When I was a kid I was not particularly into music. Of course I listened to it on the radio and I had a few records, but it took a while before I got obsessed with it. It was bands like Queen and ELO that first really got my attention. At some point I became aware of Genesis and I think that was when someone played the album Nursery Cryme to me. This was long after the album came out in 1971. By then Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett had left the band. Nursery Cryme was when the classic lineup came together with Gabriel, Hackett, Phil Collins, Tony Bands and Mike Rutherford. It is my opinion that the decade from around 1967 is one of the most creative in music history with many genres evolving then such as prog, heavy metal, glam and later punk.
I went on to acquire most of the Genesis albums. Some were on copied to cassette from various sources. It was only fairly recently that I got my own copy of Nursery Cryme and that was on CD. It still stands out as an excellent collection of songs.
The other day a friend directed me to this documentary about the album. There was plenty I did not know, but then I do not always study the history of artists I enjoy. It also has lots of good footage of the band at the time. I really wish I could have seen them live back then. Actually the only time I saw them live was a massive show at Knebworth park in the 90s.
I consider Nursery Cryme to be 'proper' English prog with songs based on ancient legends as well as stories they made up. It has comedy, and nostalgia. You have the orchestral sound of the Mellotron (which they apparently bought from King Crimson), but also Steve Hackett using tapping techniques on guitar long before Eddie Van Halen. Phil Collins sings on For Absent Friends, which is short, but delightful. Harold the Barrel is one of their comedy songs that must have been fun live. The musicianship and composition is excellent considering how young they all were.
It was many years after first hearing Genesis that I heard Big Big Train on a prog podcast and got a very similar vibe from them. They also had a singer who played flute, but unfortunately he died recently.
Fifty years on they are all still performing, but Collins is looking very frail now. He is touring again with Genesis. Their later albums were more pop, but they could still include extended and complex musical pieces. It looks like they still include some of the early songs on the current tour, but nothing from this album. I know there are some tribute acts, so maybe I need to check out one of those to get a flavour of what it would have been like half a century ago.
Good music is timeless.
