Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, best known as co-founder, lead guitarist and bassist of the rock band Genesis. He and keyboardist Tony Banks are the group's two continuous members.
Initially serving as Genesis's bass guitarist and backing vocalist, Rutherford also performed most of the band's rhythm guitar parts—frequently on twelve-string guitar—in collaboration with successive Genesis lead guitarists Anthony Phillips and Steve Hackett. Following Hackett's departure from Genesis in 1977, Rutherford assumed the additional role of lead guitarist on the band's studio albums (beginning with ...And Then There Were Three... in 1978). Rutherford was one of the main Genesis songwriters throughout their career and wrote the lyrics for some of the band's biggest international hits, such as "Follow You Follow Me", "Turn It On Again", "Land of Confusion" and "Throwing It All Away". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010.
In addition to his work with Genesis, Rutherford released two solo albums in the early 1980s. In 1985, he formed Mike + the Mechanics, which became a chart-topping act and significant live draw in its own right. The group earned Rutherford an Ivor Novello Award for the 1988 single "The Living Years", as well as two Grammy nominations.
Early life
Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford was born on 2 October 1950 in Chertsey, Surrey. His father, William Francis Henry Crawford Rutherford (1906–1986) was a Royal Navy Captain (awarded the DSO and CBE) who became a manager in industry (including for aircraft manufacturer Hawker Siddeley). Upon his retirement from the service he married his wife, Anne. His father has an elder sister, Nicolette.
Rutherford received his first guitar at the age of 8, and played in his first band, The Chesters, so named because by then they lived near Chester, in the following year. Because of this, he formed the band Mike + The Mechanics during a break from Genesis in 1985. Their biggest hits were "All I Need Is a Miracle", "Word of Mouth", "The Living Years", "Silent Running" and "Over My Shoulder".
Rutherford was one of several artists, including associates Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, who contributed to the Against All Odds (1984) soundtrack. Rutherford's song was "Making A Big Mistake".
Rutherford played at the Strat Pack Concert in 2004 along with Brian May, David Gilmour, Joe Walsh and many other guitarists, in a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster electric guitar. Rutherford performed in the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics on 12 August 2012 as a guest member of Ed Sheeran's band, along with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, playing the Pink Floyd song "Wish You Were Here".
Instruments
thumb|240px|right|Performing in Toronto, 3 June 1977 Rutherford with his [[Shergold double-neck bass]]
Early in his career, Rutherford played mainly Rickenbacker and Shergold basses. He developed the idea behind the M-Series Steinberger guitar with the help of English luthier Roger Giffin and he used this extensively in the 1980s and during The Invisible Touch Tour with Genesis. He had a double-neck Strata (later renamed Status) built for the Mama tour which featured a six string guitar and four string bass placed in a custom body. In the earlier years of Genesis he played a Dewtron Mister Bassman, and starting in 1976, Moog Taurus bass pedal synthesisers.
Through the early 1970s live tours, Rutherford often used a custom built Rickenbacker double-neck that combined a 12-string semi-hollow-body guitar with a 4-string bass (now on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum). For The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and the first part of the Trick of the Tail tours, he incorporated a Rickenbacker 12-string solid-body guitar and a 6-string Micro-Frets Signature Baritone, equipped with 6-string short scale bass strings. Later he switched to another 12-string solid body/6-string bass combination built from scratch. All these double-neck guitars were made by luthier Dick Knight. A custom Shergold double-neck was made that had modules for 4, 6 and 12 strings guitars. The retunings required for early Genesis songs led to the development of Peter Gabriel's stories and introductions.
For the 2007 tour with Genesis, Rutherford continued to use double-neck instruments when the arrangements demand quick switches between bass and twelve-string guitars. His current double-neck model is a Gibson twelve-string guitar with a Yamaha TRB-4P bass while he prefers Eric Clapton signature model Fender Stratocasters when playing guitar on later pieces. As for bass, from 1992 on, Rutherford can be seen playing mostly Yamaha from the TRB series. During the 2021 to 2022 The Last Domino? Tour, Rutherford started using Squier Bullet Stratocasters after purchasing a pair while under lockdown in Cape Town.
Personal life
Rutherford divides his time between Loxwood, West Sussex, England, and Cape Town, South Africa with his wife Angie. The couple were married on 13 November 1976 and have three children: Kate (b. 1977), Tom (b. 1980), and Harry (b. 1986). The family enjoy equestrian sport such as polo and dressage, in addition to raising horses.
According to The Daily Telegraph in 2014, Rutherford had a net worth of £30 million.
Memoir
In 2014, Rutherford published The Living Years: The First Genesis Memoir with Thomas Dunne Books. The first book about Rutherford's solo career, Silent Runner by journalist Mario Giammetti, was published in Italy (Edizioni Segno) in 2011.
Discography
Genesis
Mike + The Mechanics
Solo albums
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2" style="width:16em;"| Title
! rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Details
! colspan="4"| Peak chart<br />positions
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:45px;"| UK
! style="width:45px;"| CAN
! style="width:45px;"| US
! style="width:45px;"| NOR
|-
! scope="row"| Smallcreep's Day
|
- Release date: 15 February 1980
- UK & Ireland label: Charisma Records
- USA & Canada label: Passport Records
| 13
| —
| 163
| 30
|-
! scope="row"| Acting Very Strange
|
- Release date: 7 September 1982
- UK & Ireland label: WEA
- USA & Canada label: Atlantic Records
| 23
| 32
| 145
| —
|}
Solo singles
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Single
! colspan="2"| Peak chart positions
! rowspan="2"| Album
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:35px;"| CAN
! style="width:35px;"| US Main
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1980
| style="text-align:left;"| "Moonshine"
| —
| —
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3"| Smallcreep's Day
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Time and Time Again"
| —
| —
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Working in Line"
| —
| —
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1982
| style="text-align:left;"| "Maxine"
| 37
| 39
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3"| Acting Very Strange
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Halfway There"
| —
| —
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Acting Very Strange"
| —
| —
|-
| colspan="20" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart
|}
References
Cited works
External links
- Article about Mike Rutherford's Shergold double neck guitar
- World of Genesis.com Mike Rutherford Biography
- World of Genesis.com 2004 Mike Rutherford Interview: Genesis of a Mechanic
- "Mike Rutherford joins the Band du Lac – charity concert 11 June 2005