Nursery Cryme
Nursery Cryme is the third studio album by the English rock band Genesis, released on 12 November 1971 on Charisma Records. It was their first to feature drummer/vocalist Phil Collins and guitarist Steve Hackett. The album received a mixed response from critics and was not initially a commercial success; it did not enter the UK chart until 1974, when it reached its peak at No. 39. However, the album was successful in Continental Europe, particularly Italy.
Nursery Cryme
Following extensive touring in support of their previous album Trespass (1970), which included the recruitment of Collins and Hackett, the band began writing and rehearsing for a follow-up in Luxford House, East Sussex, with recording following at Trident Studios. Nursery Cryme saw the band take a more aggressive direction of some songs, with substantially improved drumming and new guitar techniques, such as tapping and sweep picking. The opening piece, "The Musical Box" combined the band's trademark mix of twelve-string guitars with harsh electric guitars and keyboards. The song, a macabre fairy story set in Victorian Britain, became the inspiration for the album cover, and went on to be a live favourite. Collins brought a new dimension to the group, covering the majority of the backing vocals (including his first lead vocal with Genesis on "For Absent Friends") and bringing in a sense of humour on tracks like "Harold the Barrel". At Hackett's suggestion, Banks made more prominent use of the Mellotron on several tracks.
The band toured the UK and Europe for one year to promote the album, which raised their profile in both territories. The tour included a successful Italian leg in April 1972, where the group played to enthusiastic crowds. Nursery Cryme was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry in 2013.
Recording[edit]
With the new material worked out, Genesis recorded Nursery Cryme at Trident Studios in London in August 1971 with John Anthony as their producer and David Hentschel their assistant engineer who, like Anthony, had worked the same role on Trespass.[17] The album features Hackett playing a Les Paul guitar which the band had bought him along with a Hiwatt stack amplifier. Hackett recalled some difficulty in understanding what Banks and Rutherford were talking about, as the two had devised their own sayings; for instance, a passage that they had played was referred to as a "nice guy".[18]
Songs[edit]
"The Musical Box"[edit]
"The Musical Box" was a lengthy piece that described a macabre story placed in Victorian Britain. A young boy, Henry, is accidentally decapitated by his friend Cynthia while playing croquet. Returning to the house, Cynthia plays Henry's old musical box, which unleashes the spirit of Henry as an old man. Henry has become sexually frustrated and attempts to seduce Cynthia. The nurse enters the room and hurls the musical box at the wall, destroying both it and Henry.[19][20]
The song originated when Phillips was in the group, who would often write with Rutherford on 12-string acoustic guitars. The latter had begun to experiment with unorthodox guitar tunings and had the top three strings tuned to F sharp, which provided the jangly sound heard in the opening and the chord that signalled the start of the electric guitar solo.[21] The tuning influenced the title of an acoustic piece, "F♯" (pronounced "F sharp"), that became the basis of "The Musical Box",[22] which was developed further after Phillips's departure. The opening section of the song features both Rutherford and Banks on twelve-string.[23] An earlier version of the song, entitled "Manipulation", was performed with Phillips in 1970 for the soundtrack of an unreleased BBC documentary on painter Michael Jackson.
The guitar solos originated from Barnard's brief tenure in Genesis.[4] Hackett modified sections that Phillips and Barnard had written while adding his own arrangements to the song.[16] He realised that neither member had made a sound that resembled an actual musical box, so he took the opportunity to record a guitar lick that is heard before the lyric "Here it comes again".[24] Gabriel, a big fan of The Who at the time, pushed for Rutherford to come up with a "ballsy, attacking" section in a similar style to their guitarist Pete Townshend. Gabriel incorporated themes of violence and sex into the lyrics.[25] Collins was inspired to play a rolling drum part during the middle section from hearing "The Weaver's Answer" by Family, and put it to the rhythm. "All of a sudden", speaking about "The Musical Box" at this point, "It's 'wahey we're off!'".[26]
The song became a live favourite during Gabriel's tenure with the band. He first decided on the idea of wearing costumes at a gig in the National Stadium, Dublin in September 1972, leaving during the instrumental break and re-appearing at the conclusion wearing his wife's red dress and a fox's head.[27] Later, he would wear an "old man" mask for the song's ending, acting out the part of the aged Henry.[28]
Cover[edit]
The album's sleeve was designed and illustrated by Paul Whitehead, who had also designed the cover for Trespass and the band's next album, Foxtrot.[40] The cover depicts characters and scenes based on "The Musical Box" and Coxhill, the manor house with a croquet lawn, itself based on the Victorian home Gabriel grew up in.[41] When the group originally saw Whitehead's painting, they said it did not look old enough, so he varnished it with honey, which made it look like it was from the 19th century. When originally released, the cover shocked some people, because of the severed heads pictured on it.[42]
The inner sleeve resembled an old photo album, with a panel for each song along with an illustrated picture.[43] Whitehead later picked his design for Nursery Cryme as his favourite of the three done for Genesis, noting: "It just works very well with the music. It fits perfect. It's the right colour, the right vibe".[44]
Whitehead's original illustrations for the three albums were stolen from the Charisma archives when it was sold to Virgin Records in 1983. Whitehead claimed that Charisma staff got wind of the imminent sale and proceeded to loot its office.[45]
Credits are adapted from the album's 1971 and 2007 liner notes.[17]
Genesis
Production