Genesis 1974-05-04 Academy Of Music, New York - PrrP GS 013 Selling Equipment By The Pound (FLAC)
Genesis
Academy Of Music, New York.
4th May 1974
Disc 1:
1 Watcher Of The Skies 8:34
2 Britannia Story 2:34
3 One Handed Drum Solo 1:56
4 Dancing With The Moonlit Knight 8:49
5 Romeo Story 2:11
6 Cinema Show 11:01
7 I Know What I Like 6:11
8 5 Rivers Story 2:38
9 Firth Of Fifth 9:46
Total Time: 53:40
Disc 2
1 Henry Story 3:10
2 "Some In Betweens Phil..." 1:25
3 The Musical Box 10:51
4 Horizons 2:17
5 The Battle Of Epping Forest 12:22
6 Old Michael Story 3:27
7 Supper's Ready 27:07
Total Time: 60:39
One For The Roadies
It was May 4th 1974. Genesis had spent many months on the road since September 1973. The ‘Selling England By The Pound’ tour was now drawing to a close, with only three more shows left to perform. Much has been said about this classic Genesis album and tour, and of the band’s three-day stay at the Academy Of Music in New York City. May 5th would see Genesis fall victim to equipment theft, forcing them to cancel that night’s gig and perform a double-header on the following day. No complete recordings of these last two shows on May 6th are known to exist. The last complete recorded performance of a ‘Selling England By The Pound’ show comes from May 4th, and it is this recording which we bring to you now.
In terms of sound quality, this show stands out as perhaps the best audience recording from the whole tour. The balance is almost perfect (Steve Hackett’s guitar sounds a little distant at times) and the overall sound is crisp and clear. Bass lines have excellent depth while higher frequencies reveal every tiny percussive detail, something quite rare in audience recordings. The lead vocals are well balanced in the mix, with every word and intonation clearly heard. One can almost visualise Peter Gabriel pulling away from the microphone as he always did when he had to push his voice to hit the higher notes. The quality of this recording suggests that the taper had excellent equipment while the overall balance shows that he was very well positioned in the hall. The acoustics of the Academy Of Music were outstanding.
As for the performance, May 4th 1974 saw Genesis in fine form, despite the fatigue of the long tour and the frustration of having to deal with annoying technical problems. The in-between song banter shows just how patient and inventive Peter and Phil could be when they needed to inject some humour into the proceedings to relieve the tension caused by those nerve-wracking gaps. This kind of spontaneity always created a real bond between the band and their audience. A solid connection with the audience has always been one of the band’s strong points, and this night was no exception. As was so often the case, it was Mike Rutherford’s equipment which was the source of the trouble, but the big man’s performance did not suffer and he was, as usual, solid as a rock.
Steve Hackett was his classic self, delivering a perfect mixture of raw aggression and emotional, delicate licks. Tony Banks, perhaps the least demonstrative of all star keyboard players, also offered one of his finest performances of the entire tour, despite a strange mellotron hiccup during the instrumental section of ‘The Cinema Show’. He soon made up for that one by offering a spotless rendition of the piano intro to ‘Firth Of Fifth’, not an easy feat on his old electric piano. Peter Gabriel’s voice was in fine form on the night, though surprisingly he did forget one verse towards the end of ‘Supper’s Ready’, a rare occurrence indeed. Peter went into the next verse quite quickly, throwing his band mates for a second or two in the process.
Someone once said that a band is only as good as its drummer, and we believe this is very true. Phil Collins once remarked: “A bad band with a great drummer will sound better than a great band with a bad drummer”. Well, Genesis were truly blessed by being a great band whose world-class drummer made them sound even greater. One cannot emphasise enough the quality of Phil’s drumming over the years. He was, and still is, one of the most inventive and musical percussionists in rock. His work on Genesis' studio albums was always immaculate but his performance on stage could propel the music to new heights. That night in New York City, Phil was on fire, tight on every beat, each fill and roll as perfect as the last.
So, despite some minor glitches, this was an exemplary performance from Genesis, one of the best of the entire tour. With only two more shows to be performed at the same venue, the ‘Selling England By The Pound’ tour was coming to an end, leaving messrs Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Hackett and Rutherford to move on to the complexities of ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’. No-one knew at the time of course that these last few shows would be the fans’ final opportunity to see the classic five-piece line-up performing the ‘Selling England’ material live on stage, as well as ‘Horizons’ and, sadly, ‘Supper’s Ready’. Two years later, when Genesis reinstated some of these songs in their live set, Peter Gabriel was no longer with the band and the music itself had been rearranged somewhat. As for the piano intro to ‘Firth Of Fifth’, Tony would never play it again on stage after the 1973-74 tour. This concert stands as a perfect example of the lasting legacy left by these five great musicians who played together as the magical entity called Genesis. Enjoy!
The Bethnal Green Butcher
Notes from the Re-Master
The most obvious problem with this recording was the speed error. It is unclear if this error was initially present on the master or on the 1st generation source for this remaster. Either way, the speed error was very noticeable and followed a predictable pattern. Once identified, it was easy to correct. Tonality was then adjusted to balance the sound. Dynamics were altered to emphasize the dramatic nature of the music. There was crackle heard intermittently which was reduced as much as possible. The show was then re-tracked.
Genesis 1974-05-06 Academy Of Music, New York - PrrP GS 019 New York Late (FLAC)
GENESIS
ACADEMY OF MUSIC,
NEW YORK,NY
MAY 6, 1974
AKG D1000E'S SONY TC-152 CASSETTE AUD MASTER >
REEL > M-AUDIO TRANSIT > COOL EDIT >
CD WAVE EDITOR > FLAC
Disc 1
01. Watcher Of The Skies 8:22
02. The Story Of The Stolen Guitars 1:52
03. Dancing With The Moonlit Knight 8:58
04. Romeo Story 2:07
05. The Cinema Show 11:04
06. I Know What I Like 6:36
07. Five Rivers Story 2:57
08. Firth Of Fifth 9:41
Total Time 51:37
Disc 2
01. Henry Story 2:19
02. The Musical Box 11:25
03. More Fool Me 3:41
04. The Battle Of Epping Forest 12:30
05. Old Michael Story 3:15
06. Supper's Ready 23:34
Total Time 56:44
Tony Banks - Keyboards, 12 String & Vocals
Phil Collins - Drums, Percussion, Vocals & Lead Vocals on More Fool Me
Peter Gabriel - Lead Vocals, Flute & Percussion
Steve Hackett - Lead Guitars & Effects
Mike Rutherford - Bass Guitars, Guitars & Vocals
The River Of Constant Change
The liner notes for PRRPGS 013 stated that “... no complete recordings of the last two shows on May 6th (1974) are known to exist”, therefore making the May 4th concert the last known complete recorded performance of a 'Selling England By The Pound' show. Recently, however, a complete recording of the late show from May 6th has finally emerged from the shadows and now, at last, we can hear in full the final concert from this groundbreaking tour. Since there were several bumps and bruises in need of repair, PRRP thought this historic recording would be a worthy addition to its ever growing list of remastered releases.
On May 2nd 1974, Genesis performed two sets in one night in Toronto, Canada. They then travelled to New York City to fulfil their last commitment of the 'Selling England' tour, a three-night stay at the famed Academy Of Music, on May 4th, 5th and 6th. Despite being plagued by technical difficulties, they turned in a fine performance on May 4th, only to discover the next day that six of their guitars had been stolen. Since there was no way for replacements to be secured in time for the second night's concert, it was decided that it would have to be postponed until the following evening, meaning that Genesis would then play two sets on May 6th, their second such commitment in five days.
These, then, were the fraught circumstances leading up to the final performance of the 'Selling England By The Pound' tour. After the customary opening number, 'Watcher Of The Skies', Peter Gabriel explained to the audience the reasons behind the band's failure to perform the night before: “Contrary to public opinion, we were not taking the night off to watch the elephants mating at the zoo. What actually happened was some thoughtful person relieved us of six guitars last night ... the night before ... including the double-neck guitar over here, which removed the possibility of Michael (Rutherford) playing on a large number of our numbers. This thoughtful person, however, offered the guitars back to us, for some small sum of money, and now we are playing tonight but we apologise for the inconvenience.”
Despite the band's undoubted frustrations at having to buy back their own equipment, they played an incredible show. Even Peter Gabriel's frequent lyrical memory lapses in 'Firth Of Fifth' couldn't detract from the quality of the performance. In terms of sound quality, this recording is slightly inferior to May 4th but the band appeared much more confident for this last show, technical hiccups being thankfully minimal on the night; sadly a rare occurrence on this amazing tour.
This final concert of the 'Selling England By The Pound' tour marked the end of a significant era for Genesis. Never again would Britannia, the lawn mowing Jacob and the nylon-masked gang leader walk the Genesis stage (though the dancing flower and old man would resurface, in slightly amended form, eight years later at the 'Six Of The Best' reunion show in 1982). For their next project, Genesis were about to explore new, harder territories from which old British nursery rhymes and fairy tales would be excluded, but on this final night in New York, the twisted fairytale world of Genesis was still in full force. In spite of extremely tight budget restrictions and still being in heavy financial turmoil at the time, the band had succeeded in creating what many now consider to be one of the most fantastic live shows in rock history. North American audiences were only beginning to fall under the spell of Genesis and not even the most dedicated fan could have predicted what was to come next.
On his first visit to New York City in 1972, Peter Gabriel had felt something special which would ultimately lead to the dark and complex story that engulfed the whole of the band's next album, 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'. When Genesis returned to the Academy Of Music, a mere seven months later in December 1974, it would be with their remarkable new double album and completely new stage show. But that's a story for another time ...
Bob The Nob
Notes From the Re-Master
This project began with the first generation source for this show that recently became available. The whole show is here with only small patches needed to fill in brief missing sections. Overall, the quality of this recording is very good with “AKG D1000E'S SONY TC-152” being listed as the recording equipment.
As with most recordings from this era, tape noise such as clicks, pops and hiss needed to be reduced and repaired. There were other noises clearly present on this recording. For example, it sounds like there was a photographer very close to the taper. Camera clicks seem to be heard during quiet sections of the music but since they were part of the recording and not a recording artefact, they were left in the remaster. The clinking of glasses was also heard, and left in.
Tonality also needed adjustment. Both static and dynamic filters were used to correct for the tone balance captured by the microphones. There were periods when Mike Rutherford's bass was quite heavy but did not distort. Those sections were left unaltered. The remainder of the adjustment just smoothes out the excesses found. In particular there were resonance frequencies that needed attenuation which were likely accentuated by the venue acoustics. Speed correction was also needed to fix end-of-tape speed errors. Dynamics were adjusted to compensate for the recording characteristics of the microphones and then patches were used to repair missing and damaged sections. Finally, the show was re-tracked using standard sources as a reference.
https://mega.nz/file/BvVzCbKY#Un8tHVDrIOsIbPqxPDx1p3qicCIfaE2fJWW4rzBTzLQ
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