A Story Rediscovered: The Genesis Rock Opera That Time Forgot
Many of us love it when we read about yet another recording being unearthed from one of those all but forgotten groups that existed during the late 1960s, and which then becomes available to hear.
Well, if that sounds like the kind of thrill that gets you excited, that turns you on and floats your boat etc, then I’m guessing this recently issued long player by a group who originally called themselves Genesis will be something that fits the bill.
Originating from the town of Luton, in Bedfordshire, not too far beyond the outer periphery of London, one or two members played in a group called the Mantis Set, although the group’s ambitious ideas for starting something more adventurous than playing mostly soul covers first coalesced within a unit named Regency 5. Lead guitarist / vocalist Barry ‘Snip’ Turner, meanwhile, was part of local HMV recording artists Bryan & the Brunelles who recorded the great ‘Jacqueline’ single in 1965 — a song rediscovered by most of us who know of its existence through its inclusion on the third volume of the ‘English Freakbeat’ compilation series from the late 1980s.
The Genesis ‘A Story By The Genesis’ contains a fascinating selection of songs and themes written and taped around a similar (pre- The Who’s ‘Tommy’) timeframe, as was, of course, the Pretty Things’ magical testament to psychedelic rock, the concept album ‘S.F. Sorrow’; although there are one or two elements which, stylistically, are cut from similar cloth, these two projects are distinct and very different sounding from each other — so don’t expect this to be the same kind of full-blown lysergic trip that the Pretties created!
It’s also worth pointing out here that these Luton town dwellers were already using the name Genesis and playing gigs as early as summer 1968, as is detailed in the attendant ephemera shown inside the LP’s gatefold. However, it was deemed to be a safer option that, should the group use that name for this newly released album, they should at least preface it with the definite article, hence The Genesis. It is hoped this action will help prevent any writs coming in from the much more famous Anthony Philips, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks etc aggregation of the same name. OK Steve Hackett, Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel too!
With the majority of songs being composed by piano and organ player / vocalist Chris Stokes, and the bulk of the lyrics supplied by bass guitarist Steve ‘Siggi’ Holmes, ‘A Story By The Genesis’ begins with a hypnotic, gorgeously melodic piece called ‘Reflections’, split into two parts, ‘Reflections’ and ‘Childhood’ which, with its appealing universality, recounts those endless summer days, the fairground, the holidays and the seasons that many of us would’ve enjoyed as children. This is followed by ‘Nightmares’ which, lyrically speaking, is one of the album’s strangest cuts. Whether subconsciously or otherwise, these have a noticeable Beatles influence, evident within both the lyrics and music; as a great many other recording artists of the period also reflected to a greater or lesser degree. But this sounds truly authentic and heartfelt, not just some unoriginal, half-baked ideas stuck together to hope for the best. This is genuinely poetic and worthy of our attention.
Each of the album’s twelve pieces offers up an intriguing / engaging sound journey which successfully takes the listener through this imaginative, wonderfully creative as well as highly dramatic life cycle wherein we first hear of a young boy who, we are told, turns into a
‘Lazy Teenager’ before growing up, seemingly so, into a ‘Happy Man’ who sometime later meets the love of his life. The two are soon married but their feelings change through time and they begin to lose sight of the love they once had for each other. From thereon in the narrative turns into a somewhat gothic horror novella depicting instances of personal carnage with everything beginning to fall apart around them; there’s drunkenness, cruel things thought and said, distrust creeps in, unfaithfulness is alleged… all of which leads to ‘Hate’. The song cycle protagonist then hatches a most horrific plan to rid himself of his wife and — in a moment of uncontrolled madness — hauntingly intoned by the somewhat surprising not to mention scary sounding ‘I’m gonna kiiiiiiiiiiilllll you’ utterance – he resolves to commit ‘Murder’.
This harrowing set of events leads on to ‘The Trial’, another of the tracks played out in two parts. During the final suite of songs our psychopathic narrator divulges that he is in fact insane; however, as this wasn’t mentioned pre-trial the judge tells him it’s too late for such a revelation to have any positive bearing on the outcome. And so now he must instead prepare for his and demise. The circumstances surrounding this ultimate penalty the man must pay are played out in ‘Last Night’, ‘Death’ and the closing cut ‘L.O.V.E.’ (given the subtitle ‘Life Of Varying Eternity’).
Phew, this is all pretty emotionally draining stuff. Lyrically, the narrative goes from joyous innocence and gentle observation in the narrator’s early years, before it burrows into some truly shocking, deep and dark sides of humanity. Yet too there’s also a playfulness and clever musicality being demonstrated; often through a plethora of jaunty sounding melodies which are in evidence across both sides. The group, which also included Derek ‘Jock’ Carleton on guitar and vocals and, initially, Mick Loughton on drums, who was replaced just before the group began recording by Richard Powell, appear to be just as at home whether it’s progressive pop style material they’re playing or when they turn their collective hand to crafting some finely-woven, pastoral psychedelic sounds. Stokes’ deft use of particular piano and organ patterns which are coupled with some mesmerising flute throughout some numbers lends the material a classically-infused perspective. There’s also effective use of heavier Hammond organ sounds here and there, enhanced occasionally with some cool wah-wah attack. Also happening across most of the tracks is some tasty guitar playing, with at least one or two selections deploying a jazzier sounding approach instead of the more commonplace rock / pop progressions, riffs and licks. And having it all curated in this way, I believe ‘A Story By The Genesis’ sounds all the better for it.
Nothing is ever ragingly heavy sounding throughout the album (save for the subject matter itself, of course, which, at times, is decidedly so), when compared to the likes of the Pretties’ aforementioned ‘S.F. Sorrow’, and there’s nothing as spaced-out sounding as, say, Pink Floyd’s ‘Piper At The Gates Of Dawn’ but in and through this enthralling project there are definite elements which brings to mind other works; including the Zombies ‘Odyssey and Oracle’, the End’s ‘Introspection’, the Kinks too from around that same period and, aside from the aforementioned Beatles influence, some folks have also mentioned the work of Procol Harum. So you know that a fairly diverse palette of sounds have gone into the making of the album. Moreover, what is most important to realise here is that ‘A Story By The Genesis’ is a most excellent listening experience in its own right and, in a just world, should go on to receive the plaudits and accolades it so richly deserves. With each fresh listen, it brings more thrilling surprises from both its lyrical strands and its wide-ranging musical framework to the fore. One can easily imagine this Genesis variant, had they been afforded the luxury of their album being released by a major label at the time, becoming a successful name on the rock scene and going on to create more scintillating treasures well into the fresh decade which would’ve soon awaited them.
Hand Of Glory’s Will Twynham serendipitously brought this album into existence whilst in the process of buying an old keyboard online. The seller was the Genesis group’s chief songwriter Chris Stokes, who, aside from including a couple of soundclips of the keyboard in use – a Hohner Cembalet – Stokes further revealed to Twynham that he had a huge cache of tape reels which included this here, hitherto unreleased, full-on rock opera project that his group had recorded in January 1969. The album cover, a stark, off-white presentation, with a front cover illustration by Patrick Bryan, was designed by Matt Kaiser, original guitarist with Edinburgh’s early Merseybeat-style rockers the Kaisers – is a joy to hold and to pore over. There’s an insert featuring a cool, insightful text by Hand Of Glory’s Mary Epworth and the gatefold opens to reveal the Genesis posing in all their thoroughly flamboyant, groovily psychedelic threads, taken in 1968. In one or two of the photos they look a pretty outrageous bunch; a cross between Kaleidoscope (U.K.), ’67 Pink Floyd and the Accent (‘Red Sky At Night’).
To conclude, a major coup also occurred as the album was being readied for release, when Hand Of Glory were successful in getting major television coverage on the BBC’s national ‘News At Ten’ programme which featured the group’s Chris Stokes and Snip Turner, as well as Will Twynham from the label, talking about this extraordinary release, now finally happening a mere fifty six years after it was recorded. ‘A Story By The Genesis’ is available on vinyl and CD with the vinyl edition being a strictly limited pressing, so best get on it double quick if you want to avoid any disappointment.
Lenny Helsing
‘A Story By The Genesis’ by The Genesis (Hand of Glory Records)
