Welcome to Genesis Photographs
Having seen Genesis support Lindisfarne at The Top Rank in Brighton on 27th October 1972 I became a huge Genesis fan. The band was promoting the Foxtrot album. I really liked the progressive movement in music and was enjoying King Crimson, Yes and Pink Floyd, but Genesis surpassed these for me. The melodies, the complex instrumentation and Peter Gabriel’s stunning stage performances and charisma were outstanding. Peter is the best stage performer and showman I had seen and, for that matter, have ever seen.
I went to see the band a second time on Tuesday 7th November 1972 at Fairfield Halls Croydon, and to see Suppers Ready played live was just fantastic. The encore was usually The Knife which created a brilliant atmosphere. Peter Gabriel’s storytelling and vocals were very original, Phil Collins inventive complex drumming, Tony Banks soaring melodies and keyboard gymnastics, Mike Rutherford’s dramatic bass and Steve Hackett’s inimitable guitar parts.
It’s hard to describe the excitement at hearing this music. I immediately bought Nursery Cryme, Trespass and Genesis to Revelation and listened to them constantly until Selling England by The Pound was released.
I also went to se the band live whenever they were anywhere near. The ticket price was 12s 6d old money relating to about 62p now!
I took the images on the right with black and white 35mm photographs in 1973 at the Brighton Dome.
I sent one of the live photographs to the band at Charisma records as a Christmas card and shortly after received a call from Tony Smith asking if I would like to take photographs of the band at Headley Grange where they were working on the recording of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
Headley Grange
Headley Grange, a former poorhouse in Headley, East Hampshire, England, is best known as a rehearsal and recording venue in the 1960s and 1970s for bands such as Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, Peter Frampton, the Pretty Things, Ian Dury and Clover.
July 1974 I was taken to Headley Grange, a manor house in Hampshire in Tony Smith’s speedy Bentley where I took a series of both colour and black and white photographs on my Rolleiflex 6cm x 6cm format camera.
The original negatives have been scanned at the highest resolution. I have personally adjusted the images to produce the best quality images which are printed using archival quality inks.
Brighton Dome
These photographs were all taken without flash from my position in the audience on a 35mm reflex camera. This was at a time when there were no phone cameras and these photographs taken on the Selling England By The Pound tour rouse some vivid memories of the fantastic Genesis performances at that time. Peter Gabriel’s charisma was second to none. Brilliant mix of music and performance, very original in its day and concerts that those that were there will remember with great fondness forever.
Hammersmith Odeon
These photographs were taken from the audience position with my 35mm single lens reflex camera after Peter had left the band and Phil was now on vocals. The major difference was that the stage sound was massively improved for this tour and the music of Trick of The Tail and Wind and Wuthering. Lighting had also become a major feature as Peter’s theatrical performances were no longer.
All the photographs on Genesis Pictures are completely exclusive and have never been available until now.