Genesis in the media

    Quote from Schrottrocker

    Steve Hackett interview about his Foxtrot at Fifty live album includes next level of the 'John Lennon loved Genesis' myth:


    "John Lennon gave an interview and said that he considered Genesis to be true sons of The Beatles. He got every album from ‘Nursery Cryme’ sent over to him in New York, and I’m glad it filled a hole for him, plugged something."


    https://519magazine.com/steve-…-the-perfect-performance/

    Was there nowhere in New York he could get the albums? Dodgy sounding claim.

    Quote from thewatcher

    Was there nowhere in New York he could get the albums? Dodgy sounding claim.

    Yeah, I call complete b.s. on this. Hackett never mention this til about 10 years ago. It started out with him saying something about hearing John Lennon on the radio in New York saying that Genesis were one of the bands he was listening to. Then, about a year or two ago, it expanded into this "true sons of the Beatles" thing. And now, the bit about having the Genesis albums shipped to him in NY.


    If John Lennon really said any of this, why has it never shown up anywhere except from Hackett? As obsessively as the Beatles have been chronicled, somebody would have a copy of this interview. Why didn't Hackett mention it for the first 35-40 years after the interview? Why did he suddenly remember new details of the interview recently ("sons of the Beatles", shipping the albums to NYC)

    I've read a few discussions about this. I don't think its particularly important either way. The consensus would appear to be, in the face of a lack of evidence, that Lennon probably said he'd listened to the band and probably Selling England, it would be a fair assumption that this is positive on some level. Beyond that it seems to me that Steve probably believes it, or else why risk looking foolish when you don't need to? But that doesn't make it true and he doesn't say where he has this information from, presumably a source he trusts. I think it would fit with the positive things Lennon did say about ELO around that time, (supported by George's admiration for Jeff Lynne) and maybe that's how it's been amplified. We can't prove Lennon didn't say it so I suppose the best response is to be dubious until evidence arises, if it ever does. I don't think that's the same as Steve being a liar, but maybe he'd be wiser toning it down a bit.

    Quote from Thelawnmower

    I think it would fit with the positive things Lennon did say about ELO around that time, (supported by George's admiration for Jeff Lynne) and maybe that's how it's been amplified.

    Why would it fit with that?

    Quote

    We can't prove Lennon didn't say it so I suppose the best response is to be dubious until evidence arises, if it ever does. I don't think that's the same as Steve being a liar, but maybe he'd be wiser toning it down a bit.

    Yes, although bear in mind the assiduous and forensic attention paid to any utterance by former Beatles, especially Lennon. Any interview, any passing casual remark gets pored over, pondered, analysed and still discussed decades later. I'm a Beatles-obsessed Genesis fan and loved hearing that Lennon considered Selling England one of his favourite albums of 1973. I want it to be true, but haven't yet found a solid source of his saying that. Ultimately, as you say, we can't prove he didn't any more than we can conclusively prove he also didn't ever say "unconscionable yogurt may invert my purple unicycle", even in private to himself.


    Now we have this "true sons of the Beatles" bollocks, for bollocks is what it surely is.

    Abandon all reason

    Like 2
    Quote from Thelawnmower

    I've read a few discussions about this. I don't think its particularly important either way. The consensus would appear to be, in the face of a lack of evidence, that Lennon probably said he'd listened to the band and probably Selling England, it would be a fair assumption that this is positive on some level. Beyond that it seems to me that Steve probably believes it, or else why risk looking foolish when you don't need to? But that doesn't make it true and he doesn't say where he has this information from, presumably a source he trusts. I think it would fit with the positive things Lennon did say about ELO around that time, (supported by George's admiration for Jeff Lynne) and maybe that's how it's been amplified. We can't prove Lennon didn't say it so I suppose the best response is to be dubious until evidence arises, if it ever does. I don't think that's the same as Steve being a liar, but maybe he'd be wiser toning it down a bit.

    This is certainly true, and has been known for a long time, well over 20 years, and yes, it was a favourable impression. I seem to recall one of Armando Gallo's books from the 70's quoting it, but my copy is in the loft.

    Ian


    Putting the old-fashioned Staffordshire plate in the dishwasher!

    Like 2
    Quote from Backdrifter

    Why would it fit with that?

    Because I can imagine Lennon talking about bands who perhaps he was enjoying listening to at the time or that he felt maybe carried something of the Beatles forwards. We know that he, and by the look of it George, felt that about ELO and as Genesis have an orchestral, romantic sweep and proggy elements, it's not too much of a leap to think he could have lumped them in. But again, the fact I can imagine it doesn't make it so! I was just meaning that I can imagine how someone might over-egg that particular pudding, whether Steve, or someone who told him, is beyond our ken.

    Steve in 2028: "Well, you know, in 1975 we had to deal with John Lennon calling up every other day, just begging to join the band as the new singer. But Tony, of course, said he couldn't play any piano and Mike and I had the guitars covered, so..."

    Quote from Ikhnaton

    Steve in 2028: "Well, you know, in 1975 we had to deal with John Lennon calling up every other day, just begging to join the band as the new singer. But Tony, of course, said he couldn't play any piano and Mike and I had the guitars covered, so..."

    Hahaha! The logical progression would be that he eventually says "It's not widely known but in their latter stages I was in The Beatles, John Lennon remained grateful for my contributions but his reference to this was sadly lost from his famous final Radio 1 interview."

    Abandon all reason

    Yes I read:


    Quote

    Steve Hackett said the following about John Lennon:

    “He gave an interview to radio that I’m yet to hear, but I think it’s Nigel Pierce in Norfolk who’s the DJ there. He said to me that he’d got a tape of Lennon talking to him; I’m not sure who he was talking to, but saying that he thought there were two bands who were true sons of the Beatles. He said one was ELO and one was Genesis.

    "She looks at me and gently smiles, as if she knew I'd ask her all the time..."

    Had a dig around about this. There seems to be two aspects to this Lennon/Genesis tale. An interview with a radio station, (WNEW 1973) which is probably accurate and uncontroversial, when Lennon said he had been listening to some stuff and Genesis were named.


    Steve has repeatedly mentioned this. More recently (Oct 9th 2023) in an interview for Killer Guitar Rigs, he said


    '“John Lennon very kindly said at one point that he considered us to be ‘true sons of The Beatles’. So there’s an interview with The Sun that I’ve been told about by a friend or two, and I’m very proud of that.”


    In September 2023, for Ultimate Guitar .com, already quoted above - Steve said


    "I think Nigel Pierce, in Norfolk, who's the DJ there, who's said to me that he's got a tape of Lennon talking to - I'm not sure who he was talking to - but saying that [there were] two bands who were true sons of the Beatles. And he said, one was ELO, and one was Genesis."

    "And it's quite subtle, I think, the influence of the Beatles on Genesis. But I gather that he said also that he got all the Genesis records from 'Nursery Crime' [1971] onwards, sent over to him in New York. So whether it was a connection to all things British - because, don't forget, there's the storytelling aspect, and the Jabberwocky aspect, and the wordplay that I think that both Peter Gabriel and John Lennon shared. There is that.


    So, he may be claiming to remember the original radio interview with Lennon, but the 'sons of Beatles' bit has been told to him by others. From what I can gather, but I can't find the source, someone on a Genesis-related facebook page has claimed that 'someone' has been going through Lennon's archive notes and discovered this. Having spent my working life teaching kids, we are now in 'I got told' territory, the origins of many a social media spat and accompanying playground scuffle, so unlikely to get any further, unless of course someone is going to publish Lennon's archives at some point.

    I see no reason for us to doubt Steve or consider him a boob or liar for the sons of the Beatles comment. He does mention it quite a lot, but personally I find Lennon to be a musician that holds little value to me for the way he conducted his life and relationships. I preferred George and Paul to John and didn’t care for the politics. I don’t need a Lennon endorsement to make me love Genesis. I adore them more than any prog band, even a few centimeters more than Yes….and that’s saying a lot because I’m a lifelong Yes maniac…

    Quote from Art Vandaley

    I see no reason for us to doubt Steve or consider him a boob or liar for the sons of the Beatles comment. He does mention it quite a lot, but personally I find Lennon to be a musician that holds little value to me for the way he conducted his life and relationships. I preferred George and Paul to John and didn’t care for the politics. I don’t need a Lennon endorsement to make me love Genesis. I adore them more than any prog band, even a few centimeters more than Yes….and that’s saying a lot because I’m a lifelong Yes maniac…

    It's very unfashionable to even suggest that to quote Elton John's Empty Garden, 'some say he farmed his best in younger years'. It was not his fault that his life ended just when he might have returned to music - who knows what he may have done? But all the simplistic politics, and the influence of Yoko, leaves not a great deal of solo work that really stands up, and I included the hallowed Imagine in that.