Genesis Biography
One
of the most successful rock acts of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Genesis enjoyed
a longevity exceeded only by the likes of the
Rolling Stones and the Kinks, in the process providing a launching pad for
the superstardom of members Peter
Gabriel and Phil
Collins. The group had its roots in the Garden Wall, a band founded by 15
year olds Peter
Gabriel and Tony
Banks in 1965 at Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey, where fellow
students Michael
Rutherford and Anthony
Phillips were members of another group called Anon. The two groups initially
merged out of expediency as the older members of each graduated; Gabriel,
Banks, Rutherford,
Phillips,
and drummer Chris
Stewart soon joined together as the New Anon, and recorded a six-song demo
featuring songs primarily written by Rutherford
and Phillips.
The
Charterhouse connection worked in their favor when ex-student, recording artist,
and producer Jonathan
King heard the tape and arranged for the group to continue working in the
studio, developing their sound. It was also King
who renamed the band Genesis. In December of 1967 the group had its first formal
recording sessions. Their debut single, "The Silent Sun," was released
in February of 1968 without attracting much notice from the public. A second
single, "A Winter's Tale," followed just about the time that Chris
Stewart quit -- his replacement, John
Silver, joined just in time to participate in the group's first LP sessions
that summer. King
later added orchestral accompaniment to the band's tracks, in order to make them
sound even more like the Moody Blues, and the resulting album, entitled From
Genesis to Revelation, was released in March of 1969.
Music
seemed to be shaping up as a brief digression in the lives of the members as
they graduated from Charterhouse that summer. The group felt strongly enough
about their work, however, that they decided to try it as a professional band;
it was around this time that Silver
exited, replaced by John
Mayhew. They got their first paying gig in September of 1969, and spent the
next several months working out new material. Genesis soon became one of the
first groups signed to the fledgling Charisma label, and they recorded their
second album, Trespass,
that spring. Following its completion, the unit went through major personnel
changes as Phillips,
who had developed crippling stage fright, was forced to leave the lineup in July
of 1970, followed by Mayhew.
Enter
Phil
Collins, a onetime child actor turned drummer and former member of Hickory
and Flaming
Youth. The group's lineup was completed with the addition of guitarist Steve
Hackett, a former member of Quiet
World; his presence and that of Collins
toughened up the group's sound, which became apparent immediately upon the
release of their next album, Nursery
Cryme. The theatrical attributes of Gabriel's
singing fit in well with the group's live performances during this period as he
began to make ever more extensive use of masks, makeup, and props in concert,
telling framing stories in order to set up their increasingly complicated songs.
When presented amid the group's very strong playing, this aspect of Gabriel's
work turned Genesis' performances into multimedia events.
Foxtrot,
issued in the fall of 1972, was the flash point in Genesis' history, and not
just on commercial terms. The writing, especially on "Supper's Ready,"
was as sophisticated as anything in progressive rock, and the lyrics were
complex, serious, and clever, a far cry from the usual overblown words attached
to most prog rock. Genesis' live performances by now were practically legend,
and in response to the demand, in August of 1973 Charisma released Genesis
Live, an album assembled from shows in Leicester and Manchester originally
taped for an American radio broadcast. 1973 also saw the release of Selling
England by the Pound, the group's most sophisticated album to date.
The
release of the ambitious double LP The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in late 1974
marked the culmination of the group's early history; in May of 1975, following a
show in France, Gabriel
announced that he was leaving Genesis, owing to personal reasons. The group
tried auditioning potential replacements, but it became clear that the remaining
members all preferred that drummer Collins
take over the role of lead singer. The band returned to the studio as an
official quartet in October of 1975 to begin work on their new album: the
resulting Trick of the Tail made number three in England and number 31 in
America, the best chart showing up to that time for a Genesis album. Its success
completely confounded critics and fans who'd been unable to conceive of Genesis
without Peter
Gabriel.
The
group seemed to be on its way to bigger success than it ever had during Gabriel's
tenure, as 1977's Wind and Wuthering became another smash. But then Hackett
announced that he was leaving on the eve of the release of a new double live
album, Seconds
Out; he was replaced on the subsequent American and European tours by Daryl
Steurmor, but there was no permanent replacement in the studio. In 1978,
Genesis released And
Then There Were Three, which abandoned any efforts at progressive rock in
favor of a softer, much more accessible, and less ambitious pop sound. After a
flurry of solo projects, the group reconvened for 1980's Duke,
which became their first chart-topper in England while rising to number 11 in
America.
The
continued changes in their sound helped turn Genesis into an arena-scale act: Abacab,
released in late 1981, was another smash, and 1983's self-titled Genesis
furthered the group's record of British chart-toppers and American Top Ten hits,
becoming their second million-selling U.S. album while also yielding their first
American Top Ten single, "That's All." Two years later, the group
outdid themselves with the release of their most commercially successful album
to date, Invisible
Touch, which went platinum several times over in America. Its release
coincided with the biggest tour in their history, a string of sold-out arena
shows that cast the group in the same league as concert stalwarts like the
Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead. Their 1991 album We
Can't Dance debuted at number one in England and got to number four in
America; it was Collins'
last album with the group, and with new vocalist Ray
Wilson, formerly of the group Stiltskin,
Genesis resurfaced in 1997 with Calling
All Stations, which recalled their art rock roots. Neither the critics nor
the fans warmed to the album -- it sold poorly and the tour was equally
unsuccessful. Coming on the heels of the disappointing Calling
All Stations, the long-awaited box-set retrospective Genesis
Archives, Vol. 1: 1967-1975 was even more welcome. Containing nothing but
unreleased material and rarities from previously unavailable on CD, the set was
released to surprisingly strong reviews in the summer of 1998. A second volume,
containing unreleased material from the Phil
Collins era, Genesis
Archives, Vol. 2: 1976-1992, followed in 2000. Bruce Eder, All Music Guide