idk ... I was just goofing around looking for stuff and came across it found this, looks interesting Genesis--A Live Guide 1969-1975: Play Me My Song by Paul Russell
this is a review "I must admit that I came across the book by accident when I did a search for "Peter Gabriel." After looking at the book's description, I decided to order a copy. I was not disappointed because it was a good choice! Not only does the author give great descriptions of what he extrapolated from his bootleg recordings of early concerts, but he also went through the trouble of transcribing the little stories Peter Gabriel told while the rest of the band tuned their instruments. I am a big fan of early Genesis, (1967-1978) and this is a must have for those who are interested in that era."
Sorry for the late post, (as we're deep into FGTR) but I wouldn't mind if you can offer up some of those weird guitar tunings (for songs later in the catalog). You know, the ones where Stuermer had to teach / remind Rutherford what to play.
The Milton Keynes reunion show is cool. The band supposedly wasn't happy with the performance but you'd never know it from the tapes. It's gotta be on You Tube, at least...definitely worth hearing Damn, Mark, based on the review you posted that book does look good...might be worth picking up at some point.
Yowza! Not at this price, though! https://www.amazon.ca/Genesis-Live-Guide-1969-1975-Play/dp/0946719586
I have it, it's quite interesting, but not read it in ages. I bought it when it came out though it's quite pricey now!
My introduction to Genesis was in 86 when IT was out - which I loved. I was 8 at the time and was also a massive Queen fan, and I also liked 'So' which my older brother was a fan of. He told me that Peter Gabriel used to be the lead singer of Genesis which blew my mind! I later went to a record shop and looked at the old covers of the Genesis albums which I found fascinating. Obviously Collins was everywhere in the late 80s but I wasn't really a fan of his solo work and when Genesis came back in 91 with WCD I wasn't really into them at all, in fact I found the singles pretty dire and embarassing, there was not a less 'cool' band at that point as a 13 year old than Genesis! Over the next few years I got into Sabbath, Zeppelin, Floyd, The Who, The Stones, The Beatles but always at the back of my mind was the question 'What would Peter Gabriel Genesis sound like?', also my English teacher in school was a fan of that era - he'd told us in class. I was in the local library one day in the spring of 95 and was looking in the CDs and tapes section when I saw a cassette of Foxtrot, I got it out and took it home. I found it fascinating, I sort of liked it, and found it weird, it wasn't too guitary and some of the keyboard sounds were odd, and the drums sounded kind of 'boxey'. A few days later I was hooked and went back to the library and got SEBTP - again it was strange and took a few listens to learn all the long instrumental parts but I grew to love it. I found NC and Trespass on secondhand vinyl and loved those too, and finally The Lamb came into the library - again on cassette so took that home for a good listen. Over the next few years I branched into the non-Gabriel stuff, liking the 70s stuff and most things on and off up to Abacab. The 83 album and WCD left me cold but I still love IT - as it's my favourite 3 man era album and a great pop album. Nothing however, touches the magic of those Gabriel-era albums. The archive boxset came out in my first term at university - and I promptly spent some of my student loan on it - a great purchase!
It was the excuse for the 'author' to have access to the soundboard tapes which are gathering dust at the Farm. The 'book' only consists of insipid gigs reviews without any musical or technical insight. The 'author' copied the soundboard tapes for his personal use, but fortunately (and with a big effort) those copies slowly made the round of collectors and are now easily obtainable from the well known places. This 'book' is hardly a masterpiece.
@Giant Hogweed: Given your choice of username, I am not surprised to learn you are a fan of the Gabriel era of Genesis.
The 'compendium', or in other words the Selling England tour programme, was the second release for the flexi - its first appearance was when it was included in Issue 29 of Zigzag magazine in March '73, the one with the photo of the band on Hampstead Heath on the cover. It's still surprisingly easy to find but inevitably no longer with the flexi. ZIGZAG Magazine No 29 March 1973 Genesis Captain Beefheart Byrds Eagles Johnny Speight
Fireside Song Starting out with some nice piano, that could well be from something later, structurally. We then move one hundred and eighty degrees to an acoustic guitar with strings that do sound rather like the Mellotron of the time (yes I know mellotron's had string samples on them). I guess I can hear a slight Bee Gees sound here, with the mellotron sound giving a Moody Blues/Procul Harum sound and feel. We have Gabriel doing a rather delicate vocal. This is a pretty good song although, so far When The Sour Turns Sweet is my favourite track here so far, by quite a bit.
The Serpent Here we have a strange little unassociated insert, with some pretty poor sounding bongos lol, and then the song. The song proper has a sinister little sixties rock feel on the guitar. I can see this song hearing this as a precursor to Genesis proper, with the dynamic changes. There are some interesting backing vocals that add to the sinister sound this song manages to create. This really has some sixties vibe about it.
I enjoy a lot of FGTR, even if some of the delivery and execution is amateurish and tentative, it's got a lot of cool songs, melodies and chord changes in it. The whole thing to me has quite a 'school' sound to me, like some kids playing on the piano at lunchtime and strumming along with guitar and singing - which is of course how some of it may have been written. Would love to have had them re-record a lot of this stuff a few years later. I really enjoyed disc 4 of the Archive box set with all the outtakes and demos, the thought of there being any more from this period or certainly from the post FGTR pre Trespass period is really exciting. A shame those Jackson recordings which later turned up on the 70-74 boxset weren't discovered in time for the Archive boxset. I have an old Genesis book from the 70s which has a picture of some setlist around 69/70 which has loads of titles of songs which they never recorded - apparently. I don't know where the line is with regards to what Jonathan King owns and what they own - some of that stuff which turned up on the archive box must have come from him I assume as they later turned up on some of his endless reissues of FGTR. There must also be stuff in their own possession - like some of the Ant Phillips demos he released - or stuff from after their contract with him expired that must obviously belong to them which may yet come to light.
it certainly is intriguing. Perhaps one day we will get something released that ties all these loose ends together. That would be nice
The two best (or at least most interesting) songs from this era that never made it onto album imo are “Going Out to Get You” (which appeared on Archives 1 as a 1969 demo, however the best recorded versions can be found on audience recorded Nursery Cryme tour shows. Man that song started to rock once they worked it out!) and “The Light”. “The Light” only appears on one recording, and that’s the only existing recording from the Trespass tour (at this point Collins and Hackett were in the band, and not counting BBC recordings). The Light is perhaps the most interesting piece from this era, as the verses and introductory guitar part were eventually lifted and reworked into “Lilywhite Lilith”. A whole 4 years later. Therefore we can possibly conclude that, if “The Light” was cowritten by Anthony Phillips, as much of their music was at the time, then Anthony Phillips’ songwriting influence was as far reaching as into The Lamb. Though of course we can’t say for sure, and unless there’s a recorded demo, we won’t be able to make out too much of the instrumental break in the middle to really get an idea for how the song was structured, the lyrical content, and what ideas were recycled. Anyways, I’m really getting too far ahead at this point. I just find it incredible how much Genesis continued to use Anthony Phillips’ ideas throughout the Gabriel era. For instance, there is an acoustic guitar recording of “The Musical Box” on Youtube that is allegedly a 1969 Anthony Phillips demo. Well, I may be staying within the 1969 territory roughly, but I need to stop jumping ahead. Sorry to mess up the thread if I did!
I think the core members of Genesis have been quoted as saying that Phillips' departure was potentially the most devastating of any of the line-up changes, and they seriously wondered whether they would be able to carry on as a band after he left - until fortunately Steve Hackett stepped into the breach. That speaks volumes about how much Ant's writing was a major part of the group's original musical vision.
I think it was more than just his writing. Ant was the singular member of the "songwriting group" who insisted that they beef up their musicianship and become a live band instead. He put Genesis on stage. It's ironic that he would wind up being the one with stage-fright. Also, if I remember correctly (and correct me if I'm wrong), they got Phil first, and performed briefly as a four-piece before Hackett came on board. So I wouldn't say Hackett's arrival sealed the deal on continuing as a band. They seemed to have come to that conclusion beforehand.
Yeah, he seems to have had a profound influence on the writing on Trespass to the point you could almost argue that the album foreshadows Phillips' solo career, of course especially The Geese and the Ghost which shares many of its medieval folk influences with Trespass. He almost seems to be a forgotten band member by some when in reality he seems to have greatly helped in shaping Genesis' musical vision.
That's really interesting, i didn't know it. Is there any difference to tell the 2 flexis apart? This also confirms that Twilight Alehouse was recorded way before Selling England, probably during the Foxtrot sessions, but it could even date back to the Nursey Cryme period as well. If someone knows better, please speak.
Can’t forget about the 30 shows with Mick Bernard! I believe the first one has a darker label, could be wrong. And I believe the song was recorded during the Foxtrot sessions.
Wait till I blow your mind and tell you “Wot Gorilla” is a fusion- version of the instrumental bit of “One for the Vine”... or that there’s a reprise of “Hairless Heart” at the end of “The Light Dies Down on Broadway” ...
