From Genesis to Revelation

From Genesis to Revelation
Studio album by Genesis
Released	7 March 1969
Recorded	August 1968 at Regent Studios, London
Genre	Baroque pop
Length	43:25
Label	Decca (UK) London (USA)
Producer	Jonathan King
Genesis chronology
From Genesis to Revelation (1969) Trespass (1970)

From Genesis to Revelation is the first album by Genesis, released in March 1969 on Decca Records in England (London Records in North America). It was produced by Jonathan King, who discovered them in 1967 while the members of Genesis were pupils at Charterhouse School, King's alma mater.

Production

Genesis originally consisted of Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, and Anthony Phillips, without a drummer. Once one of their demo tapes caught the attention of Jonathan King, he took them under his wing and, with the addition of schoolmate Chris Stewart on drums, recorded "The Silent Sun" as their first single. It was later described by the band as a "Bee Gees pastiche" written specifically to win King's approval. Its February 1968 release on Decca Records was not a commercial success. Neither was the follow-up "A Winter's Tale" three months later. After replacing Chris Stewart with John Silver, King had them compose an album of songs loosely based on the Bible. The album was recorded in August 1968 during school holidays, and later overdubbed with strings and horns, to the band's chagrin. King sequenced the songs together like a concept album, with no gaps in between the tracks.

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Sputnikmusic	(2.0) (Poor)

From Genesis to Revelation was issued several months later in a black sleeve with its title scribed in gothic gold on the top lefthand side. With little else to go by, the record shops stacked the LP in the religious sections. Its initial sales tally was 650 copies. Once the band began achieving worldwide success, From Genesis to Revelation briefly dented the US charts in 1974, peaking at #170.

The band's name was omitted from the sleeve because Decca had recently discovered that an obscure American act was also calling itself Genesis and asked the band to consider changing its name to avoid confusion, which King declined. The American "Genesis" in question was likely the LA-based group that released an LP called In The Beginning on the Mercury label in 1967.

Aftermath

Genesis split with both Decca and Jonathan King, preferring to strike out on their own musical terms. Although King had more experience and was aiming to present Genesis in a marketable way, they were feeling more and more constrained by King's attempts to curtail and limit their increasingly lengthy and adventurous new compositions. The band went professional in the autumn of 1969, and after replacing John Silver with John Mayhew on drums, Genesis began formulating the music that would lead to Trespass the following year and were soon signed to Charisma Records. Despite their artistic disagreements with King, Rutherford maintains that Genesis owes the producer a debt of gratitude:

Jonathan King, for all his faults - he has a funny reputation in England - did give us a fantastic opportunity. Because in those days, in England, you couldn't get in the studio. I mean, now a new group can very easily get a chance to go and record a single, just something, you know, to show there's something going for them. In those days, to get any sort of record contract, was really magical. And he gave us a chance to do a whole record. You've got a bunch of musicians who were really amateur, could barely play well, were barely a group, and were able to go in one summer holiday and make a record.

Although initially released on Decca Records, From Genesis to Revelation has since been licensed to many smaller labels, who often issue it with different artwork or different titles. It is because of these licensing reasons that the album was excluded from the 2008 box set, "Genesis 1970–1975", which covers the rest of the band's era with singer Peter Gabriel.

On 27 July 1990, the album was reissued in a two disc set. The second disc included the four tracks included on And the Word Was....., four early versions of songs on the album, and ten interviews.

On 25 October 2010, the album was released as a special edition on iTunes. It includes the bonus tracks from the 1990 reissue.

Track listing

All songs by Tony Banks/Peter Gabriel/Anthony Phillips/Mike Rutherford. Copyright Jonjo Music Co. Ltd.

Original 1969 Release

Side 1:

1. "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet" – 3:16
2. "In the Beginning" – 3:47
3. "Fireside Song" – 4:20
4. "The Serpent" – 4:40
5. "Am I Very Wrong?" – 3:33
6. "In the Wilderness" – 3:33

Side 2:

1. "The Conqueror" – 3:42
2. "In Hiding" – 2:40
3. "One Day" – 3:22
4. "Window" – 3:35
5. "In Limbo" – 3:32
6. "Silent Sun" – 2:15
7. "A Place to Call My Own" – 2:00

And the Word Was... (1987 Reissue)

1. "The Silent Sun (mono)" – 2:17
2. "That's Me (mono)" – 2:41
3. "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet" – 3:16
4. "In the Beginning" – 3:44
5. "Fireside Song" – 4:58
6. "The Serpent" – 3:58
7. "Am I Very Wrong?" – 3:31
8. "In the Wilderness" – 3:39
9. "The Conqueror" – 3:22
10. "In Hiding" – 2:38
11. "One Day" – 3:21
12. "Window" – 3:33
13. "In Limbo" – 3:30
14. "Silent Sun" – 2:13
15. "A Place to Call My Own" – 1:59
16. "A Winter's Tale (mono)" – 3:31
17. "One-Eyed Hound (mono)" – 2:36

Bonus Disc (1990 Reissue)

1. "A Winter's Tale" – 3:31
2. "One-Eyed Hound" – 2:31
3. "That's Me" – 2:38
4. "Silent Sun (Single Version)" – 2:12
5. "Image Blown Out" – 2:11
6. "She is Beautiful" – 3:46
7. "Try a Little Sadness" – 3:18
8. "Patricia" – 3:05
9. "Interviews" – 21:53

Bonus Disc (2005 Reissue)

1. "Patricia (demo 1967)" – 3:08
2. "Try a Little Sadness (demo 1967)" – 3:21
3. "She is Beautiful (demo 1967)" – 3:48
4. "Image Blown Out (demo)" – 2:49
5. "The Silent Sun (single A-side)" – 2:15
6. "That's Me (single B-side)" – 2:40
7. "A Winter's Tale (single A-side)" – 3:32
8. "One-Eyed Hound (single B-side)" – 2:34
9. "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet (demo 1968)" – 3:16
10. "In the Beginning (demo 1968)" – 3:32
11. "In the Wilderness (rough mix without strings 1968)" – 2:59
12. "One Day (rough mix 1968)" – 3:08
13. "Image Blown Out (rough mix 1968)" – 2:13

Related Songs

1. "Hidden in the World of Dawn" – 3:10
2. "Sea Bee" – 3:05
3. "The Mystery of the Flannan Isle Lighthouse" – 2:36
4. "Hair on the Arms and Legs" – 2:42
   • Tracks 1–4 are 1967 demos
5. "The Magic of Time" – 2:01
6. "Hey!" – 2:28
   • Tracks 5–6 are 1968 demos
7. "Build Me a Mountain" – 4:13
   • 1968 rough mix

All these tracks are available on Genesis Archive 1967-75 released in 1998.

Tour

Main article: The Early Gigs

Personnel

• Peter Gabriel – vocals, flute
• Anthony Phillips – guitar, vocals
• Tony Banks – organ, piano, vocals
• Mike Rutherford – bass guitar, guitar, vocals
• John Silver – drums, vocals, except on "Silent Sun"
• Chris Stewart – drums on "Silent Sun"

• Strings & Horns Arranged & Conducted By Arthur Greenslade & Lou Warburton

Production

• Produced By Jonathan King
• Recorded & Engineered By Brian Roberts & Tom Allom

Releases

UK LP Releases

• Decca LK 4990 (1969): Mono 1st issue, contains insert with art, lyrics and credits. Record has red labels with an unboxed Decca logo and a red "peep hole" on the back of the cover. Mono copies are extremely rare and fetch very high prices (upwards of $1,200 USD for a copy in good condition).
• Decca SKL 4990 (1969): Stereo 1st issue, contains insert with art, lyrics and credits. Record has blue labels and a blue "peep hole" on the back of the cover.
  • On the labels, 1st issues contain both the boxed Decca logo and the unboxed logo. The labels were used interchangeably. The unboxed logos are more rare.
• Decca SKL 4990 (1974): Reissue, retitled In The Beginning

U.S. LP Releases

• London XPS 643 (1974): 1st issue, with art, lyrics and credits.
• London LC50006 (1977): 2nd issue, retitled In the Beginning
• London 820 496-2 (1987): CD reissue, retitled And the Word Was.....
  • This release included four additional mono tracks. The first two appear before the contents of the original album (which are in stereo), the other two afterward:
    • A mono version of "The Silent Sun"
    • "That's Me"
    • "A Winter's Tale"
    • "One-Eyed Hound"
  • This reissue marked the first U.S. availability of From Genesis to Revelation on CD. It was apparently meant to capitalise upon the group's (and likely Gabriel's) surging popularity in the U.S., as suggested by the timing of its release (closely on the heels of Invisible Touch) and its liner notes which document the band's early history, up to …And Then There Were Three…, which was not familiar to most of the group's American audience.

External links

• From Genesis to Revelation at Discogs (list of releases)