14 NOVEMBRE 1970

[theknife]

Mi e vi rinfresco la memoria...
E la data dlla prima volta in TV dei Genesis.
Il programma è Disco 2.
L'emittente è BBc2.
Il brano è the Knife, versione integrale.
Non lo vedremo mai perchè la BBC ha cancellato il nastro della trasmissione (come si soleva "opportunamnte" fare all'epoca x risparmiare).
Peccato davvero! Peter cantava dal vivo sulla base e il chitarrista non era nè Ant nè Steve, bensì Mick Barnard!
C'è memoria di questa esibizione nelle parole di un inquietato Peter fermate su carta nell'articolo "Reading from the book of Genesis" di Michael Watts sul Melody Maker del 23.1.71[;)]

[Rael Matrix]

Reading from the Book of Genesis

Michael Watts, Melody Maker, Autumn 1970


The record label boss was quite ecstatic over him. "He has a touch of evil about him when he gets onstage," said Tony StrattonSmith, solemnly and slowly, in a long-gone conversation. "He almost reminds me of Jagger at times."

Jim Morrison? Lou Reed? No? Er um. Well, then, Iggy Stooge. Wrong again, huh.

The truth is, he doesn't look much of a charismatic figure off stage. Like, he's sitting in this office while were talking and he's wearing this shapeless sweater and nondescript slacks an anxious, painful little smile keeps flickering across his face, and every time you ask him a question he looks at this other guy, another member of the band, as if he wants to be reassured that he is not talking out of turn.

He is a most unlikely pop star is Peter Gabriel, but then pop stars are most unlikely people. May be "star" indeed is unlikely word to use as yet about him.

Gabriel, in fact, is lead vocalist with Genesis, a fivepiece band who last year produced "Trespass," an album which, in its lyrical depth and flawless technique, constituted a minor masterpiece.

His vocals are among the best things on the album: with an expressive hoarseness but mostly steeped throughout in a desperate romanticism; reaching out for something that he can't quite grasp.

The band essentiallv began in 1966 as four singwriters, Gabriel, Tony Banks, Michael Rutherford and Anthony Phillips. Some of their demo tapes were heard by Jonathan King and they got a contract with a record company, whence their releases disappeared into oblivion. "Fame and fortune somehow evaded this merry combo," their press handout puts it whimsically.

Since then they have run the whole group gamut: the country cottage, the Soho hustlers, the big evanescent promises. They found a friendly soul in Stratton-Smith, however, the Matt Busby of the record business, who signed them to his recently-formed Charisma label. Under his avuncular direction they are achieving a growing reputation as one of the country's "Thinking" bands.

Over the four years the personnel has altered, not surprisingly, with Phil Collins, ex-Flaming Youth on drums, and Mick Barnard, formerly of a band called Farm, replacing Phillips on lead.

I said that from their album they seemed very much a studio band. Some critics had even suggested that "Trespass" was essentially the creation of its producer, John Anthony.

"I don't agree, it's not a producer's album." He paused a while. "I think he did a good job, a very good job, but it's always a compromise. There was very little that we didn't want done in the studio. We look on him as another member of the band, rather than the one with all the power, the one who dictates what we want and what we don't want. The group did all the arrangements and we considered the type of sound we wanted before we went into the studio."

Was he pleased with the outcome?

"I don't think people are ever really satisfied are they? By the time the album comes out the original conception has gone. You lose a part everywhere. The stage it is at its fullest is in your head, and you lose all along the line from there. Personally, I think some of the songs were too long. We started very ambitious for more adventurous, things getting out of pop but also with straightforward melodies. Ambitious, because not so much complexity . . . we take music there and work around that, as a piece, not as a song With the addition of Phil and Mick it's made me more rhythm conscious."

The band had a spot not long ago on Disco 2, which was fairly disastrous. What had been the reason for that?

"Well, I've always got an idea of what the songs should sound like, but John (Anthony) is our cohesive force. Left to ourselves, as we were on television, we were a drag. With insufficient technical knowledge. As a band we'll always need a producer.

"On that show the backing track was the same as the album but I did the vocal on top and I was very nervous on that occasion. I don't want do TV again for a long time. It was a shocking performance and I'm not trying to excuse it. I'm just not an animal, a performing animal being put through his tricks, how the sound engineer saw it.

"You should have a say in shows like that. You should have some control, like you do with an album sleeve. We're not performers to be manipulated by those people. I think the BBC has a condescending attitude to pop and pop musicians. It's only entertainers who are required to give a good performance every night, to put on a show. To try and get a BBC producer to understand what you want to do in a programme . . . The whole problem is that they don't believe the intricacies of sound balance make a difference to us. They think it's a fuss about nothing.

"When we first went out on the road we thought we'd just get the music out and play behind a black curtain, but it wasn't working out. So we have to perform a bit, but it's now just as a means to an end, to get the music across."

He paused, clenched his hands together and smiled. "I see the band as sad romantics, you see," he said quietly.

[theknife]

L'articolo di Michael Watts apparve sul MM il 23.1.71 e questa è una traduzione dell'intervista nella parte riguardante la performance alla trasmisisone dell BBC, Disco 2 (Pete è arrabiatissimo xkè a causa dei tecnici della BBc la sua performance - la sola dal vivo in quell'occasione - è risultata pessima)

"La band ha avuto visibilità non molto tempo fa su Disco 2, il che è stato abbastanza disastroso. Quale ne è stata la ragione?

"Beh, ho avuto sempre un'idea di come le canzoni dovrebbero sembrare, ma John (Anthony) è la nostra forza coesiva. In balia di noi stessi, come è successo in televisione, siamo d'ostacolo a noi stessi. Non abbiamo sufficienti conoscenze tecniche. Come gruppo avremmo sempre bisogno di un produttore.

"A quello spettacolo la traccia utilizzata è stata la stessa dell'album, ma io c'ho cantato sopra e ciò mi ha reso molto nervoso. Non voglio rifare televisione per un lungo periodo di tempo. E 'stata una prestazione tremenda, non cerco scuse. Non sono un animale, un animale da utilizzare con dei trucchi, come ha fatto l'ingegnere del suono.

"Dovresti poter aver voce in capitolo in uno show come quello. Dovresti averne il controllo così come accade x la copertina dell'album. Noi non siamo esecutori che devono essere manipolati da queste persone. Penso che la BBC abbia un atteggiamento di condiscendenza verso il pop e verso i musicisti pop. Sono solo intrattenitori cui è richiesta una buona prestazione ogni sera, per mettere su uno spettacolo. Provare ad ottenere da un produttore della BBC quello che vorresti fare in un programma... Il problema è che non capiscono quanta diferrenza faccia per noi la complessità di un giusto bilanciamento. Ritengono si tratti di un polverone per nulla.

"Quando siamo andati per la prima volta in tour pensavamo di suonare dietro una tenda nera, ma non funzionava. Dobbiamo quindi interpretare un po', ma è ormai solo il mezzo x un fine, quello di uscire con la musica ".

Si è fermato, si è stretto le mani e ha sorriso. "Vedo la band come tristi romantici, capisci", ha detto tranquillamente."

[Phoberomys]

Hmhmhm...la cosa dei tricks è più un animale ammaestrato...

Grazie per l'articolo e la traduzione: ma non sembra di sentire già il Gabriel di adesso? [:0] Un vero control-freak già da ragazzino.

[theknife]

nella foga della traduzione è saltato!...volevo dire
"un animale ammaestrato da utilizzare con dei trucchi"[;)]
era già un perfezionista allora tant'è che, fosse stato x lui, i jaxon tapes avrebbe preferito non farli uscire[:0] e che su archive 67/75 ha preteso di ricantare[xx(]

[Rael1978]

Grazie a tutti x gli articoli.

Dunque cancellati dalla BBC :

Dusk (BBC radio session 22-2-1970)
The Knife TV 14-11-1970 (Disco 2)

Meno male che il Jackson tape non e' rimasto nelle mani della BBC !!![^][^][^]

Meglio ascoltarlo 38 anni dopo che mai !!! [^]