Show #47: Genesis - It's Been A Long, Long Time (Mini)
The week of mini shows featuring the dreaded progressive rock continues today with Genesis.
After nearly 26 years with the band, Phil Collins left Genesis and moved to Switzerland to be with his 23 year-old hottie girlfriend, Orianne Cevey. This left the group without a singer. Who, oh who, would remaining members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford get to sing?!
After writing some material and auditioning for a replacement, the band finally settled on Ray Wilson, formerly of Stiltskin.
The band recorded Calling All Stations which was released in September of 1997. Several special promotional shows were performed in Europe in addition to the usual tour dates. The set at hand was culled from one such performance the group did on 13 December 1997 at RTL Studios in Paris, France. The tour resurrected some older songs and also included a small acoustic set for the first time in the history of the band. The acoustic guitar was a prominent feature of Genesis concerts until 1977 when guitarist Steve Hackett left. Bassist Mike Rutherford took on guitar duties but he wasn't enthralled with classical guitar as Hackett was. The acoustic guitar was rarely used from then on and songs featuring it were generally not played live. And so the acoustic set was a real treat for fans, not only because of the return of the instrument in the band's sound but also because some older tunes were trotted out and given the acoustic treatment. The set here is rather nice because it spans the entire history of the band with a couple numbers from the Peter Gabriel era, one from the Phil Collins era, and one new tune.
Setlist:
Not About Us
Dancing With the Moonlit Knight
Follow You, Follow Me
Lover's Leap (from Supper's Ready)
Download Show
Genesis
After nearly 26 years with the band, Phil Collins left Genesis and moved to Switzerland to be with his 23 year-old hottie girlfriend, Orianne Cevey. This left the group without a singer. Who, oh who, would remaining members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford get to sing?!
After writing some material and auditioning for a replacement, the band finally settled on Ray Wilson, formerly of Stiltskin.
The band recorded Calling All Stations which was released in September of 1997. Several special promotional shows were performed in Europe in addition to the usual tour dates. The set at hand was culled from one such performance the group did on 13 December 1997 at RTL Studios in Paris, France. The tour resurrected some older songs and also included a small acoustic set for the first time in the history of the band. The acoustic guitar was a prominent feature of Genesis concerts until 1977 when guitarist Steve Hackett left. Bassist Mike Rutherford took on guitar duties but he wasn't enthralled with classical guitar as Hackett was. The acoustic guitar was rarely used from then on and songs featuring it were generally not played live. And so the acoustic set was a real treat for fans, not only because of the return of the instrument in the band's sound but also because some older tunes were trotted out and given the acoustic treatment. The set here is rather nice because it spans the entire history of the band with a couple numbers from the Peter Gabriel era, one from the Phil Collins era, and one new tune.
Setlist:
Not About Us
Dancing With the Moonlit Knight
Follow You, Follow Me
Lover's Leap (from Supper's Ready)
Download Show
Genesis
posted by Palmer at 6:17 AM
4 Comments:
While I like Ray's voice and thought that it worked well with some of the new songs, I think it was a horrible decision for Tony and Mike to carry forward as Genesis. It was bad enough when Peter left, then worse when Steve departed ... but to go with only two original members and a singer close to half their age was a recipe for disaster.
-- david
I don't think it was a horrible decision to carry on but I do think they should have gotten a full-time drummer and included everyone in the song writing process. Most of the songs on CAS were pretty weak and most of the drumming sounds like the guys were told to just replicate the drum machines on the demos rather than do what they do best.
I think Ray was excellent. He had a voice that was in the mid between Gabriel and Collins. On Calling All Stations I thought he sounded superb, and his voice really worked well on some of the older Genesis tunes. The problem, pointed out previously, was no writing continuity. The 2 things that did them in, I think, is that they did not hire Ray and THEN write the album....the basically brought him in to sing their songs. And the other is that they made the decision to carry on, which I was glad for, but they swung so far in the other direction moodwise, from Collins pop to dark and moody angst with Wilson, that they alienated their pop fans. CAS is an underrated album and I hate how Ray was given the short shrift and basically taking the blame for the failure of the album to take off in the US. I would have loved to see what they had done together writing as a team for the contracted second album, and I wish they had included him in the Carpet Crawlers remake with Pete and Phil instead of inviting him and then uninviting him. As a group, they've lost some of my respect for their treatment of a guy who had incredible amounts of pressure foisted on him and who, when taken on its own merits, performed very well for them.
Any shows in your possession with Ray fronting the gang in Europe?
Don't get me wrong, I liked Ray's voice quite a bit. I too wished they'd carried on with Ray but included him in the songwriting process. And a live drummer too.
Yes, I have several shows with Ray. Do you have one in particular that you'd like to hear?
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