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Genesis

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, Tony Banks, Johnny Trapman, Chris Stewart and Rivers Job in 1965 at Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey, where fellow students Anthony Phillips, Robert Tyrell, Rivers Job, Michael Coleman and Richard McPhaeil were members of another group called Anon. Mike Rutherford was in The Climax, with Chris Stewart (drums), Chris Pigott (bass guitar), Duncan James (lead guitar) and Tim Hobart (vocals). The Scarlet and Black group included Toby Ward (drums), Guy Ross-Lowe (bass guitar), Michael Slack (piano), Mark Weeks (piano and guitar), Richard Apley (saxophone), Andrew Bruce (trombone) and Paul Gabriel (vocals).The 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 an 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 their 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.

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387
Album Review

Tony Banks: A Curious Feeling

Read "A Curious Feeling" reviewed by John Kelman


It's curious, indeed, that Genesis keyboardist/co-founder Tony Banks never achieved the fame that Phil Collins, Steve Hackett, Peter Gabriel and Mike Rutherford did as solo artists. As one of the group's primary writers, his distinctive melodies and voicings have defined the Genesis sound since its inception. Still, based on the majority of Banks' extracurricular solo activities, it's easy to conclude that he needed Genesis to fully realize his own ideas. Were it not for his 1979 debut as ...

1,549
Extended Analysis

Genesis: The Movie Box 1981-2007

Read "Genesis: The Movie Box 1981-2007" reviewed by John Kelman


Genesis Genesis: The Movie Box: 1981-2007 Rhino Records 2009 With its entire audio discography now remixed and remastered on 1976-1982 (Rhino, 2007), 1983-1998 (Rhino, 2007), 1970-1975 (Rhino, 2008), and, most recently, Live: 1973-2007 (Rhino, 2009), legendary progressive popster Genesis finishes its series with Genesis: The Movie Box. Like the Live CD box, The Movie Box: 1981-2007 collects a series of concert performances--some making their appearance on DVD for the first time--leaving space for When In ...

2,102
Extended Analysis

Live 1973-2007

Read "Live 1973-2007" reviewed by John Kelman


With all of British mega-group Genesis' studio discography now available in remixed/remastered form, including 5.1 surround mixes and a bevy of bonus audio and video features, the only commercial material left to receive engineer Nick Davis' careful attention is its series of four live albums. These begin with Genesis Live (Charisma, 1973) and end with The Way We Walk--originally issued as two separate releases, The Shorts (Atlantic, 1992) and The Longs (Atlantic, 1993). While Davis' work on the ...

811
Extended Analysis

1970-1975

Read "1970-1975" reviewed by John Kelman


For many Genesis fans, the final box set of the progressive rock group's series of remixed and remastered studio albums is the one they've been waiting for the most. 1970-1975 documents the period when Peter Gabriel was the band's lead singer, before the group began a gradual move away from its art rock beginnings towards a more pop-oriented, radio-friendly sound. The previous two boxes--1976-1982 (Rhino, 2007) and 1983-1998 (Rhino, 2007)--while perhaps musically controversial to longtime fans for the ...

1,279
Multiple Reviews

Genesis: The Peter Gabriel Years (1967-1975)

Read "Genesis: The Peter Gabriel Years (1967-1975)" reviewed by Trevor MacLaren


During the last thirty years the world has been stuck in the syrupy sludge of the Phil Collins era of Genesis, when it was impossible to distinguish a solo Collins record from a Genesis one. Fans of the original group have long been dismayed by the acquired, gargantuan pop overtones of a band which was one of the most intriguing prog-rock groups of the early 1970s. Unless you've heard those early records forget all that has happened from the 1978 ...

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1

Recording

Original Genesis Guitarist Anthony Phillips "Slow Dance" Re-Mastered & Expanded 3-Disc Edition Now Available On Esoteric Recordings

Original Genesis Guitarist Anthony Phillips "Slow Dance" Re-Mastered & Expanded 3-Disc Edition Now Available On Esoteric Recordings

Source: Glass Onyon PR - William James

Esoteric Recordings are proud to announce the release of a newly re-mixed and expanded deluxe 3-disc edition of the classic 1990 instrumental album by Genesis founding member and guitarist Anthony Phillips, Slow Dance. Regarded by aficionados of Anthony's music as one of his finest releases, Slow Dance is a two part orchestral rock suite which showcases Anthony's music at his most expansive and imaginative. This new 3-disc (2 CD / 1 DVD) digipak Deluxe Edition of the album features a ...

Recording

Debut CD Release By Vocalist Paul D'Adamo Features Genesis And Phil Collins Members

Debut CD Release By Vocalist Paul D'Adamo Features Genesis And Phil Collins Members

Source: Glass Onyon PR - William James

Grapevine, TX - Vocalist extraordinaire Paul D'Adamo is no stranger to the world of Phil Collins and Genesis. His debut CD 'Tell Me Something' not only showcases a mixture of original compositions and re-done, lesser known classics by Phil Collins and Genesis, but also features essentially the core of Phil Collins's touring band: Brad Cole, Leland Sklar, Daryl Stuermer, Chester Thompson, Luis Conte, Arnold McCuller, Amy Keys, Lynne Fiddmont, and renowned jazz saxophonist Gerald Albright (who also worked with the ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Joey Defrancesco, Dan Thomas, Harry Miller, Montez Coleman, Genesis Jazz Project, and More

Jazz This Week: Joey Defrancesco, Dan Thomas, Harry Miller, Montez Coleman, Genesis Jazz Project, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week's lineup of jazz and creative music performances in St. Louis is headed by organist Joey DeFrancesco (pictured), who this evening will open a four-night gig continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. DeFrancesco, considered by many to be the reigning champ of the blues-drenched jazz organ style pioneered by the late Jimmy Smith, has played in St. Louis numerous times in recent years, and thus likely needs no further introduction to most local jazz fans. That said, ...

149

Interview

Something Else! Featured Artist: Genesis

Something Else! Featured Artist: Genesis

Source: Something Else!

Believe it or not, Phil Collins was once just a member of this group called Genesis. Back then, before Collins turned Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks into his backing band, Genesis had begun its musical life as a witty, sometimes quite theatrical prog-rock project. The twin departures, however, of Peter Gabriel and then Steve Hackett led to a turn into more popular sounds. Before you knew it, Collins had launched his own concurrent solo career—memorably unleashing the mid-1980s earplug “Sussudio" ...

192

Performance / Tour

Nicole Mitchell Intergalactic Beings: Xenogenesis II

Nicole Mitchell Intergalactic Beings:  Xenogenesis II

Source: Michael Ricci

Inspired by the seminal Afrofuturist science-fiction writer Octavia Butler, flutist and composer Nicole Mitchell evokes a journey into the unknown in the second chapter of her Xenogenesis Suite, “Intergalactic Beings." Mitchell composed “Intergalactic Beings" for her Black Earth Ensemble, an improvising chamber orchestra, and taps into the emotional and surreal qualities of Butler's alien abduction tale of survival. The MCA Stage, Chicago, presents the premiere of the full-length musical piece on Friday, April 30, 2010 “Intergalactic Beings" is an affecting ...

240

Video / DVD

DVD Review: "Genesis: The Movie Box 1981-2007"

DVD Review: "Genesis: The Movie Box 1981-2007"

Source: Pop Dose

Although Genesis has stayed away from the studio since 1997's poorly-received (and Phil Collins-less) Calling All Stations, the band hasn't given their fans much reason to complain: Over the past 11 years theyve released six boxed sets, covering studio material, rarities, and live concerts. The seventh and final in the set is Genesis: The Movie Box 19812007. The set includes five DVDs, including two concerts new to the format, all with new 5.1 DTS and Dolby Digital sound mixes. Though ...

117

Recording

Genesis Rounds out Reissues with Live Box Set

Genesis Rounds out Reissues with Live Box Set

Source: Billboard Magazine

When Genesis released “Genesis: 1970-1975," its third boxed set of studio albums, last fall, keyboardist Tony Banks told Billboard.com that “the next logical thing to do would be something with the live albums. We have a few of those, and we have quite a bit of stuff in the vaults that could be added to flesh things out a bit." That will happen on Sept. 29, when Rhino releases “Genesis Live 1973-2007," a 10-disc set featuring five of the group's ...

385

Recording

Genesis: 1970-75 Vinyl Box Set

Genesis: 1970-75 Vinyl Box Set

Source: JamBase

GENESIS, IN THE BEGINNING: GENESIS 1970 - 1975 (6 LP VINYL BOX SET )

In the beginning - there was vinyl.

After upgrading the Genesis catalog of studio albums with a trio of comprehensive boxed sets, Rhino brings the band's early years back to their LP origins with GENESIS 1970-1975, a vinyl boxed set that contains five albums with lead singer Peter Gabriel.

Each Genesis vinyl album contains new stereo mixes done by Nick Davis. They are presented in heavyweight ...

265

Recording

Genesis 1970 - 1975 - 6LP Vinyl Box

Genesis 1970 - 1975 - 6LP Vinyl Box

Source: All About Jazz

GENESIS, IN THE BEGINNING In the beginning - there was vinyl.

Audio Sampler

After upgrading the Genesis catalog of studio albums with a trio of comprehensive boxed sets, Rhino brings the band's early years back to their LP origins with GENESIS 1970-1975, a vinyl boxed set that contains five albums with lead singer Peter Gabriel.

Each Genesis vinyl album contains new stereo mixes done by Nick Davis. They are presented in heavyweight gatefold sleeves that feature the original ...

355

Recording

Early Genesis Returns to Vinyl

Early Genesis Returns to Vinyl

Source: All About Jazz

Rhino Presents Boxed Set Containing 180-Gram, Audiophile Vinyl Versions of Five Acclaimed Genesis Albums Recorded Between 1970-1975 with Singer Peter Gabriel

Five-Album Boxed Set Will Be Available April 14 from Rhino

LOS ANGELES — After upgrading the Genesis catalog of studio albums with a trio of comprehensive boxed sets, Rhino brings the band’s early years back to their vinyl origins with GENESIS 1970-1975, a boxed set that contains five albums with lead singer Peter Gabriel. The collection, on ...

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