Nursery Cryme
Nursery Cryme | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 12 November 1971 | |||
Recorded | 2 August – 10 September 1971 | |||
Studio | Trident Studios, London | |||
Genre | Progressive rock | |||
Length | 39:39 | |||
Label | Charisma | |||
Producer | John Anthony | |||
Genesis chronology | ||||
|
Nursery Cryme is the third
Following extensive touring in support of their previous album
The band toured the UK and Europe for one year to promote the album, which raised their profile in both territories. The tour included a successful Italian leg in April 1972, where the group played to enthusiastic crowds. Nursery Cryme was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry in 2013.
Background
Genesis recorded their first album as a professional outfit, Trespass in June 1970, but immediately afterwards, founding member and guitarist Anthony Phillips quit owing to increased stress and unhappiness in touring.[1] The other founders—singer Peter Gabriel, keyboardist Tony Banks and bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford—almost split up the group, but decided to carry on and replace drummer John Mayhew with someone who was of equal stature to the others and who could write.[2]
Genesis recruited Steve Hackett after Gabriel spotted an advert he placed in Melody Maker in December 1970, which read "Imaginative guitarist/writer seeks involvement with receptive musicians, determined to drive beyond existing stagnant music forms". He saw Genesis play a concert at the Lyceum Theatre, London on 28 December, and was told by Gabriel that Barnard would have to be replaced.[7] Hackett quickly developed a rapport with Rutherford, sharing their love of twelve-string guitars and new musical ideas, and joined the band in early 1971.[8]
With the addition of Hackett, Genesis continued touring, which included the "Six Bob Tour" with their
The five moved to Charisma owner
Recording
With the new material worked out, Genesis recorded Nursery Cryme at Trident Studios in London in August 1971 with John Anthony as their producer and David Hentschel their assistant engineer who, like Anthony, had worked the same role on Trespass.[17] The album features Hackett playing a Les Paul guitar which the band had bought him along with a Hiwatt stack amplifier. Hackett recalled some difficulty in understanding what Banks and Rutherford were talking about, as the two had devised their own sayings; for instance, a passage that they had played was referred to as a "nice guy".[18]
Songs
"The Musical Box"
"
The song originated when Phillips was in the group, who would often write with Rutherford on 12-string acoustic guitars. The latter had begun to experiment with unorthodox guitar tunings and had the top three strings tuned to F sharp, which provided the jangly sound heard in the opening and the chord that signalled the start of the electric guitar solo.[21] The tuning influenced the title of an acoustic piece, "F♯" (pronounced "F sharp"), that became the basis of "The Musical Box",[22] which was developed further after Phillips's departure. The opening section of the song features both Rutherford and Banks on twelve-string.[23] An earlier version of the song, entitled "Manipulation", was performed with Phillips in 1970 for the soundtrack of an unreleased BBC documentary on painter Michael Jackson.
The guitar solos originated from Barnard's brief tenure in Genesis.[4] Hackett modified sections that Phillips and Barnard had written while adding his own arrangements to the song.[16] He realised that neither member had made a sound that resembled an actual musical box, so he took the opportunity to record a guitar lick that is heard before the lyric "Here it comes again".[24] Gabriel, a big fan of The Who at the time, pushed for Rutherford to come up with a "ballsy, attacking" section in a similar style to their guitarist Pete Townshend. Gabriel incorporated themes of violence and sex into the lyrics.[25] Collins was inspired to play a rolling drum part during the middle section from hearing "The Weaver's Answer" by Family, and put it to the rhythm. "All of a sudden", speaking about "The Musical Box" at this point, "It's 'wahey we're off!'".[26]
The song became a live favourite during Gabriel's tenure with the band. He first decided on the idea of wearing costumes at a gig in the National Stadium, Dublin in September 1972, leaving during the instrumental break and re-appearing at the conclusion wearing his wife's red dress and a fox's head.[27] Later, he would wear an "old man" mask for the song's ending, acting out the part of the aged Henry.[28]
Other songs
"For Absent Friends" is an acoustic song that marked Hackett's first significant writing contribution for the group, and the first Genesis song with Collins on lead vocals.[29] After coming up with the music himself and the lyrics with Collins, Hackett recalled being shy when he presented it to Gabriel as they were the new members of the group.[30] Hackett was inspired by "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles to write a straightforward song about a relationship, to which Collins suggested one about two old women who had lost their husbands.[31]
"The Return of the Giant Hogweed" warns of the spread of the toxic plant
"Seven Stones" was conceived by Banks who used what Rutherford described as "his big, schmaltzy, music hall chords [that] he loved."[34] Melody Maker reporter Chris Welch described the song as "strangely mournful and inconclusive." He theorised that the old man addressed in the lyric is expressing his "profound belief that the secret of success and good fortune is based purely on random events and chance."[35]
"Harold the Barrel" showed a humorous side to Genesis, which was encouraged by Collins. The lyrics show
"Harlequin" was written by Rutherford. He played two separate guitar parts on a single 12-string, which he thought produced "pretty dodgy" results, and was also critical of his lyrics.[34]
"The Fountain of Salmacis" tells the
Cover
The album's sleeve was designed and illustrated by Paul Whitehead, who had also designed the cover for Trespass and the band's next album, Foxtrot.[40] The cover depicts characters and scenes based on "The Musical Box" and Coxhill, the manor house with a croquet lawn, itself based on the Victorian home Gabriel grew up in.[41] When the group originally saw Whitehead's painting, they said it did not look old enough, so he varnished it with honey, which made it look like it was from the 19th century. When originally released, the cover shocked some people, because of the severed heads pictured on it.[42]
The inner sleeve resembled an old photo album, with a panel for each song along with an illustrated picture.[43] Whitehead later picked his design for Nursery Cryme as his favourite of the three done for Genesis, noting: "It just works very well with the music. It fits perfect. It's the right colour, the right vibe".[44]
Whitehead's original illustrations for the three albums were stolen from the Charisma archives when it was sold to Virgin Records in 1983. Whitehead claimed that Charisma staff got wind of the imminent sale and proceeded to loot its office.[45]
Release
Nursery Cryme was released in November 1971.[46] Charisma promoted the album less than Trespass since the company was busy with Lindisfarne's Fog on the Tyne. The group felt discouraged by the general indifference from the record company, and believed songs like "The Musical Box" could have been as popular as "Stairway to Heaven", released at the same time.[47]
The album did not chart in the UK until May 1974, when it peaked at No. 39,[48] and charted there again when reissued in 1984, reaching No. 68. Though the group still had a minor cult following at home, they started to achieve commercial and critical success in mainland Europe, with the album reaching No. 4 on the Italian charts.[49] The album continued to sell, and reached Silver certification by the British Phonographic Industry on 22 July 2013 for sales in excess of 60,000 copies.[50]
From November 1971 to August 1972, Genesis toured to support the album, which included further visits to Belgium, and Italy for the first time, where they played to enthusiastic crowds.[48] During the tour, Genesis recorded "Happy the Man", a non-album single, with "Seven Stones" from Nursery Cryme on its B-side.[51] The group played a thirty-minute set on Belgian television to promote the album, which is the earliest surviving full broadcast of the group and has been repeated numerous times. Gabriel had yet to develop his on-stage costume attire and performed the show in a more straightforward frontman role.[49] It has been one of Genesis' most popular bootlegs.[52]
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
The Great Rock Discography | 8/10[citation needed] |
Music Story | [citation needed] |
MusicHound Rock | 3/5[citation needed] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [55] |
Critical response to the album was mixed. Richard Cromelin of
Retrospective appraisals have been mildly positive. BBC Music praised the two new members of the band as fundamental to Genesis's artistic success, remarking "Collins' snappy drums were augmented by his uncanny ability to sound not unlike Gabriel ... Hackett's armoury of tapping and swell techniques really broadened the palette of the band, giving Tony Banks more room for his Delius-lite organ filigrees, not to mention their newly purchased Mellotron", and gushed that "Genesis had virtually invented their own genre, Edwardian rock".[58] Although Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic deemed the album highly uneven, he considered "The Musical Box" and "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" to be "genuine masterpieces", and concluded that even if the rest of the album "isn't quite as compelling or quite as structured, it doesn't quite matter because these are the songs that showed what Genesis could do, and they still stand as pinnacles of what the band could achieve".[53] Geddy Lee of Rush included this album among his favourites in a list from an interview with The Quietus.[59]
Track listing
All songs credited to Genesis. Actual songwriters listed below.[60]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "The Musical Box" | Peter Gabriel | Mike Rutherford, Anthony Phillips, Tony Banks, Gabriel, Steve Hackett | 10:32 |
2. | "For Absent Friends" | Hackett, Collins | Hackett | 1:48 |
3. | "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" | Gabriel | Banks, Gabriel, Rutherford, Hackett | 8:13 |
Total length: | 20:33 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Seven Stones" | Banks | Banks, Hackett | 5:12 |
2. | "Harold the Barrel" | Gabriel, Collins | Gabriel | 3:01 |
3. | "Harlequin" | Rutherford | Rutherford, Phillips | 2:57 |
4. | "The Fountain of Salmacis" | Banks, Gabriel | Banks, Rutherford, Hackett | 7:56 |
Total length: | 19:06 |
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's 1971 and 2007 liner notes.[17]
Genesis
- backing vocals
- bass pedals, 12-string guitar, backing vocals
- Peter Gabriel – lead voice, flute, oboe, bass drum, tambourine
- Steve Hackett – electric guitar, 12-string guitar
- Phil Collins – drums, voices, percussion, lead vocals on "For Absent Friends", co-lead vocals on "Harold the Barrel" and "Harlequin" (uncredited)
Production
- John Anthony – production
- David Hentschel – engineer
- Mike Stone – tape jockey
- Paul Whitehead – sleeve design
Charts
Chart (1972–1974) | Peak position |
---|---|
Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)[61] | 11 |
UK Albums (OCC)[62] | 39 |
Chart (2014) | Peak position |
---|---|
24 |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
France ( SNEP)[64]
|
Gold | 100,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI)[65] | Silver | 60,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
References
Notes
- ^ "Tapping" did not attract mainstream attention until Eddie Van Halen demonstrated it in his instrumental "Eruption", seven years after Nursery Cryme.[33]
- ^ Gabriel and Collins would continue to sing together on several Genesis songs during their shared time in the band, performing a "composite voice" according to Hackett. Collins successfully replaced Gabriel as lead singer in 1975 because his voice was already familiar to listeners.[38]
Citations
- ^ Bowler & Dray 1992, pp. 34–35.
- ^ Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 35.
- ^ Genesis 2007, p. 96.
- ^ a b c Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 41.
- ^ Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 46.
- ^ Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 42.
- ^ Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 43.
- ^ a b Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 44.
- ^ Hewitt 2001, p. 32.
- ^ Platts 2001, p. 42.
- ^ Nursery Cryme 2007, 14:34–15:16.
- ^ Genesis 2007, pp. 105–106.
- ^ Lucking, Liz (24 November 2017). "English Country House With Musical Connections Heads to Auction". Mansion Global. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- ^ a b Nursery Cryme 2007, 29:42–30:25.
- ^ Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 51.
- ^ a b Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 53.
- ^ a b Nursery Cryme (Media notes). Charisma Records. 1971. CAS 1052.
- ^ Nursery Cryme 2007, 15:00–16:18.
- ^ Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 54.
- ^ Nursery Cryme (Media notes). Charisma Records. 1971. CAS 1052.
- ^ Nursery Cryme 2007, 17:14–17:44.
- ^ "Archive Collection". Anthonyphillips.co.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
- ^ "Decoding the 12-string Tapestry of Early Genesis". 21 July 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ Nursery Cryme 2007, 18:23–18:43.
- ^ Gabriel, Peter. Reissues Interview 2007 at 18:43–20:11
- ^ Nursery Cryme 2007, 21:30–21:50.
- ^ Bowler & Dray 1992, pp. 69–70.
- ^ "Genesis: 20 of the best". The Guardian. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
- ^ a b c Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 55.
- ^ Nursery Cryme 2007, 24:41–25:40.
- ^ Coleman 1997, pp. 66–67.
- ^ Nursery Cryme 2007, 31:02–31:49.
- ^ "Steve Hackett: how I invented finger tapping". Musicradar.com. 30 April 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
- ^ a b Rutherford 2014, p. 76.
- ^ Welch 2011, p. 34.
- ^ Bowler & Dray 1992, pp. 46, 55.
- ^ Nursery Cryme 2007, 26:31–26:50.
- ^ Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 119.
- ^ Nursery Cryme 2007, 28:26–29:24.
- ISBN 9780754661474.
- ^ Macan 1997, pp. 60–61.
- ^ Dome, Malcolm (12 November 2016). "Out Of The Box: The Story Behind The Cover Of Genesis' "Nursery Cryme"". Louder Sound. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^ Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 56.
- ^ "Interviews – Paul Whitehead". World of Genesis. 25 July 2001. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
- ^ "Interview with Paul Whitehead". 25 July 2001. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
- ^ Welch 2011, p. 31.
- ^ Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 57.
- ^ a b Genesis 2007, p. 349.
- ^ a b Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 59.
- ^ "Certified Awards: Enter "Nursery Cryme" in the search field and select "Title" and "Exact Match"". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 10 July 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
- ^ Bowler & Dray 1992, pp. 61, 249.
- ^ Eder, Bruce. "Genesis [DVD/Bootleg]". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2011). "Nursery Cryme – Genesis | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- ^ ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 24 February 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ Cromelin, Richard (26 October 1972). "Genesis: Nursery Cryme : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
- ^ "Genesis – Nursery Cryme – Keith Emerson says..." Melody Maker. 20 November 1971. Retrieved 25 December 2017 – via The Genesis Archive.
- ^ Jones, Chris (18 April 2007). "BBC – Music – Review of Genesis – Nursery Cryme". BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- ^ "In The Mood: The Favourite Albums Of Rush's Geddy Lee". 29 June 2012.
- ^ Giammetti, Mario (2020). Genesis 1967 to 1975 - The Peter Gabriel Years. Kingmaker. ISBN 978-1-913218-62-1.
- ^ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 10 March 2024. Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Titolo" field, search "Nursery Crime".
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
- ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
- ^ "French album certifications – Genesis – Nursery Crime" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 9 September 2021. Select GENESIS and click OK.
- ^ "British album certifications – Genesis – Nursery Cryme". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
Books
- Bowler, Dave; Dray, Bryan (1992). Genesis – A Biography. Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 978-0-283-06132-5.
- Coleman, Ray (1997). Phil Collins: The Definitive Biography. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-81784-2.
- Banks, Tony; Collins, Phil; Gabriel, Peter; Hackett, Steve; Rutherford, Mike (2007). Dodd, Philipp (ed.). Genesis: Chapter and Verse. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-297-84434-1.
- Giammetti, Mario (2020). Genesis 1967 to 1975 - The Peter Gabriel Years. Kingmaker. ISBN 978-1-913218-62-1.
- Hewitt, Alan (2001). Opening the Musical Box – A Genesis Chronicle. Firefly Publishing. ISBN 978-0-946-71930-3.
- Macan, Edward (1997). Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-195-09887-7.
- Platts, Robin (2001). Genesis: Inside & Out (1967–2000). Collector's Guide Publishing. ISBN 978-1-896-52271-5.
- Rutherford, Mike (2014). The Living Years. Hachette UK. ISBN 978-1-472-11035-0.
- Welch, Chris (2011). Genesis: The Complete Guide to Their Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-857-12739-6.
DVD media
- Banks, Tony; Collins, Phil; Gabriel, Peter; Hackett, Steve; Rutherford, Mike (10 November 2008). Genesis 1970–1975: Nursery Cryme (DVD). Virgin Records. UPC 5099951968328.
External links
- Official website
- Nursery Cryme at Curlie
- Nursery Cryme at Discogs
- Nursery Cryme at MusicBrainz