Posts by Dr. John

Quote from nes75

I was really just curious to hear peoples perspective as to why they think the band might not want to play songs from this album.

I think there were 3 major factors affecting the song choices. Firstly they had to be songs that they liked to play. That does not necessarily match what we on this forum most want to hear. Secondly they wanted to cover songs that they felt the attendees would enjoy. This always involves a balance of their popular songs, which is what the majority of the crowd wants, and the older songs, which is what a vocal minority wants. Thirdly, they had to take into account Phil's current limitations, both as a vocalist and because he can't drum. So they limited songs that have long instrumentals (I was a bit surprised they kept Firth of Fifth) and likely never considered or quickly got rid of songs Phil can no longer sing, regardless of the key.

I don't think the members of Genesis are particularly concerned about generating more sales of their catalogue. And if they wanted to play live a bit more, they could have simply extended this recent tour to additional countries and cities. I'm guessing they would far more enjoy play to an audience of fans than a undifferentiated festival crowd.

Quote from Backdrifter

I just heard this on the radio and love it - Undo The Blue by Iraina Mancini. Hadn't heard of her before and shall be investigating further.

Nice song. No relation to Henry I'm guessing?

Quote from Backdrifter

Very interesting list ^

Bleedin' autocorrect, eh?

Thanks for catching that. I didn't even realize that had happened. Fixed it.

My list would be hundreds of songs long. I will leave out Genesis and their (ex-)members solo since those lists could go in other sections in the forum. I will divide this up into two lists of 20: one for major or well-known artists and one for lesser-known ones. Both lists are in no particular order

Well-known artists:

1. Baba O'Riley - The Who
2. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
3. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
4. Pride - U2
5. The Morning Fog - Kate Bush
6. Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys
7. Acadian Driftwood - The Band
8. Respect - Aretha Franklin
9. Closer to Fine - Indigo Girls
10. Deadbeat Club - The B-52s
11. Papa Was a Rolling Stone - The Temptations
12. Jungleland - Bruce Springsteen
13. Little Red Corvette - Prince
14. Never Going Back Again - Fleetwood Mac
15. The Boys of Summer - Don Henley
16. Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
17. Dancing Queen - ABBA
18. When the Levee Breaks - Led Zeppelin
19. St. Dominic's Preview - Van Morrison
20. Every Breath You Take - The Police

Lesser-known artists:

1. Iceblink Luck - Cocteau Twins
2. Gentleman Who Fell - Milla
3. Mass Romantic - The New Pornographers
4. Could've Been Anyone - Aimee Mann
5. Book of Dreams - Suzanne Vega
6. Stereochrome - Emm Gryner
7. There She Goes - The La's
8. Harbour Lights - Bruce Hornsby
9. Waiting for Wednesday - Lisa Loeb
10. On the Way Down From the Moon Palace - Lisa Germano
11. Wall of Death - Richard and Linda Thompson
12. Hasn't Hit Me Yet - Blue Rodeo
13. Little Blue River - The Bears
14. The Walking (and Constantly) - Jane Siberry
15. The King Is Half Undressed - Jellyfish
16. Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
17. Half Way Home - Brian Kennedy
18. In the Road - Weeping Tile
19. Kiss From a Rose - Seal
20. Money City Maniacs - Sloan

Liking every song on an album is relatively infrequent for me. I can still consider an album a favourite even with one or two skippable songs. I can actually prefer an album with skippable songs over one with no skippable songs, simply because the great songs on an "imperfect" album far outweigh any deficits. There is no Genesis album that I consider perfect. I'll skip The Battle of Epping Forest and usually After the Ordeal on SEBTP. I skip the title track on ATOTT. I skip One for the Vine on W&W. The Lamb comes closest, but I'll admit skipping The Waiting Room, Ravine, and In the Rapids.

Here are some albums where I like every song:

Little Earthquakes - Tori Amos

The Band - The Band

The Last Waltz - The Band

Revolver - The Beatles

Running on Empty - Jackson Browne

Hounds of Love - Kate Bush

Woodface - Crowded House

Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan

Hotel California - The Eagles

Rumours - Fleetwood Mac

Amazing Grace - Aretha Franklin

Peter Gabriel (Melt) - Peter Gabriel

So - Peter Gabriel

The Original Leap Year - Emm Gryner

Spilt Milk - Jellyfish

Live at the Regal - B.B. King

Led Zeppelin I - Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin

Whatever - Aimee Mann

Solace - Sarah McLachlan

Blue - Joni Mitchell

Moondance - Van Morrison

Mass Romantic - The New Pornographers

Will the Circle Be Unbroken - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Will the Circle Be Unbroken II - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

What's the Story Morning Glory - Oasis

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

Purple Rain - Prince

Lifes Rich Pageant - REM

Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones

Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen

Every Picture Tells a Story - Rod Stewart

Masseduction - St. Vincent

Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads

Songs From the Big Chair - Tears for Fears

I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight - Richard and Linda Thompson

Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega

Live at Leeds - The Who

Who's Next - The Who

Quadrophenia - The Who

Innervisions - Stevie Wonder

Surf's Up is a great song. I can see why he would like it in terms of the chord changes, multiple sections. One of the most complex Beach Boys songs.

He could mean that someone will do arrangements of Genesis songs for classical instruments, which could have potential, with or without vocals. Gabriel's New Blood worked quite well, at least for some songs.

Quote from WinstonWolf

At the time the big draw of the sets were the surround mixes, but I'm a little surprised they weren't all that popular. I'm just glad that the missing songs were offered up at all. There were a lot of bonuses both big and small that came about through Nick's attention in the old forum that made the boxes better than they might have turned out.

I like having the stereo versions so I can listen to these songs wherever I don't have access to a player for the surround mixes.

Agree about Duchess on The Last Domino tour and Ripples on the 2007 tour.

Back in NYC on the Duke tour.

In That Quiet Earth (in full) on the IT tour.

Inside and Out on the Wind and Wuthering tour

There are also songs that are not favourites and I am surprised they played them live:

All In a Mouse's Night

Say It's Alright Joe

Me and Virgil

Like It or Not

All of my picks are mentioned above:

Blood on the Rooftops

Man of Our Times

Silver Rainbow

Do the Neurotic

Feeding the Fire

Living Forever

A few more:

Driving the Last Spike

Just a Job to Do - the lyrics come close twice but not quite

The Cinema Show

I can understand not releasing the boxes themselves, as that would likely be a more costly production run. There is probably a minimum the would have to do and they might be unsure if that minimum would sell.

But what about just making them available for download, with the booklets also downloadable? Wouldn't that be cheaper? I vaguely remember being able to download the extra songs from the Rainbow concert that didn't fit on the CD.

Quote from Schrottrocker

I guess the scans on discogs are not what you are talking about?

Those do look like scans of the booklet to me.

I have read the booklet before, though not recently, and it didn't fall apart.

Duchess for a few reasons. Firstly there is the poignancy of the lyrics, particularly the last verse given how Phil is doing ("Things weren't so easy now, all uphill, not feeling so strong...") and the last chorus reflecting back to the glory days. Secondly they played it very well, from the atmospheric quieter sections to the powerful sung sections. Thirdly it was my first time hearing this song live at a concert.

I think it is fairly hit and miss about artists getting recorded live during the early 70s. You would think a band like The Who would have lots of recordings after they released Who's Next, but I know of only one properly recorded gig from that tour (of which only bits and pieces have been released) and also essentially nothing from the 1972 shows.

To properly record a gig at the time usually involved a mobile studio, which might not be what the band or the label could or was willing to invest in during the early years of their career.

I think Genesis is pretty well represented in terms of live recordings from the earlier years. We have Genesis Live from the Foxtrot tour, the Rainbow gig from the Selling England tour, and the Lamb show. Admittedly there are missing songs and some rerecording that limits these releases. Still one song per tour for the last 3 albums with Gabriel is decent compared to other bands at a similar level of popularity at the time.

I also don't feel the need to change the forum name. The name Turn It On Again could be interpreted in different ways, regardless of whether the band is still active. I've always thought of the forum title more in the sense of it is always possible to turn their music on again and still experience it anew, whether you are a veteran fan or a first time listener.

I get that Afterglow or perhaps Fading Lights would be apropos in terms of the band ending, but do we really need to have a downer of a forum title?

Quote from DecomposingMan

So... no guesses, huh?

No guesses because I have no idea, not because I am uninterested in the answer.

Quote from rlj1010

Well, Genesis DID authorize a PBS documentary about the making of the tour, featuring early rehearsals when Phil was really struggling. (and that official DVD can be ordered during the PBS pledge drives).

If Genesis were so concerned about how they currently appear, they would never allow that special to see the light of day.

If they're okay with that documentary out there, "preserved for the fans"... then I see no reason why they can't release a video of a full finished show from this tour.

Quote from Christian

It's obviously not about concerns regarding the quality of the performance.

I disagree about these points. There is a big difference between a tour documentary and a concert tour performance release.

The focus of a tour documentary is about how the band works together and how the tour is put together, it is not just on the final performances. Sure some excerpts are shown, but they can then pick and choose parts that went well. Or they can show bits that weren't working in rehearsal as they did in Come Rain or Shine. That fits well with the story of a tour coming together. The context makes all the difference.

A video release of the actual tour performance - either a single concert or a compilation - focuses only on the quality of the performances. So it makes sense that some artists will care if they think the performances are up to snuff for this kind of scrutiny.

I obviously don't know what Genesis was actually thinking about this. I'm just guessing that they might not have felt that this is the tour to preserve for posterity as a live performance, which is not incompatible with allowing sections of rehearsals and performances to show up in a tour documentary.

Aside from being a planned last tour, the R40 tour is very different from The Last Domino. As Rael mentioned above, Rush was still performing at a high level and so filming and releasing the show makes a lot of sense. When The Band quit performing in 1976, they similarly were doing so at a high level and we have the magic of The Last Waltz as a result. Genesis are performing OK, but nowhere near their previous level. So why would they want to preserve it for the fans? The fans can watch previous really amazing performances instead.

As much as it was lovely to hear Duchess this tour, if I want to hear/watch a live performance repeatedly I'll always go back to 3 Sides Live or the Duke tour videos. As much as it was poignant to hear a couple of verses of Fading Lights on this tour, nothing beats watching and listening to Tony, Mike, and Phil as a trio performing the whole thing from the The Way We Walk tour.