History
The band was formed in the late 1960s when founding members Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks were students at Charterhouse
School in Godalming. Formed out of school bands "the Garden Wall" and "the anon", the original
line-up consisted of Gabriel (vocals), Anthony Phillips (guitar), Banks (keyboards), Rutherford (bass & guitar)
and Chris Stewart (drums).
Genesis recorded their first album in 1969, From Genesis to Revelation, after being discovered by Jonathan King,
a Charterhouse School alumnus. King was a songwriter and record producer who had a hit single at the time, "Everyone's
Gone to the Moon." King named the band "Genesis", recalling that he had "thought it was a good
name... it suggested the beginning of a new sound and a new feeling".
The album was released on Decca Records. During the sessions, Stewart left and was replaced by John Silver. The
band recorded a series of songs influenced by the light pop style of the Bee Gees, one of King's favourite bands,
and The Beatles. King assembled the tracks as a concept album, and added string arrangements during the production.
Their first single, "The Silent Sun" (sample (help·info)), was released in February 1968. The
album sold poorly but the band, on advice from King, decided to pursue a career in music.[5] King still holds the
rights to the songs on the From Genesis to Revelation album and has re-released it many times under a variety of
names, including In the Beginning, Where the Sour Turns to Sweet, Rock Roots: Genesis, ...And the Word Was and,
most recently, The Genesis of Genesis.
Silver was replaced by John Mayhew before the recording of Trespass. However, during a show alongside the band
Smile, Gabriel had offered the job to Roger Taylor, later of Queen. The band secured a new recording contract with
Charisma Records. The band built a following through live performances which featured the band's hypnotic, dark
and haunting melodies.
Trespass was the template for Genesis albums in the 1970s: lengthy, sometimes operatic, pieces and occasional short,
humorous numbers resembling the style of progressive rock bands such as King Crimson, Yes and Gentle Giant. Trespass
includes progressive rock elements such as elaborate arrangements and time signature changes. Trespass features
Gabriel's nine-minute "The Knife", which shows "how all violent revolutions inevitably end up with
a dictator in power".
Ill health and recurring stage fright caused Phillips to leave the band in 1970. Phillips went on to record many solo albums, one of which, The Geese and the Ghost, has vocals by Phil Collins. Phillips' departure traumatised Banks and Rutherford, and the remaining members had doubts over whether the band could continue. However, the remaining members decided to continue with Phil Collins on drums and Steve Hackett, formerly of Quiet World, on guitar.
Collins and Hackett made their studio debut in 1971 on Nursery Cryme, which features the epic "The Musical Box" and Collins' first lead vocal performance in "For Absent Friends". Foxtrot was released in October 1972 and contains what has been described as "one of the group's most accomplished works", the 23-minute "Supper's Ready" (sample (info)). Songs such as the Arthur C. Clarke-inspired "Watcher of the Skies" solidified their reputation as songwriters and performers. Gabriel's flamboyant and theatrical stage presence, which involved numerous costume changes and surreal song introductions, made the band a popular live act. Genesis Live, recorded on the Foxtrot tour, followed in 1973.
Selling England by the Pound followed in November 1973 and was well received by critics and fans. Gabriel insisted that the album was titled Selling England by the Pound, a reference to a Labour Party slogan at the time, instead of using US-oriented language. The album contains "Firth of Fifth" (sample (info)) and "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)"; these songs became part of Genesis' live repertoire, with the latter reaching 17 on the UK singles charts. During this period Hackett became an early user of the electric guitar "tapping" technique, which was later popularized by Eddie Van Halen, as well as "sweep-picking", which was popularised in the 1980s by Yngwie Malmsteen.[14] These virtuoso guitar techniques were incorporated in the song "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight".
In 1974 Genesis undertook a double disc concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (sample (info)) which was released on 18 November. In contrast to the lengthy tracks featured on earlier albums The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is a collection of shorter tracks, connected by a number of segues. The story describes the spiritual journey of Rael, a Puerto Rican youth living in New York City, and his quest to establish his freedom and identity. During his adventure, Rael encounters several bizarre characters including the Slippermen and The Lamia, the latter being borrowed from Greek mythology.
The band embarked on a world tour to promote the album, performed it in its entirety, with Gabriel adding spoken narration. During their live performances, Genesis pioneered the use of lasers and other light effects, most of which were built by the Dutch technician Theo Botschuijver. A customised handheld unit was used to channel laser light, which allowed Gabriel to sweep the audience with various light effects.
Creating the ambitious The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album strained relations between band members, particularly Banks and Gabriel. Gabriel wrote the lyrics, while the other band members wrote the music, with the exception of "Counting Out Time" and "The Carpet Crawlers". "The Light Dies Down on Broadway" was co-authored by Banks and Rutherford. The other-worldly, blurbling, sequenced synth sounds and shattering glass loops in the track "The Waiting Room", coined "Enossifications", were produced by the ambient composer Brian Eno.
In August 1975, following the Lamb tour, Gabriel announced that he was leaving the band, because he felt estranged from the other members, and his marriage and birth of his first child added to his personal strain. In a letter to fans, entitled Out, Angels Out, Gabriel explained that the "... vehicle we had built as a co-op to serve our songwriting became our master and had cooped us up inside the success we had wanted. It affected the attitudes and the spirit of the whole band. The music had not dried up and I still respect the other musicians, but our roles had set in hard. Collins later remarked that the other members "...were not stunned by Peter's departure because we had known about it for quite a while." The band decided to carry on without Gabriel.