Genesis: The Progressive Rock and Pop Band

Genesis is a British Progressive Rock/Pop band from the late sixties/early seventies that have as swept the world with their experimentation with unique musical composition and storytelling. The band has influenced many modern bands and musicians.

Genesis’ Beginnings:

Genesis was formed back in 1967, comprised of two separate bands, The Anon and Garden Wall. both bands featured the founding members, Peter Gabriel, providing lead vocals, and Tony Banks, on keyboard and piano (Garden Wall), Mike Rutherford playing the bass, and Anthony Phillips playing guitar (The Anons). Then later on, their fellow Charter House School schoolmate, Christopher Stewart would join them as a drummer. The two bands would play cover songs by more famous and popular bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and many more bands.

After Christopher Stewart left the band, percussionist, John Silver quickly replaced him and by then, Peter and Tony had caught the attention of a former Charterhouse graduate, Jonathan King. King became impressed with their demo tapes that another student had given to him and he soon signed the boys to Decca Records by 1968. It was then that the two bands became From Genesis to Revelations -- which is later shortened to Genesis – and they went on to pursue a musical career as a British Rock Group.

From Genesis to Revelations (1969):

With King as their producer, Genesis released its first introductory album, From Genesis to Revelations, but due to the commercial failure and the lack of response at their debut, King refrain from being the band’s manager. John Silver left the band soon after, leaving Genesis to perform gigs on their own all the while of having drummer, John Mayhew to replace Silver.

Trespass (1970):

A year after touring locally, From Genesis to Revelations began to head in a different direction with their music. Instead of having the soft acoustic qualities that they initially used, Genesis decided on using more aggressive and electrical approach in their songwriting. Because of this, the band signed onto Charisma Records with Tony Stratton-Smith and the band’s name was just shortened down to Genesis.

Recruiting Collins and Hackett:

John Mayhew and Anthony Phillips left the band shortly after the release of Genesis’ second album, Trespass, leaving Genesis to search for their third drummer and their second guitarist. John Mayhew left due to the others’ dislike of his drumming skills and Phillips left upon the request of his doctor and because of stage fright.

Shortly after the aforementioned members left, child actor and drummer, Phil Collins and guitarist, Steve Hackett joined the band. The band continued with this line up while releasing Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, and Selling England by the Pound with Peter playing the flute, oboe, and tambourine while providing lead vocals, Phil Collins playing the drums and providing most of the backup vocals, Mike Rutherford playing Bass, Steve Hackett playing guitar, and Tony on keyboard while occasionally playing the guitar alongside Steve.

During the years of 1971-1975, Genesis’ popularity has soared and their music style evolved from the acoustics and electronic to a somewhat of a Pop edge. What made the band really well known were the elaborate costumes and narratives done by Gabriel, who originally did this to get the band’s true message out there.

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974-75):

In 1974, Genesis started a new album called, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, which depicts the stories of a young man named Rael, fighting various evil creatures of New York and after initial success at promoting the album, Genesis went to the United States for the The Lambs Lie Down on Broadway tour.

The creative process for this album put a major strain and lots of tension among the band, due to the amount of songs and the delay of the tour and the news of Peter leaving the group afterwards. Due to a failing marriage, Steve Hackett crushed a wine glass out of frustration, injuring his hand in the process and initially delayed the tour until 1975.

Peter Gabriel’s Departure, Phil’s Rise to Leadership (1975):

After the The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tour, Peter Gabriel left the band because of the difficult birth of his first daughter, and he then went on to pursue his own solo career. Gabriel’s absence left Genesis with no front man and thus they began a fruitless search for a replacement, but after a long search, Phil became the lead vocalist and he became the main mainstay of that position for the next decade while still fulfilling his primary role as the drummer.

The Four Man Era (1976-77):

Over the next two years, Genesis continued on with their music, releasing A Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering albums, of which both albums started a further evolution of the band’s music style straying from the unique storytelling and heading towards a more romantic or edgy pop song approach, and a new drummer, Bill Bruford, was hired to replace Phil as the drummer, but Bruford soon left at the conclusion of the A Trick of the Tail tour and Chester Thompson joined the band to take his place as drummer.

Hackett’s Departure:

In between the releases of A Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering, Steve Hackett started releasing his own solo albums, which allowed him to be more satisfied with his own creative freedom. When he returned to Genesis to release Wind and Wuthering, he suggested that more of his works be released on future albums, but the band refused. So he left the band after the initial release of Wind and Wuthering to pursue his own musical career. The band then decided to continue on with Mike taking up the guitarist position while maintaining his bass playing.

And Then There Were Three (1978):

With only Collins, Banks, and Rutherford as the only members left, the trio recorded their eleventh album, …And Then There Were Three. It was at this time that Genesis’ popularity increased drastically, gearing them into the Pop genre indefinitely. Because of the album’s popularity, Daryl Stuermer was hired to replace Hackett as lead guitarist for live performances.

Temporary Hiatus (1979):

The band took some time off for Phil Collins to try and save his then failing marriage, but failed to and returned a year later.

The Eighties:

Genesis continued releasing albums, all the songs now geared towards the Pop genre. Duke was the most favored album during that time period until Invisible Touch was released. When Genesis wasn’t releasing albums, Collins and Banks were pursuing their own solo albums, and Rutherford formed his own side band called, Mike + the Mechanics (formed in 1985).

During 1983, Hackett, Collins, Banks, and Rutherford all reunited with Peter Gabriel for a special concert in England.

Genesis disbanded again after the Invisible Touch tour in 1986-87 for each member to continue their own personal endeavors.

The Nineties:

Tony, Phil, and Mike reunited once more and released the We Can’t Dance album, which became highly popular and then Genesis once again reunited with Peter in 1993 to perform alongside Pink Floyd at a charity benefit concert, which was co-organized by Rutherford. It was by then that Phil would have his last concert with Genesis for a while.

In 1993 after Collins’ permanent departure from the band, Genesis switched between Nick D'Virgilo and Nir Zidkyahu to fill Collins’ role as drummer and they carried on with their performances for the next several years with ex-Stiltskin vocalist, Ray Wilson being the lead vocalist. It was during this time that Genesis would release their final album, Calling All Stations.

Genesis reunited one more time, with Anthony Phillips and John Silver, in 1998 for the initial release of the Archive 1967-1975, which contained many of their popular hits from 1967-75. Carpet Crawlers and a few other songs had to be re-recorded for the box set.

The New Millennium:

The second box set, Archive #2 1976-1992, was released and Genesis reunited once more. Also during that year, Collins, Banks, Rutherford, and Daryl Stuermer to celebrate their longtime manager, Tony Smith in being granted the Peter Grant award.

There were many more reunions between the members of Genesis, more or less, featuring Phil, Mike, and Tony.

In 2007, Genesis held a reunion tour with Chester Thompson and Daryl Stuermer, and a 10 CD + DVD box set called 1976-1982, was also released to celebrate the reunion tour.

Hiatus:

In 2011, Phil Collins quit the music business, putting any plans for further reunions for the band on hold, due to an injury to his spinal cord, paralyzing his hand.

Impact Genesis Has Made in Music:

Peter's elaborate costumes and make up is what inspired later bands and artists, like Marilyn Manson, to wear costumes and make up during performances. Phil Collins came up with a new way of drumming via a drumming machine while working on a collaborated album with Peter Gabriel. Steve Hackett invented a new and unique way of playing the guitar with a guitar pick. Tony Banks' keyboarding and piano playing is always evident in most of the songs and is what often sets the moods for each song. Mike brought forth the idea of using a double bass during performances.

Conclusion:

No matter what generation you’re from, you will always hear at least a handful of people talking fondly about hearing these boys playing their music and possibly seeing them live in concert. Genesis has held up well in the music world for the past forty-five years, and they have influenced a wide arrange of bands.

Sources:

Lily’s Freudian Slumber – A website dedicated to information on Genesis and all of its members.
Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia
Gatsby (aka Sweetest Blasphemy on here)
Azlyrics – the website for finding lyrics by your favorite bands and artists.
World of Genesis – another site with lots of information on Genesis.