Wikipedia: "Actual Writers" of songs on Gabriel-era albums

    I've noticed recently that the Wikipedia articles for the albums from TRESPASS thru THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY are naming the "actual writers" of all the songs, with lyrics and music listed separately. The citation given for all this information is "Genesis 1967 to 1975 - The Peter Gabriel Years" by Mario Giammetti.


    For the most part, my reaction to these is "Yeah, I knew that" or "Uh-huh, OK, I can see that." In some cases it's "Really??" or "Hmm, something seems to be missing."


    Does anyone have any thoughts about this information? If it's accurate, then the only individual credits we're missing from the Gabriel era are the pre-TRESPASS tracks, "Happy The Man" and "Twilight Alehouse" (although I'd bet the official Banks-Gabriel-Phillips-Rutherford credit on that one is accurate).

    Overall mostly close enough, with some errors and some wild guessing.


    Twilight Alehouse got a unique Banks/Gabriel/Hackett/Phillips/Rutherford credit on Archive #1. All the rest I'll go through later maybe.

    Quote from Schrottrocker

    Twilight Alehouse got a unique Banks/Gabriel/Hackett/Phillips/Rutherford credit on Archive #1.

    I don't know if your copy says something different, but mine just says Banks/Gabriel/Phillips/Rutherford.


    Anyway, I'm sure there are a number of errors in the credits currently given in Wikipedia, and here are a few places where I particularly think something may be off:


    Dusk - Music: Phillips, Rutherford

    I don't have any definite information, but I would bet that the simple verse melody in the demo version on ARCHIVE #1 represents what Ant & Mike initially came up, while the different verse melody on the final TRESPASS version would be the work of Peter. The latter is much more complex and interesting, and covers a much larger vocal range -- something a strong singer would come up with.


    The Cinema Show - Lyrics: Rutherford, Banks

    I read somewhere that Peter contributed "Romeo" and "Juliet" to the lyrics.


    Aisle of Plenty - Music: Gabriel

    This song repeats enough of the music from "Moonlit Knight" to make me question whether at least one other member's musical contribution is included. Specifically, isn't that progression that's heard in the fadeout the work of Steve?

    Quote from DecomposingMan

    The Cinema Show - Lyrics: Rutherford, Banks

    I read somewhere that Peter contributed "Romeo" and "Juliet" to the lyrics.


    Aisle of Plenty - Music: Gabriel

    This song repeats enough of the music from "Moonlit Knight" to make me question whether at least one other member's musical contribution is included. Specifically, isn't that progression that's heard in the fadeout the work of Steve?

    I wondered about AoP too and it in turn reminded me I'd read somewhere before that Knight was credited Gabriel/Hackett which I'd question even beyond having read that the coda is by Rutherford.


    Re TCS I also remember the R&J attribution, I recall it in a Banks interview and that he'd originally written "a young clerk, or something" but changed it on PG's suggestion. I'm not sure that would warrant a credit or that PG would expect as much (See also Can Utility for which we gather he contributed the title).

    Abandon all reason

    The main guitar riff in Moonlit Knight and Aisle of Plenty was something Peter came up with on the piano, then Steve played it on the guitar. Steve confirmed this in some interview. Outtake bootlegs of Selling England would suggest by any means the whole first part of Moonlit Knight (everything with vocals) was all Peter's, the wild instrumental parts with the solos were Steve's, and the ending section was Mike's. Of course, this always means "the one who came up with the initial idea". The whole band would set out the arrangements, and there's always little bits others contributed.