From Genesis to Revelation



From Genesis to Revelation is the first studio album by the British band Genesis. It was released in March 1969 on Decca Records in England (London Records in North America). It was produced by Jonathan King, who discovered them in 1967 while the members of Genesis were pupils at Charterhouse School, King's alma mater. It was reissued in various regions, including the United Kingdom (home country), as In the Beginning (first in 1974) and then part of Decca's Rock Roots repackaging series in 1976 before reverting to original title in recent reissues.

Production
Genesis originally consisted of Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, and Anthony Phillips, without a drummer. Once one of their demo tapes caught the attention of Jonathan King, he took them under his wing, gave them the name Genesis and, with the addition of schoolmate Chris Stewart on drums, recorded "The Silent Sun" as their first single. It was later described by the band as a "Bee Gees pastiche" written specifically to win King's approval, as the Bee Gees were one of King's favourite groups. Its February 1968 release on Decca Records was not a commercial success. Neither was the follow-up "Where The Sour Turns To Sweet" three months later. Or the third single "A Winter's Tale".

After replacing Chris Stewart with John Silver, King wanted the band to make an album with songs loosely based on passages in the Bible in the form of a concept album, and in the music style of the Bee Gees. The album was recorded in August 1968 during school holidays, with King adding string accompaniments.

Release and reception
The band's name was omitted from the sleeve, because Decca had recently discovered that an obscure American act was also calling itself Genesis and asked the band to consider changing its name to avoid confusion, which King declined. The American "Genesis" in question was likely a Los Angeles-based group that released In the Beginning on the Mercury label in 1967.

Aftermath
By this time Jonathan King was losing interest in the band and they decided to record and perform on their own musical terms. Although King had more experience and was aiming to present Genesis in a marketable way, they were feeling more and more constrained by King's attempts to curtail and limit their increasingly lengthy and adventurous new compositions. The band went professional in the autumn of 1969, and after replacing John Silver with John Mayhew on drums, Genesis began formulating the music that would lead to Trespass the following year and were eventually signed to Charisma Records after an introduction by King to his friend Tony Stratton-Smith, a sports journalist managing bands in his spare time. Rutherford maintains that Genesis owes the producer a debt of gratitude: "Jonathan King, for all his faults – he has a funny reputation in England – did give us a fantastic opportunity. Because in those days, in England, you couldn't get in the studio. I mean, now a new group can very easily get a chance to go and record a single, just something, you know, to show there's something going for them. In those days, to get any sort of record contract, was really magical. And he gave us a chance to do a whole record. You've got a bunch of musicians who were really amateur, could barely play well, were barely a group, and were able to go in one summer holiday and make a record."

Although initially licensed to Decca Records, King holds the rights to the album and has re-released it several times under a variety of titles. The album was not included in the 2008 box set, Genesis 1970–1975, which covers the rest of the band's era with singer Peter Gabriel.

On 27 July 1990, the album was reissued in a two disc set. The second disc included the four tracks included on And the Word Was....., four early versions of songs on the album, and ten interviews.

On 25 October 2010, the album was released as a special edition on iTunes. It includes the bonus tracks from the 1990 reissue.

Track listing
All songs written by Anthony Phillips, Michael Rutherford, Peter Gabriel & Anthony Banks. Copyright Jonjo Music Co. Ltd. BMI


 * Additional tracks on various reissues


 * Notes
 * All these tracks are available on Genesis Archive 1967-75 released in 1998.

Musicians

 * Genesis
 * Peter Gabriel – lead vocals, flute
 * Tony Banks – Farfisa & Hammond organs, acoustic & electric pianos, backing vocals
 * Anthony Phillips – acoustic & electric guitars, backing vocals
 * Mike Rutherford – bass guitar, acoustic & electric guitars, backing vocals
 * John Silver – drums (except on "Silent Sun")


 * Additional personnel
 * Chris Stewart – drums on "Silent Sun"
 * Strings & horns arranged & conducted by Arthur Greenslade & Lou Warburton

Production

 * Produced by Jonathan King
 * Recorded & Engineered by Brian Roberts & Tom Allom

UK LP Releases

 * Decca LK 4990 (1969): Mono 1st issue, contains insert with art, lyrics and credits. Record has red labels with an unboxed Decca logo and a red "peep hole" on the back of the cover. Mono copies are extremely rare and fetch very high prices (upwards of US$1,200 for a copy in good condition).
 * Decca SKL 4990 (1969): Stereo 1st issue, contains insert with art, lyrics and credits. Record has blue labels and a blue "peep hole" on the back of the cover.
 * On the labels, 1st issues contain both the boxed Decca logo and the unboxed logo. The labels were used interchangeably. The unboxed logos are more rare.
 * Decca SKL 4990 (1974): Reissue, retitled In the Beginning

US LP Releases

 * London XPS 643 (1974): 1st issue, with art, lyrics and credits.
 * London LC50006 (1977): 2nd issue, retitled In the Beginning
 * London 820 496-2 (1987): CD reissue, retitled And the Word Was.....
 * This release included four additional mono tracks. The first two appear before the contents of the original album (which are in stereo), the other two afterward:
 * A mono version of "The Silent Sun"
 * "That's Me"
 * "A Winter's Tale"
 * "One-Eyed Hound"
 * This reissue marked the first US availability of From Genesis to Revelation on CD. It was apparently meant to capitalise upon the group's (and likely Gabriel's) surging popularity in the US, as suggested by the timing of its release (closely on the heels of Invisible Touch) and its liner notes which document the band's early history, up to …And Then There Were Three…, which was not familiar to most of the group's American audience.
 * Varèse Sarabande 302 066 8595 1 (2014): Limited Edition of 1500 release, on 180 gram black vinyl, for Record Store Day Black Friday 2014. Black cover with "Genesis" in gold diagonally, salmon colored label with Varèse Sarabande logo in gold on side one (colors are reversed on side 2), stereo, contains facsimile of original insert with art, lyrics and credits, but no bonus tracks.