''Genesis Live'' is the first live album from the English rock band Genesis, released on 20 July 1973 on

Charisma Records Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der ...

. Initially recorded for radio broadcast on the American rock program ''

King Biscuit Flower Hour The ''King Biscuit Flower Hour'' was an American syndicated radio show presented by the D.I.R. Radio Network that featured concert performances by various rock music recording artists. History The program was broadcast on Sunday nights from 197 ...

'', the album is formed from the recordings of shows at

Free Trade Hall The Free Trade Hall on Peter Street, Manchester, England, was constructed in 1853–56 on St Peter's Fields, the site of the Peterloo Massacre. It is now a Radisson hotel. The hall was built to commemorate the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. T ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and De Montfort Hall, Leicester in February 1973 during the band's tour supporting their fourth studio album '' Foxtrot'' (1972). ''Genesis Live'' is the band's first album to enter the top 10 in the UK, reaching No. 9. Following its US release in 1974, it peaked at No. 105.

History

Genesis were persuaded by their label,

, to release ''Genesis Live'' as a budget-priced title to mark time while the band recorded ''

Selling England by the Pound ''Selling England by the Pound'' is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Genesis, released in September 1973 on Charisma Records. It reached in the United Kingdom and in the United States. A single from the album, " I ...

'' in mid-1973. The group's manager, Tony Stratton Smith said that the low price would allow it to be sold in stores such as Woolworths and

WHSmith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and m ...

. ''Genesis Live'' was issued in the US several months after ''Selling Englands release, which upset Gabriel as the album included songs from their old live sets and was quickly recorded with little care given to the quality of the recordings. When Gabriel reluctantly agreed to have the album released, part of the deal was that it would not be issued in the US. The album was recorded when the band was touring in support of '' Foxtrot'', by the Pye Mobile Recording Unit, engineer Alan Perkins; all tracks were recorded at De Montfort Hall, Leicester, England on except for "The Return of the Giant Hogweed", which was recorded at the

in Manchester, England on the previous day. These recordings were originally made for the U.S. radio show

, though they were never broadcast. John Burns mixed the multi-track tapes in July 1973. A handful of early radio promotional double-LP

test pressing A white label record is a vinyl record with white labels attached. There are several variations each with a different purpose. Variations include test pressings, white label promos, and plain white labels. Test pressings Test pressings, usu ...

s were created which included a 23-minute version of " Supper's Ready" from the Leicester show. This album's running order was "Watcher of the Skies", "The Musical Box", "Get 'Em Out by Friday", "Supper's Ready", "The Return of the Giant Hogweed", "The Knife", and included between-song patter by Gabriel. "Supper's Ready" was not included in the officially released version, even though the front cover photograph was taken during a live performance of the song (with Gabriel donning the "Magog" mask). A live recording of "Supper's Ready" from later that same year was released on 1998's 4-CD boxed set, '' Genesis Archive 1967–75''. However, Gabriel re-recorded some vocals for that release. A remastered version was released on CD in 1994 by

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

in Europe and

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

in the US and Canada. A remixed version was included in 2009's '' Genesis Live 1973–2007'' set, also released by

in Europe and

in the U.S. and Canada. A surrealistic short story by Peter Gabriel was printed on the back cover of the album.

William Friedkin William "Billy" Friedkin (born August 29, 1935)Biskind, p. 200. is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter closely identified with the " New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in ...

, who directed the film ''

The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty ...

'', read the story and was interested in possibly working with Gabriel on a film. Discussions with Friedkin took Gabriel away from the 1974 recording of ''

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway ''The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway'' is the sixth studio album by the English progressive rock band Genesis. It was released as a double album on 18 November 1974 by Charisma Records and is their last to feature original frontman Peter Gabriel. It ...

'', his final album with the group.

Critical reception

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' gave the album a brief but positive review, commenting that "this album goes a long way toward capturing the gripping power and mysticism that has many fans acclaiming Genesis as 'the greatest live band ever. A retrospective review by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

was also resoundingly positive. They remarked "it's doubtful that anyone ever got a richer sound out of a Mellotron on-stage than Tony Banks does on this album, and Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford, and Phil Collins' playing is all quite amazing as a whole unit, holding together some very complex music in a live setting". They judged all the recordings to be far superior to their studio originals.

Track listing

All songs by Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel,

Steve Hackett Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis ...

and

Mike Rutherford Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, co-founder of the rock band Genesis. Rutherford and keyboardist Tony Banks are the group's two continuous members. Initially servin ...

, except "The Knife", by Banks, Gabriel,

Anthony Phillips Anthony Edwin Phillips (born 23 December 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, producer and singer who gained prominence as the original lead guitarist of the rock band Genesis, from 1967 to 1970. He left in July 1970 and learned to play m ...

and Rutherford.

Original LP

2009 re-issue

Personnel

* Peter Gabriel – lead vocals, flute,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

, bass drum * Tony Banks – Hammond organ, Mellotron,

Hohner Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902). The roots of the Hohner firm are in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg. Since its foundation, and though known ...

Pianet The Hohner Pianet is a type of electro-mechanical piano built by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany and designed by Ernst Zacharias. The Pianet was a variant of his earlier reed-based Hohner electric piano, the Cembalet, which, lik ...

12-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

, backing vocals *

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, Dewtron "Mister Bassman" bass pedal synthesizer,

, backing vocals * Phil Collins – drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, backing vocals

Release history

All releases of ''Genesis Live'' on

in the U.S. were distributed by

Buddah Records Buddah Records (later known as Buddha Records) was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's foun ...

U.S. LP releases

Charisma Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects. Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...

CAS-1666 (1973): first issue with large Mad Hatter label. *

CAS-1666 (1973): second issue with pink scroll label. *

CAS-1666 (1974): third issue with small Mad Hatter label. *

81855-1 (1982): Reissue.

US CD releases

81855-2 (1988): First U.S. CD release. *

82676-2 (1994): Definitive Edition Remaster.

Charts

References

Citations Sources *

External links

{{Authority control 1973 live albums Genesis (band) live albums Atlantic Records live albums Virgin Records live albums Charisma Records live albums Albums produced by Phil Collins Albums produced by Tony Banks (musician) Albums produced by Mike Rutherford Albums produced by Peter Gabriel