From Genesis to Revelation
From Genesis to Revelation is the debut studio album by English rock band Genesis, released on 28 March 1969 on Decca Records. The album originated from a collection of demos recorded in 1967 while the members of Genesis were pupils of Charterhouse in Godalming, Surrey. It caught the attention of Jonathan King who named the group, organised deals with his publishing company Jonjo Music and Decca, and studio time at Regent Sound Studios to record a series of singles and a full album. A string section arranged and conducted by Arthur Greenslade was added later on some songs. By the time Genesis had finished recording, John Silver had replaced original drummer Chris Stewart.
The album and its singles were a commercial flop, and received a mixed to negative reaction from critics. By mid-1969, the group had severed ties with King and resumed education until they reformed and turned Genesis into a full-time band. The album was preceded by two singles; "The Silent Sun" (later becoming part of the album) and "A Winter's Tale" were released in 1968, followed by album track "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet" in 1969. In October 1974, after the group had grown in popularity, it peaked at No. 170 on the Billboard 200 in the US. King retains the rights to the album which has been reissued multiple times since, including a 1974 release as In the Beginning and a 1987 release as And the Word Was.... A reissue in 1990 and 2005 included a bonus disc with extra tracks.
Background[edit]
The founding line-up of Genesis consisted of guitarist Anthony Phillips, bassist Mike Rutherford, lead vocalist Peter Gabriel, keyboardist Tony Banks, and drummer Chris Stewart, all pupils of Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey. The five had played in the school's two active bands; Rutherford and Phillips were in Anon while Gabriel, Banks, and Stewart made up Garden Wall.[7] In January 1967, after both groups had split, Phillips and Rutherford continued to write songs and invited Gabriel and Banks to participate. During the Easter school holiday the five entered a primitive recording studio run by Brian Roberts in Chiswick to record the material.[8] They assembled a tape of six songs originally intended for someone else to perform as the group saw themselves foremost as a collection of songwriters. This included five songs from Phillips and Rutherford: "Don't Want You Back", "Try a Little Sadness", "That's Me", "Listen on Five", and "Patricia", an instrumental, plus one from Gabriel and Banks, "She Is Beautiful".[7][9] "Patricia" was later reworked into "In Hiding" and "She Is Beautiful" was later known as "The Serpent".[10][9] Banks described the material as "straight pop music" as it was the direction the band wanted to explore.[10] At this point, the group were known as The New Anon.[11]
The group sent the demo tape to two people, one being BBC radio presenter David Jacobs.[12] The second was sent to former Charterhouse pupil Jonathan King who had scored commercial success as a singer-songwriter and producer with his UK top five single "Everyone's Gone to the Moon" in 1965, and therefore seemed a natural choice.[13] King visited the school during Old Boys Day, so the group had a friend give the tape to him. He listened to the tape in his car on his drive home and, despite its roughness, was immediately enthusiastic, particularly about Gabriel's vocals.[12]
Aftermath[edit]
When the album failed to become a success, the group decided to split and resume education.[33] This marked the end of their association with King, who had grown increasingly dissatisfied with the band directing their material away from mainstream pop.[28] In addition, Genesis had fulfilled their contractual obligation with Decca with the release of "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet", and neither they nor King were interested in renewing the deal.[12] In September 1969, Gabriel, Banks, Rutherford, and Phillips decided to make Genesis a full-time band and write on their own musical terms which had developed to what Phillips described as "original and dramatic".[10][38]They replaced Silver with drummer John Mayhew, and toured England for six months. Their residency at Ronnie Scott's club in Soho, London caught the attention of Tony Stratton Smith who signed them to his label, Charisma Records. Genesis began formulating the music that would be recorded on their next album, Trespass.
Material that was put onto tape during this time but remained unreleased was included on the Genesis Archive 1967–75 box set, in 1998. This included tracks on From Genesis to Revelation without the string arrangements.[17] Some of the tapes had been in storage in Phillips's attic, and he initially pleaded with the group not to release them due to what he considered poor guitar work.[28]
On 27 July 1990, the album was reissued in a two disc set. The second disc included the four tracks included on And the Word Was....., four early versions of songs on the album, and ten interviews.[2] On 25 October 2010, the album was released as a special edition on iTunes. It includes the bonus tracks from the 1990 reissue.[39]
Credits are adapted from the original 1969 release.[25]
Genesis
Additional musicians
Production
Sources