Tag: guitarist

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Anthony Phillips’s last gig with Genesis

Cover for one of the various editions of 'From Genesis to Revelation'

On 18 July 1970, Genesis played their last show with founding member and guitarist Anthony Phillips at Haywards Heath.

Charterhouse and ‘The Anon’

Anthony Phillips joined Charterhouse, a public school in Godalming, Surrey, in April 1965. Being a guitarist, he quickly formed a band there with his fellow pupils Richard MacPhail, Rivers Jobe, Rob Tyrell and Mike Rutherford. They named themselves Anon and played songs by The Rolling Stones1, The Beatles and several other pop groups of the era. They performed mostly at parties.

The first member to bring in an own song into Anon was Anthony Phillips: ‘Pennsylvania Flickhouse’. They booked an hour of studio time at Tony Pike’s studio in Putney, as Richard MacPhail remembers: ‘We piled all the gear in Ant’s mother’s Mercedes and got on a bus and I thought ‘An hour, on my God, what are we gonna do with a whole hour? Each song’s three minutes long, that means we’re gonna get about nine songs done.’ We just got one done and we had huge rails with Mr Pike because everything was of course too loud and he said ‘You’re gonna ruin my equipment!’, all that classic stuff that went on in those days in recording studios.’2

In December 1966, the group disbanded.

Anthony Phillips in Genesis

In 1967, Ant and his friend and fellow guitarist Mike Rutherford began writing music together. To record a demo, they asked another Charterhouse pupil, Tony Banks, if he could play organ on a song. Tony agreed under the condition that his mate Peter Gabriel could also come along and sing one of their songs. Both of them had also played in a band at Charterhouse, The Garden Wall. Ant and Mike agreed and soon, former Garden Wall drummer Chris Stewart joined the group.

The demo tape was given to producer Jonathan King, who signed them to his publishing company and they recorded some singles. King then named the group Genesis, and the group recorded their first studio album From Genesis to Revelation (1969). Like on the singles, King added strings arranged by Arthur Greenslade to the mix. To their frustration, the band only found out about the strings when listening to the finished version of From Genesis To Revelation with only Ant Phillips showing his anger by storming out of the studio.

By mid-1969, the boys’ parents wanted them to resume education. At Charterhouse, Ant began studying for further A levels to pursue a university degree. But Ant and Mike had been gripped by rock and roll and decided to become professional musicians. By the end of the summer of 1969, Peter and Tony joined them in their wish to become full-time musicians. They began writing music and touring the country from late 1969 to early 1970. ‘Yet, something was lacking‘, it is said in the press kit of Ant’s first solo album, ‘Phillips, perhaps because he was younger than the others found that life on the road was getting in the way of his writing.’3

The unhappiness and the stress began affecting Ant’s health and also he began suffering from stage fright: : ‘I was in Watford Tech, I remember playing the opening thing of ‘Let Us Now Make Love’ and I looked at the guitar and I thought ‘I haven’t got a clue what comes next’ and then I saw myself playing, but it was really scary.’4 Rich MacPhail remembers him playing a gig at Hackney where Ant was almost catatonic.5

Ant battled with the stage fright for three months thinking it was a passing phase and then fell ill with bronchial pneumonia: ‘Doctors were advising me to leave [the band]6‘, Ant says.

In June 1970, Genesis recorded their second album Trespass. Ant enjoyed working in the studio, but in July, they went straight back into band-life with little sleep, a lot of excitement and although Richard MacPhail tried his best to nourish his mates, pretty basic food. They were travelling and sleeping in their bread van or on floors: ‘We literally pitched up somewhere in the Midlands and we had nowhere to stay’, Ant recalls. ‘Too far to go back and some guy said: ‘Well, I know a guy with a bloody big house in Buxton’ and we stayed on the drafted floor of a bloody big house in Buxton.’7

Anthony Phillips leaves the band

Finally, Ant decided to leave Genesis. ‘I remember driving out with with Richard MacPhail who said ‘Can we have a word with you?”, Mike Rutherford remembers. ‘To the pitch at Richmond rugby ground after a soundcheck. Light was falling, it was a weird atmosphere and Ant said he wanted to leave. It was a huge shock to me.’8 Ant’s last show was at Haywards Heath on 18 July 1970.

Tony Banks says: ‘I thought it was the end of the group. He was vital to its formation and in many ways he was the strongest member. We felt that whatever was special about us was a combination of the four of us being together in the same room so I assumed that when he left, that was it.’9

Losing Ant ‘was the closest we came to busting up’, Mike Rutherford agrees. ‘For some reason we felt so close that if one left, we thought we couldn’t carry on. Of all the changes we’ve been through, surviving Ant leaving was the hardest.’10

The aftermath

After Ant’s departure, Genesis did not disband, but his influence remained. The acoustic beginning of the ‘The Musical Box’, the opening song of their next album Nursery Cryme, was based on an instrumental guitar piece by Mike and Ant called ‘F Sharp’.

Ant himself went into a hiatus. ‘I left Genesis in a cloud of dust’, he says. ‘I remember I was listening to Sibelius when I had one those strange revelations – that I was terribly limited.’11 He started studying various musical styles and in 1974, he began teaching music as a means to further explore the subject. In 1977 he said: ‘In the time since I left Genesis, I’ve studied classical guitar, piano, orchestration.’12 That same year he released his first solo album The Geese And The Ghost. Anthony Phillips is still active as a musician today.

Title photo: Cover of one of the various editions of From Genesis to Revelation

Footnotes

  1. To this day, Ant sends Christmas cards to Richard addressed to ‘Mick Phail’. ↩︎
  2. RICHARD MACPHAIL INTERVIEW Revised : GENESIS early years ↩︎
  3. “The Geese and The Ghost Press Kit“. Passport Records. 1977. pp. 2–3. ↩︎
  4. ANTHONY PHILLIPS UNFILTERED: GENESIS C0-FOUNDER IN CONVERSATION ↩︎
  5. RICHARD MACPHAIL INTERVIEW Revised : GENESIS early years. In fact, Anthony Phillips has not played live to this day. ↩︎
  6. Cherry Red Interview: Anthony Phillips Story – Part 1 – Interview by Mark Powell – 2014 ↩︎
  7. ANTHONY PHILLIPS UNFILTERED: GENESIS C0-FOUNDER IN CONVERSATION ↩︎
  8. MIKE RUTHERFORD UNFILTERED: GENESIS GUITARIST/COMPOSER IN CONVERSATION. Now Revised ↩︎
  9. Bowler, Dave; Dray, Bryan, Genesis. A biography. (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992), p. 35. ↩︎
  10. Ibid. ↩︎
  11. Hedges, Dan, ‘It’s that candour moment…’, Sounds (26 March 1977). ↩︎
  12. Ibid. ↩︎
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‘Gabriel Out Of Genesis?’ – Melody Maker 16th August 1975

The Melody Maker rumoured in its edition of 16 August 1975 about Peter Gabriel’s departure from Genesis.

Peter Gabriel left the band after the 1975 tour

After the The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway tour in 1975, lead singer Peter Gabriel left Genesis. The band did not announce his departure right away, but instead went into the studio to record what became their next album A Trick of The Tail and audition new singers. By August 1975, the press had heard rumours about Peter Gabriel’s decision to leave Genesis. On 16 August, the Melody Maker put a picture with him wearing the batwings on the cover and featured the headline GABRIEL OUT OF GENESIS?

Here’s the text from the Melody Maker’s front page:

GABRIEL OUT OF GENESIS?

PETER GABRIEL’S position in Genesis was uncertain this week as mounting speculation suggested he had quit the band.

Gabriel had remained incommunicado since the end of Genesis’ British tour in the Spring – he has refused repeated requests for interviews and reliable sources told the Melody Maker this week that he has decided to leave the band.

The speculation comes as various members of Genesis are becoming increasingly involved in solo projects. Guitarist Steve Hackett has finished work on his first solo album and Michael Rutherford, the bass player, is also planning to record. Phil Collins, the band’s drummer, has been playing with his own pub group.

Commenting on the reports of a split, the band’s manager Tony Smith told the MM: “The group are being rather broody at the moment, but this happens every year when they are thinking and writing for the next LP.“

And Tony Stratton-Smith, head of Genesis’ record label, Charisma, said: “Peter has been involved with one or two summer projects including producing a single for Charlie Drake.” Both Smith and Stratton-Smith, however, denied a split in Genesis.

Genesis manager Tony Smith first denied the rumours, but a week later, the band announced it officially and explained that they were searching for a new singer. Hardly did they know that the singer was already in the group: Their drummer Phil Collins. But that’s another story.

Title photo: Melody Maker 16 August 1975: Gabriel out of Genesis?

Listen to recordings from The Lamb tour on “Genesis – BBC Broadcasts” – Get it here!*

Genesis Music on Amazon*

*= Affiliate Link

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Steve Hackett’s First Gig with Genesis: A Nervous Start to a New Era

On January 14, 1971, Genesis played a gig at University College, London, marking the live debut of their new guitarist, Steve Hackett. For Hackett, this night would become a memorable, albeit nerve-wracking, chapter in his career with the band.

Joining Genesis: A Classical Touch

Steve Hackett joined Genesis in late 1970, following an audition that showcased his unique style. Hackett brought a blend of classical, jazz, and blues influences, developed since his childhood in Pimlico. Inspired by The Beatles, Bach, and George Martin’s orchestrations, Hackett’s approach to guitar was more compositional than flashy—something Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel recognized during his audition. “We thought that some of what he did would fit really well,” Banks later recalled, praising Hackett’s classical edge.1

Before the audition, Hackett had advertised in Melody Maker for years and had gained limited recording experience with the band Quiet World. But when he joined Genesis, he knew this was his opportunity to make a lasting impact.

The Big Night: January 14, 1971

By the time Hackett stepped onstage for the first time as a member of Genesis, the band had already begun evolving into a cohesive unit. Phil Collins, who had joined a few months earlier, had quickly become a vital part of their sound. Mike Rutherford, having the dual roles on bass and rhythm guitar, was developing as a rhythm guitarist, while Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks remained the creative core.

The University College gig, however, was not an auspicious start. Hackett was understandably nervous, and the evening presented several challenges. Equipment problems—a recurring issue for Genesis in their early days—plagued the performance. Hackett’s borrowed fuzz box malfunctioned.

“I found his playing a little stiff”, Phil Collins later said, “but I guess that was the Fripp influence. I like Robert, I played with him on his solo album, he was always very good to me, but I don’t think he’s a very intuitive player. He was a kind of sound man without the feeling. I think Steve took a little bit of that into his music. It wasn’t a groove, you know, and as a drummer that was really where I lived.”2

Adding to the chaos on that first night, Collins decided to test the limits of his ability to drum after consuming Newcastle Brown Ale. According to Collins, “I was doing perfect drum fills – three inches to the left of every drum.”3 The resulting performance left the band frazzled.

Misunderstandings and Lessons Learned

Backstage, Hackett misinterpreted a heated discussion among the band members as criticism of his performance. In reality, Banks and Rutherford were admonishing Collins for his ale-induced drumming experiment. Sound mixer Richard MacPhail tried to reassure Hackett after the gig, leading him offstage after saying, “It’s over now, Steve.”4 Despite his doubts, Hackett’s contributions impressed the group, and they encouraged him to stay.

Building Momentum

The difficult debut was only the beginning. Hackett and Rutherford soon developed intricate ideas for their twin twelve-string guitars, which was a hallmark of Genesis’ sound. The band spent the rest of 1971 refining their music, writing and rehearsing material for what would become their first album with Hackett, Nursery Cryme. During the “Six Bob Tour” with Lindisfarne and Van der Graaf Generator, Genesis started gaining traction with audiences, performing in town halls and small venues across Britain.

By mid-1971, Genesis was playing bigger stages, including the Reading Festival and their first overseas gig in Belgium. Hackett’s insistence on acquiring a Mellotron MK II and new equipment pushed the band towards a more sophisticated sound.

A New Genesis

Hackett’s intricate guitar work and compositional mindset enriched Genesis’ music. Though his first gig was rocky, Hackett proved to be a vital addition to the band, helping shape their identity.

While that night at University College on January 14, 1971, may not have gone as planned, it set the stage for the musical evolution to come.

Title photo: Wikimedia Commons, Jeff Wurstner / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)

Sources

Fielder, Hugh; Sutcliffe, Phil, The book of Genesis. (London: Sidgewick & Jackson, 1984).

PHIL COLLINS FULL 2-HOUR INTERVIEW: HIS CAREER WITH GENESIS TO 1980.

STEVE HACKETT FULL INTERVIEW- Revised : MY GENESIS YEARS.

TONY BANKS UNFILTERED: GENESIS KEYBOARD PLAYER & COMPOSER IN CONVERSATION . FULL.. 1 Hour 53 Mins.

  1. TONY BANKS UNFILTERED: GENESIS KEYBOARD PLAYER & COMPOSER IN CONVERSATION . FULL.. 1 Hour 53 Mins. ↩︎
  2. PHIL COLLINS FULL 2-HOUR INTERVIEW: HIS CAREER WITH GENESIS TO 1980. ↩︎
  3. Fielder 1984: 54. ↩︎
  4. STEVE HACKETT FULL INTERVIEW- Revised : MY GENESIS YEARS. ↩︎