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Richard Macphail

„The guaranteed unforgotten supporting man“
(taken from it-Magazine #14, March 1995, english version)

  
Richard 1994   
   
Richard Paul Macphail was born on the 17th of September 1950 in Bedford/England as the third child of David and Mary Macphail. His parents just returned from Brazil where Richard´s father was working. The family moved to Bedford to the family of Richard´s mother a few months before his birth in order to avoid his having to join the Brazilian army because of a birth in Brazil. A short time later they moved to Bramley (near Guildford, Surrey). From 1958 to 1963 Richard went to the Aldro School in Shackleford and then changed to Charterhouse School in Godalming at the age of 13. The enormous dimensions of this school were irritating for him and he compared the change from the prep school to Charterhouse with the first "being a big fish in a small pond" and then "a small fish in a large pond". To that time Richard had already been interested in any kind of pop music.
Soon he met Rivers Job who was just beginning to form a band with Anthony Phillips. As a mistake Richard was planned for the drums though he did not master this instrument. However, he had a good voice and in turn got the post as a singer. A short period later Rob Tyrell and Mike Rutherford joined this student’s band and under the name Anon a part of what should become Genesis began.
Mainly Anon performed cover versions predo-minantly Rolling Stones, Beatles, and Yardbirds songs. Later they performed own compositions too and mostly played at parties. At their first official performance at the occasion of a school function in 1965 the to that time 14-15-year-old boys achieved the favour of many of the elder students and gained some advantages in the complex "hierarchy" of this school. A close friendship grew between Richard and Anthony. Besides he met the like-minded Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, and Chris Stewart (they lived in the same building as Ant), who just begun to write songs together and to form an own band, The Garden Wall. At the end of the school year, in summer 1966, the "legendary" concert of Anon together with The Garden Wall took place which, however, started the amalgamation of Anon and The Garden Wall to Genesis.
  
      MR, PG, Richard, PC, ca. 1972
   
Richard´s school performances grew worse with a view to his urge to be a member of a pop-band. He was forced to leave Charterhouse in summer 1966 and changed to the Millfield Public School in Street/Somerset in the south-west of England. Again he joined a band called The Austin Hippy Blues Band and performed coverversions, too. In this band there was Harry Williamson who through Richard met Anthony Phillips and years later composed and recorded works like Tarka and Gypsy Suite with him.
Though not in physical closeness to his friends in Surrey Richard kept contact, first of all to Anthony who to that time was his best friend. They were writing each other regularly and met during holidays. This was to a time as from the two student’s bands the first line-up of Genesis was formed. In Summer 1968 Richard went to Israel and has been living in a kibbutz for 6 months. He can remind his listening to A Winter’s Tale (Genesis’ second single) on the radio and that he couldn´t believe he was listening to his former band members on the radio. Genesis more and more became a professional band. Richard returned to England and was present whenever the band was undertaking any-thing. The original wish just to be together with his friends developed very fast to a love to this uncomparable music of Genesis and so the band became his life. He made it his testimony to support the band and to accompany them into a secured future without taking part in the development of their music.
  
   Richard 1972   
   
At the end of 1969 Genesis secluded in the country house of Richards parents. In the remoteness of this cottage the band was working at new ideas and songs for the Trespass-album while Richard was occupied with supplying the band and organizing dates for interested people in the music business together with Peter. After Genesis’ signing a contract with Charisma Records the band moved to London and Richard´s function developed to one as a roadmanager who took care for obtaining equipment and driving the tour bus from performance to performance. Later he slipped into the role as a soundmixer and so took care for the band’s sounding as they and the audience wanted it to. During the cycle of “touring-writing new songs-recording a new album-touring” Genesis lived through the next three years and Richard remained a regular part of the band.
Though Richard never saw himself as a part of Genesis the band seemed to think different. In the credits of their Foxtrot-album they revealed him as an equal band member and his portrait decorates the inner cover of the album besides Tony, Steve, Phil, Mike, and Peter. The same is to apply for the German Watcher Of The Skies-7”-single where Richard is shown on the cover together with Tony, Peter & co. The LP Foxtrot and especially the song Supper’s Ready finally gave Richard the feeling that Genesis reached that point of development he had always wished for the band. After blows below the belt, so as Anthony Phillips’ leaving, the band had obviously found it’s style and was solid enough to dispense from Richard´s support. However, he looked for a change and wanted to make new experiences. Therefore he left his friends in 1973 and the following Genesis-Live-Album was dedicated to him

Richard was very interested in independant communities and the idea of living in the country-side within an ecological balance: the first steps towards environmental thinking together with different trys of how people may live together. He joined an organization called Gentle Ghost which tried to make this social sense come true. People could be engaged for various tasks, so as painting, garden work and removals. The latter was what Richard had been doing for some time and so he earned his living. Gentle Ghost obtained various courses, e.g. for carpentry, electricity, self-hypnosis, and yoga. For a certain period Richard has been managing the vegetarian restaurant there too.
  
Tony Stratton Smith, Richard, SH, Gail Colson, 1971   
   
However, Richard was to meet Genesis again. It happened in Spring 1974 that the lightning engineer, Les Adey, was absent at short notice and Richard was asked to overtake this post for a certain period. Though he did not know anything about stage lightning he took the post and for about one month he had been mixing lights at some concerts in North America to everyone’s satisfaction. After having been relieved by Les he took the chance to tramp through the United States and Canada for a few months.
Richard kept contact to the band and each of them went on on his own. In 1976 Genesis planned their first tour after Peter Gabriel had left. Richard offered to do the roadmanagement for the European part of the tour. So in 1976 he came back to the band for the second and up to know the last time. Just a short time later he came back to Peter Gabriel. From the beginning of 1977 to the end of 1978 he was Peter’s roadmanager. He accompanied him during all his activities and organized his activities in the studio and on tour as roadmanager. In 1979 Richard once again joined a band called (among other names) MC2 which was not very successful and did not publish anything at least during Richard’s presence as a singer.

Finally, in 1980 Richard turned his back on professional music and started doing what he has been doing until today. Ever since he has been interested in environmental concerns. He met someone who did solar energy research at the University of Westminster. Together with him he founded Optima Energy, a consulting company for efficiency of energy giving advices for the possibilities of energy saving and obtaining EDP-aided solutions. Today Richard is his own boss and joint-owner of this company.

Author: Helmut Janisch, 1995


Richard, PG, Tony Smith, 1978