Totally forgot that one in my post, my-my. Now I listen to it, I seem to recall it was the first song off FGTR that really stuck with me. It's actually really amazing just listening to it with an open mind.
Part of what I love about Genesis is finding out those little connections. For example, the ending to Epping Forest with the sustained organ is the exact same moment as in Supper's Ready before the song builds up again to its epic ending. Those tiny details are great fan service and require many listens.
...or that the instrumental section of It's Yourself starts with a stripped down Los Endos, or that there's a reprise of Guide Vocal near the end of Duke's Travels/Duke's End....
They were both Hackett's ideas. The former almost completely rejected by the band members, ending up like the "glass' dropping water" for his definitive departure. But, as Hackett stated once: "Sometimes there may be a beautiful situation but... sometimes is time to... walk away from it", he knew his time to go 'walking away from rainbows' had arrived back then, and I think it was good for both him and his band mates. EDIT: sorry for being off-topic again, but I'd mistook the author of 'Wot Gorilla' - it was wrote by Collins & Banks. And it was Phil's idea to speed it up to give it a more jazzy beat, he once stated it brought on his influences of Weather Report.
Ooh, ooh, I got another one - The big octave-y piano chords that open up “Shepherd” on the Archive 1 boxset get re-used in the middle of Duchess.
Going back to the point about Ants demo of what became 'the Musical box' : I wonder whether he received royalties for it as it's clearly an essential part of the song? Also, 'Twilight Alehouse' definitely sounds like it was recorded earlier than SEBTP, I always assumed Foxtrot. When I used to have copies of the albums on cassette, I had Trespass and NC on one tape with Twilight Alehouse contained within NC - I think it suits NC more.
this always interested me I know songwriting credits can be a fickle and meaningless thing sometimes, but this and other things they were clearly working on earlier with ant that were then used without crediting him seem like they could be a raw deal for him. he doesn't seem the type to take legal action like this, but I imagine it could be a valid claim.
My understanding is that they have been more than generous with Ant. I know they even held on to royalties for John Mayhew for something like 30 years when they didn't even know if he was still alive!
I know they performed Twilight Alehouse as early as September '72 (Top Gear) , possibly earlier, so yes I believe its pre-SEBTP.
Yeah, I mentioned that upthread somewhere... those little link tracks are mostly mini-songs on their own. And the "Twilight Alehouse" link is interesting on how much they captured of that song in such a short space!
It's an interesting debut. I don't think it's a lost classic or anything, just instructive of how this great band has started. As an album itself it's pleasant: guitars and vocals have potential. I quite like "The Serpent" and a few other tracks.
1. Like many others in the thread, I was exposed to Genesis in the early 80s (Abacab, S/T) and later dug back into their catalogue. Possibly for this reason, I never had a problem with Collins fronting the band. Some of their classic songs I heard first in their "Seconds Out" versions, with Phil on vocals. 2. Now, on to the debut album. I haven't heard it for quite a while but, at the time, found it totally unremarkable and uninteresting. I got that album as a present. My sister borrowed it and I have never reclaimed it. The only link to Genesis, in my mind, was Gabriel's vocals. Some months ago I checked "The Conqueror", after reading an interview with Noel Gallagher. I must say I had completely overlooked that one. It is a nice pop song.
Ah. Well you've obviously delved deeper than I into their bootleg material. Or at least know of it. All I've got is the common BBC stuff everyone else has heard. Which I bought in a record store about 8 years ago, funny enough.
I have about 100 homemade CDs worth of Genesis live recordings over there on the shelf. And that's just the Gabriel era! I had picked up a show here and there over the years as I stumbled across them at record shows and such, but it wasn't until I bought This book that I realized just how many recordings there were out there. I had no idea! Thus, armed with a stack of CD-Rs and a color printer, and much to my wife's chagrin, I entered the internet and began my foolish quest!
As for The Serpent, listening to the stripped down version after many years, it suddenly bumped to me how naive and conservative was to insert the Eden myth into the narrative of man's history. I guess the folks in the record shops believing the album was "religious stuff" because of the cover weren't totally wrong after all! This is another naivete in the writing department and betrays the social class/education the guys were coming from. At the same time, it prefigures the wide use of literary and cultural references they are famous (or dismissed) for. And those lyrics... And God created man from dust With a soul inside his mould And God created womankind The vessel of Satan's hold Creator made the serpent wise Evil in his tempting eyes Gee, Pete, you're looking for troubles, man --- As many know (but I remind it to those who don't) the song is a reworking of a previous piece called She Is Beautiful, contained in the Archives.
Off the top of my head... I'd include La Ferme - 1971 just because it's the earliest recording and contains the aforementioned "The Light" and "Going Out To Get You". Aside from that, I suppose... Watford Town Hall 1972 Rainbow Theater 1973 Roxy L.A. 1973 (there are several shows from their stay, I think Dec 18th was the best, but double check that) Drury Lane 1974 (extra long set with Harold The Barrel!) Montreal 21 April 1974 (radio show) There are quite a few good soundboards from Lamb shows. Lakeland Florida was the first one I heard and still holds up pretty well, I think. These are generally highly regarded by the Genesis people. "The Movement" website rates the recordings and can point you in the right direction. Genesis supports fan tape trading so guilt free fun! I imagine most can probably be heard on youtube at this point. Not so back in my day.
It's not. It's about being of high conservative education in years of fast cultural change. That rock was part of. And also about creative skills. The leap they took between the way they treat the source here and the one they incorporate the Revelation in Supper's Ready is gigantic. From formulaic to epic in a bunch of years. - EDIT: that was not BY ANY MEANS meant to offend personal believes. It was an observation based on the historical period the album came out and the general "rebel" attitude of rock.
