because they are too "busy" (a point made similarly about Epping Forest). I recall Phil saying that he wanted to inject some of the energy of early Yes performances when arranging this song - he was a huge fan of Bruford era Yes, especially the "Tony Kaye period" albums and live shows. It's a cracking track and I love it, but I love what follows on the album even more... Incidentally I bought a Japanese SHM vinyl replica of Foxtrot at a record fair last weekend. Must be about the 5th or 6th time I've paid for this album. No regrets though.
I think the intro is wonderful. Beautiful chord sequence, great atmosphere -- a brilliant record/live show opening. It's the intro that makes the song.
