Genesis “Wind and Wuthering”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#574 in the Series) is Genesis, Wind and Wuthering
“..And There Were Still Four.” That could have been the title for Wind and Wuthering when you look back at it. I’m of course referring to the fact that this was indeed, the last album with four of the historic Genesis lineup members.
We know that Peter Gabriel left the band at the end of the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tour. The next year saw the release of the first post-Gabriel album, A Trick of the Tail. That great release was followed up with Wind and Wuthering. Yes, like many of the band’s fans, we love the Gabriel era. My favorite will always be ‘73’s Selling England By The Pound, but you’d be hard pressed to find any back to back albums from any era of the band as strong as A Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering. They were also the only two albums released after Peter left, and before long-time guitarist Steve Hackett also said good-bye.
We’ll look at “Trick” another time, so let’s look at this album called Wind and Wuthering.
The opening number was also a concert opener for number of tours. That would be “Eleventh Earl of Mar” or you may know it as “Go West Young Man,” no, I take that back, Genesis fans know the titles by the actual names, not just by the hook. At least they did back in these days.
My favorite song on the disc was also a long time concert favorite. It might be my favorite on the album as well, that would be “One for the Vine.” It’s a great song featuring Phil Collins at his storytelling best. I also loved it because, live, I always thought it was a great song to showcase the world-class drumming of Chester Thompson. Watch the live video below.
“Your Own Special Way” was the first 
single with Phil Collins as lead vocalist to chart. It would reach #62 on the Billboard Hot 100. I guess you could say #62 is charting.
Speaking of Chester, “Wot Gorilla” is actually a reference to him. The nickname came from Frank Zappa while Chester was part of FZ’s band during the One Size Fits All era.
Side two opens with a pair of live favorites, “All in a Mouse’s Night” and “Blood on the Rooftops.”
Oops, maybe I made a major mistake here. I know I mentioned that “One For the Vine” was my favorite. I’m going to have to take a mulligan on that one since I forgot that Tony Banks’ “Afterglow” ends this disc.
THIS would go on to be one of the concert highlights on, I believe, every tour from this point forward. I didn’t see every tour, but they did play this track every time I saw the band. Live it was a remarkable mix of powerful Banks keyboards, great Collins vocals, spectacular lights and fog and first and absolutely foremost, Mike Rutherford’s heavy heart and body thumping Taurus bass-pedals. THAT was what you took home from those tours.
This was a very good album, and like I said before, a great one-two with A Trick of the Tail. Squonk, Dance on a Volcano, Entangled, Ripples, Los Endos, Eleventh Earl of Mar, One For the Vine, Your Own Special Way, Afterglow…. Yes indeed, a wonderful era that lasted just two albums. It produced plenty of wonderful Genesis music. Don’t tell me they ended when Gabriel left. I couldn’t disagree more.
–Larry Carta
Be sure to check out the videos playlists below. Firstly we have the complete studio album. Below that we have some live tracks and a real treat. Two performances of “Your Own Special Way” and “Afterglow” from The Mike Douglas Show in 1977.
Track listing
Side one
- “Eleventh Earl of Mar” (music: Banks, Hackett, Rutherford / lyrics: Rutherford) – 7:41
- “One for the Vine” (Banks) – 10:00
- “Your Own Special Way” (Rutherford) – 6:15
- “Wot Gorilla?” (Banks, Phil Collins) – 3:12
Side two
- “All in a Mouse’s Night” (Banks) – 6:35
- “Blood on the Rooftops” (music: Hackett, Collins / lyrics: Hackett) – 5:20
- “Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers…” (Hackett, Rutherford) – 2:23
- “…In That Quiet Earth” (Hackett, Rutherford, Banks, Collins) – 4:50
- “Afterglow” (Banks) – 4:10
Personnel
- Steve Hackett – guitars, kalimba, autoharp
- Tony Banks – keyboards
- Mike Rutherford – basses, guitars, bass pedals
- Phil Collins – vocals, drums, percussion
Links
- See our write-up on Genesis, Seconds Out
- See our write-up on Peter Gabriel, Plays Live
- Watch PG “mini-concert” on LiveOnLetterman
- See our write up on Genesis, Duke
- See our write up of other prog-rock acts
- See other 1977 albums that we’ve featured
- See other Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Members that we’ve featured.
Here’s some live cuts from Wind and Wuthering. Including one by Daryl Stuermer
Your Own Special Way and After Glow, The Mike Douglas Show, 1977
Larry,
Great review of a wonderful album and period for the band. The W & W tour was my first experience seeing Genesis live, and the show at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago remains one of the finest concert experiences I have had (I can still feel the bass line during the instrumental break in “Firth of Fifth” shaking my ribcage!) After that show, I became a fan for life, ATTWT and Duke brought live shows to the Uptown Theatre, and you could always count on a spectacular musical and visual experience (the live reading of “In the Cage” from that period also stands out). The band wasn’t the same once Phil Collins went mainstream with his solo work, but thanks to recordings like W & W, Seconds Out, and ATOTT, and You Tube, we are able to relive a prog band at the top of their game, with something to prove…..and prove it they did!
Thanks Les, my Genesis experience nearly parallels yours, except I mine began one show later. I started with the Uptpwn shows. Yeah, things did change as the years went on, but I always felt that they still took care of the old school fans at their shows. The ’07 tour was spectacular as well. Sure, it wasn’t like 1978 or so, but it was still damn good, I’ve said this more than once. If I could turn back the clock and re-live any one concert of all my experiences, it would be those mid to late 70s Genesis shows.
I’m from Argentina, I travelled to NY and NJ just to see their show, and it was hkicsong, I’m tired to listen all the time Gabriel’s era is better than Phil’s,I can’t believe you don’t highlight the volume, the accuracy and band’s performance in songs as In the Cage/Cinema Show/Duke’s travel , Home by the sea , Domino , Los Endos. In that stage was the most brilliant keyboardist and his brain (i think you don’t know his name), showing the world you can do good music.Please!!!you’ll never see something like that againByeMarcelo
“Your own Special Way” a great tune? WTF? It’s completely out of place here..it’s an annoying atempt to score the charts with a simplier song and it’s missed , completely! This song sucks ass, it’s long a long and painful experience. It sound so fake! It’s not even good for a ” Rock’mantic” compilation. And as for the album, it s rather a swan-song for their progressive greatness, than a masterpiece. Comparing to “Trick ” this one is rather a pale companion…sounds like a B-side bonus. Hackett is completely marginalised exept for Blood On the Rooftops, Banks’ Synths are omnipresent, and the whole album is badly mixed. Too much treble. Listen to the perfectly crafted “Trick” and then to ” W&W”…this album has simply a weaker material . One for the Vine must be one of the most self-indulgent and pompous and annoying progressive tune. It s an ok album, but not a great one.