| |
|
Genesis
Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, USA,
24th January 1975
(Pre-FM Source Soundboard Recording)
|
| This
concert was professionally recorded by Genesis' sound engineer,
John Burns, and Genesis management hold the master. The Lamb
section of the show is available on the "Genesis Archives"
box set, though with much overdubbing including doctoring
of about one third of the vocals. An early official release
of The Waiting Room from this performance was B-side to the
single version of Carpet Crawlers [Charisma CB251] where it
was nicknamed "Evil Jam". Performance wise this show is incredible
with great musical virtuosity and an atmosphere of intimacy
and menace: played loud it feels as though you are right there
in the auditorium, especially on the unofficial (undoctored)
short recording. |
|
Disc
1:
1. Watcher Of The
Skies [7.59]
2. Lilywhite Lilith [2.55]
3. The Waiting Room [6.09]
4. Anyway [3.33]
5. It [5.02]
6. The Musical Box [11.05]
|
 |
Missing
from the box set are the last song of the standard set (It)
and the two encores (Watcher Of The Skies and Musical Box).
Tony Banks's accompanying notes claim that the intention was
to make two overlapping recordings but that the second recording
was not started due to an "engineer asleep on the job". Nevertheless
a portion of the show broadcast on Dutch Radio included the
three final songs. All of the 35 minute broadcast was taken
from the second half of the show lending weight to the theory
that the overlapping recording was indeed completed. There
can be little doubt that the source of the broadcast was the
John Burns recording because the crowd noises audible on the
Archive #1 version match those of the broadcast indicating
at the very least use of the same audience microphones. I
conclude that Tony Banks owes John Burns an apology!
Loss of the second reel would certainly explain the omission
of the final three songs on the official release, but another
possibility is disatisfaction with some aspect of the performance.
For example there's a noticable drum error during It, just
after the line "It is hope for the dope ..." as though Phil
has dropped a stick and had to fumble for a new one. I have
it on good authority that drum mistakes are very tricky to
fix when doctoring a live performance for release.
For quite a while I subscribed to the generally held belief
that this material was broadcast by King Biscuit, but the
only evidence I have found on this matter is negative. There
are no tapes with Shrine Audititorium material containing
King Biscuit announcements, adverts or a radio ID. A recent
King Biscuit compilation containing live Lamb material attributed
to Shrine Auditorium (section 10.27) turned out to be a segment
of their old Wembley 1975 recording. The one lead I had claiming
original King Biscuit reels from Shrine Auditorium turned
out, after negotiations lasting five years, to be mistakenly
attributed King Biscuit reels from Rainbow 1977. Though I
have emailed King Biscuit for any details their archives might
hold on the Shrine recording they have been either unable
or unwilling to clarify the situation.
The Dutch broadcast was carried by "Hilversum 3" since renamed
"Radio 3", a spokesman recalled that the tape they received
for broadcast from "a record company" was about 90 mins long
but that the tape had gone missing, possibly taken home by
an employee. Dutch Radio 3 have no record of the original
broadcast date and say that there have been no rebroadcasts;
the concluding announcement on the tape is "that was Genesis
recorded in 1975" which suggests the broadcast probably took
place sometime in 1976.
Low generation recordings from the Dutch broadcast are rare,
the material is better known as the worthy old bootleg "As
Though Emerald City" [TAKRL 1945 - LP] and it's CD equivalent
"Twilight Alehouse" [Flashback 10.89.0109-33 - CD]. Beware
of the bootleg LP "Revelation Without A Cause" [Wizardo Wrmb
313 - LP] as it was recorded from the audience at the same
gig. There is also a fairly rare 90 minute version held by
a few collectors (beginning with In The Cage) which was rumoured
to originate from Fisher Farm Lane studios, but once heard
it was fairly obviously just an audience recording.
A better recording can now be found as a CDR bootleg said
to be sourced directly from broadcast reels. The quality of
the sound certainly seems consistent with this assertion;
moreover comparing this version with the Dutch broadcast reveals
some differences which suggest it may well be a different
source:
· Longer applause before Musical Box including Peter thanking
the crowd a few times
· Longer applause at the end where the announcer cuts in on
the Dutch broadcast
· Somewhat abrupt transition to clapping after Watcher and
longer applause before Lilywhite Lillith
Hopefully one day some some supporting information will emerge
regarding the history of this "reels" version to lend extra
authenticity to the claim. |
|
Return to the Various Other Artists
page
|
|
