The Genesis of Genesis: The Story of 'The Garden Wall'
Founding member of Genesis Tony Banks speaks to The Sound Of The Crowd about the origins of the legendary band.
Genesis are one of those bands that have been going for such a long time, that if you compare one of their earlier albums with one of their later albums, it will sound like two different groups- and I don't just mean 'different' as in they've used a different synthesiser, or used an electric rather than an acoustic guitar, or had a different lead singer (all three of which did happen, but none of which were necessarily the sole factors in defining their sound as a group). What I mean is, they literally sound like two completely different bands making two completely different styles of music.
Some people may argue that this was because of the group's change in lead singer; in 1975, original singer Peter Gabriel left the band in order to pursue a solo career, and Phil Collins went from being the band's drummer, to their full-time lead singer/frontman. In many people's eyes this is the point where the band suddenly changed from being 'progressive' (apparently appealing only to teenage boys with long, greasy hair and Afghan coats) to 'commercial' (appealing to pretty much everyone from children, to housewives, to businessmen).
This is most certainly not the case. The first album recorded with Collins on vocals - 1976's 'A Trick of the Tail' - was perhaps more progressive and unpredictable than Genesis' final Gabriel-led offering (1974's ground-breaking double album 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, which consisted primarily of either majestic or nursery rhyme-esque melodies framed by Gabriel's absurdly fantastical lyrics), but still works incredibly well. The album itself also takes a significant step forwards from the previous one in terms of sound quality, due to the utilisation of new production techniques, as well as song quality. These were no longer six or seven minute songs that, taken out of the context of the album, didn't make a lot of sense. These songs were shorter and more concise - they told their own stories.
For a prog band, this was almost a revelation; it made Genesis a great deal more accessible to a much greater number of people, the proof of which is in the fact that whilst 'The Lamb...' managed to reach the applaudable position of number ten in the UK charts, 'A Trick of the Tail' reached the dizzying heights of UK number three.
However, the aim of this article is not to defend Collins as a prog rock singer (although it might, at this point, seem to be going that way). It is to prove that Genesis, as a band, were capable of changing, adapting and altering their style whilst retaining every scrap of originality that they had at their formation in 1968. And, just to prove that I am not just here to defend Collins, I'll tell you that this can be seen right at the beginning of the band's career- before 1983's four times platinum self-titled album that put them firmly on the musical map as a 'pop' group, before the conceptuality of 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway', before the cut-and-paste songs of 'Trespass'. In fact, it can even be seen before Collins was a member of Genesis (and yes, that point does actually exist).
Before Collins was a member, what was to become Genesis could have been said to have existed in the form of two groups, that saw their inception in the unlikely of places - renowned public school Charterhouse, located in leafy Godalming, Surrey.
These groups were The Anon (featuring future Genesis members Mike Rutherford and Ant Phillips) and The Garden Wall (formed in 1965 by future Genesis members Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel after they met in 1963 and discovered their shared dislike for life at Charterhouse, as well as first Genesis drummer Chris Stewart).
Tony Banks himself kindly agreed to talk to me about his experiences in 'The Garden Wall' and how, despite the fact they only ever played one gig and never released any material, they really were the genesis of Genesis...
How did it all start?
I'd always had a dream of being in a group, although I'd played mainly classical music up until then. [Pete and I] started a bit of writing and it just went from there, really...it was only ever meant to be a bit of fun at school. Even just being in a band was semi-forbidden at Charterhouse anyway- because it was a public boarding school it was very strict.
['Strict' being the right word- at one point, when he was a member of the Anon, Mike Rutherford had his guitar confiscated by his house-master (for no other real reason except that any music except classical was often frowned upon in schools such as Charterhouse at that time), so he was forced to temporarily leave the group.]
Who would you say were your main musical influences when you started playing?
The Beatles- they were a major influence. And the Kinks. More soulful stuff as well...Otis Redding, Ben E King, Bob and Earl, and a lot of Tamla Motown like The Four Tops. We were lucky really because there was a lot of good music around at the time that we could be influenced by.
Was there an aim in terms of what you wanted your music to sound like?
To start with- pop music with more brass! 'When A Man Loves A Woman', 'I Am A Rock' and that sort of thing. I think we aimed for a kind of 'Beau Brummell' look [elegantly dressed, inspired by the iconic arbiter of the same name, of men's regency fashion] as well. It was all pretty rough to start with though...we weren't really sure what we wanted or what we were aiming for. That was why it was exciting! Saying that, at that stage, I don't think anybody who was playing music at Charterhouse really knew where it was going either.
Like The Anon, for example? Do you remember anything about them?
There was a guy called Richie McFail with them, Mike [Rutherford] played rhythm guitar, and I remember Ant Phillips playing a Fender Stratocaster. Ant and Mike were probably writing songs at that point as well, I imagine, like Pete and I were. I think [The Anon] actually went and recorded a song that Ant had written, as well. [They did- it was indeed a Phillips composition and was titled 'Pennsylvania Flickhouse'].
Peter Gabriel was famous for his 'eccentric' costumes when he was onstage with Genesis. Was there ever any of that with The GW?
Well, we only actually ever played one gig so it was a bit difficult to tell! I remember him wearing hats he'd found in his his parents' attic and that sort of thing.
According to some people's accounts, Peter finished that gig by showering the audience with rose petals!
He might well have done! That was the thing with Pete, he loved showing off, so that was the sort of thing he would do.
Did you ever feel like you wanted to be the frontman or the singer yourself?
Not really! I always thought Pete had a wonderful voice and that he did a very good job doing what he did in Genesis. Obviously I did backing vocals sometimes. I actually used to play a lot of guitar as well...I did quite a bit of the first four or five minutes of 'Supper's Ready' [Genesis' twenty-three minute epic, featured on their 1972 album 'Foxtrot'].
Would you say that anything else, apart from those things you mentioned, that you did in The Garden Wall had an effect on anything you did later on in Genesis?
Well, we had written quite a few songs by that point, probably about 40-50, and the better things we'd written during that time [that we were in The Garden Wall] were probably on the first album. That was quite a big thing, really. As I said before, though, it was all a bit rough,
Saying that, if our first single [1968's 'The Silent Sun', taken from debut album 'From Genesis To Revelation] had been a hit, our career would probably have been a lot shorter, so maybe it was good that they were a bit rougher than we maybe would have liked!
I think that a lot of the classical playing I did when we were at Charterhouse influenced some later Genesis albums as well, especially 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'.
Did you ever imagine that what you were doing in The Garden Wall at Charterhouse would be what you were did for a living in the future?
Being the age that we were, and even once we'd left Charterhouse, I suppose I didn't really have a clue! We were fresh out of public school- we really didn't know what was coming.
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