Nursery Cryme is the third studio album by the English rock band Genesis. Released on 12 November 1971 on Charisma Records,
The five moved to Charisma owner Tony Stratton Smith's residence, Luxford House, a 16th-century Grade II listed building in Crowborough, East Sussex. The group nicknamed the house "Toad Hall". Genesis were apprehensive about writing without Phillips, and both Collins and Hackett were unsure of what level of musical contributions they would be able to make. The group bought a Mellotron; Banks had played a rented one on Trespass and greatly liked the sound. Some material had been written when Phillips was still in the band, and was reworked. Collins, in particular, was a workaholic and was happy to jam with anyone at any time.
Recording
With the new material worked out, Genesis recorded Nursery Cryme at Trident Studios in London in August 1971 with John Anthony as producer and David Hentschel as assistant engineer, both of whom had performed the same roles for Trespass. The album features Hackett playing a Les Paul guitar which the band had bought him along with a Hiwatt stack amplifier. Hackett recalled some difficulty in understanding what Banks and Rutherford were talking about, as the two had devised their own sayings; for instance, a passage that they had played was referred to as a "nice guy".
Songs
"The Musical Box"
"The Musical Box" was a lengthy piece that described a macabre story set in Victorian Britain. A young boy, Henry, is accidentally decapitated by his friend Cynthia while playing croquet. Returning to the house, Cynthia plays Henry's old musical box, which unleashes the spirit of Henry as an old man. Henry has become sexually frustrated and attempts to seduce Cynthia. The nurse enters the room and hurls the musical box at the wall, destroying both it and Henry. which was developed further after Phillips's departure. The opening section of the song features both Rutherford and Banks on twelve-string guitar. The high-pitched sound of the opening guitar phrase was created using a varispeed technique; Rutherford's guitar was recorded at half speed, so when played back it sounded higher than it did when it was recorded. An earlier version of the song, entitled "Manipulation", was performed with Phillips in 1970 for the soundtrack of an unreleased BBC documentary on painter Michael Jackson.
The guitar solos originated from Barnard's brief tenure in Genesis. Hackett modified sections that Phillips and Barnard had written while adding his own arrangements to the song. He realised that neither member had made a sound that resembled an actual musical box, so he took the opportunity to record a guitar lick that is heard before the lyric "Here it comes again". Gabriel, a big fan of the Who at the time, pushed for Rutherford to come up with "an arm waving, ballsy attacking" section in a similar style to their guitarist Pete Townshend. Gabriel incorporated themes of violence and sex into the lyrics. Collins was inspired to play a rolling drum part during the middle section from hearing "The Weaver's Answer" by Family, and put it to the rhythm. Banks wrote the chord sequence for the final section of the song. Despite all these additions, Genesis biographer Mario Giammetti reckoned that the original composition written by Rutherford and Phillips in September 1969 amounted to "a good two thirds of this track".
The song became a live favourite during Gabriel's tenure with the band. He first decided on the idea of wearing costumes at a gig in the National Stadium, Dublin, in September 1972, leaving during the instrumental break and re-appearing at the conclusion wearing his wife's red dress and a fox's head. Later he would wear an "old man" mask for the song's ending, acting out the part of the aged Henry.
Other songs
thumb|left|"The Return of the Giant Hogweed" described an outbreak of [[Heracleum mantegazzianum attacking the human race.]]
"For Absent Friends" is an acoustic song, and the first Genesis song with Collins on lead vocals. The 12-string acoustic guitars were played by Rutherford and Hackett, and supplemented by a Hohner Pianet played by Banks. After coming up with the music himself and the lyrics with Collins, Hackett recalled being shy when he presented it to Gabriel as they were the new members of the group. Rather than feeling threatened, the original members were pleased that they were contributing to the songwriting, and Gabriel even approved when the other members suggested that Collins sing the lead for the song on the record. Hackett was inspired by "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles to write a straightforward song about a relationship, to which Collins suggested one about two old women who had lost their husbands. They wrote most of the lyrics together in the garden of Tony Stratton-Smith's country house.
"The Return of the Giant Hogweed" warns of the spread of the toxic plant Heracleum mantegazzianum (also known as giant hogweed) after it was "captured" in Russia and brought to England by a Victorian explorer. Though the real plant is extremely toxic and dangerous, the song's lyrics are a humorous exaggeration, suggesting the plant is attempting to wipe out the human race. The lyrics were written by Gabriel. The bulk of the song was written during Genesis's time as a four-piece of Banks, Collins, Gabriel, and Rutherford, though Hackett wrote the introduction after joining the band. Both "The Musical Box" and "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" feature Hackett's first use of guitar tapping, a technique whereby the index finger of the plucking hand is applied directly to the guitar fret board. The opening to the latter features Hackett and Banks playing triplets in harmony.
"Seven Stones" was conceived by Banks, who used what Rutherford described as "his big, schmaltzy, music hall chords [that] he loved." Hackett wrote the first half of the chorus, the part with wordless vocals. Melody Maker reporter Chris Welch described the song as "strangely mournful and inconclusive". He theorised that the old man addressed in the lyric is expressing his "profound belief that the secret of success and good fortune is based purely on random events and chance".
"Harold the Barrel" showed a humorous side to Genesis, which was encouraged by Collins. The lyrics show black humour of a man contemplating suicide by jumping off a building. The song was written primarily by Gabriel, with Collins assisting him with the lyrics. The track was recorded with Gabriel and Collins singing the song as a duet. Their vocals were mixed onto the same audio track, so they cannot be separated.
"Harlequin" was written by Rutherford and Phillips. The instrumentation consists of two 12-string guitars, organ, electric guitar, a Mellotron on the vibraphone setting, and tambourine, and the vocals feature Gabriel, Collins, Rutherford, and Banks all singing harmony. Rutherford played two separate guitar parts on a single 12-string, which he thought produced "pretty dodgy" results, and was also critical of his lyrics. By contrast, listening to the album in 2007, Banks commented that "I used to think 'Harlequin' was a very weak song, but on hearing it again I realise it was pretty good."
"The Fountain of Salmacis" tells the Greek myth of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus. It originated from a short rundown passage that Banks had come up with while at university. An earlier version of the track, entitled "Provocation", was recorded in 1970 for the soundtrack of an unreleased BBC documentary on painter Michael Jackson. The track makes use of the Mellotron, with an influence from King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King. Banks thought the instrument greatly complemented his piece when combined with the organ. It became the basis for "The Fountain of Salmacis", which was taken further to a complete song as the result of group jams. Hackett particularly enjoyed the time he came up with his ending guitar solo, which occurred around midnight at Luxford House during a rare moment when the group were up for recording. The lyrics were written by Banks and Gabriel.
Cover
The album's sleeve was designed and illustrated by Paul Whitehead, who also designed the sleeves of Trespass and the band's next album, Foxtrot. The cover depicts characters and scenes based on "The Musical Box" and Coxhill, the manor house with a croquet lawn, itself based on the Victorian home Gabriel grew up in. When the group originally saw Whitehead's painting, they said it did not look old enough, so he varnished it with honey, which made it look like it was from the 19th century. When originally released, the cover shocked some people, because of the severed heads pictured on it.
The inner sleeve resembled an old photo album, with a panel for each song along with an illustrated picture. Whitehead later picked his design for Nursery Cryme as his favourite of the three done for Genesis, noting: "It just works very well with the music. It fits perfect. It's the right colour, the right vibe."
Whitehead's original illustrations for the three albums were stolen from the Charisma archives when the company was sold to Virgin Records in 1983. Whitehead claimed that Charisma staff got wind of the imminent sale and proceeded to loot its office.
Release
Nursery Cryme was released on 12 November 1971.
From November 1971 to August 1972, Genesis toured to support the album, which included further visits to Belgium, and Italy for the first time, where they played to enthusiastic crowds. During the tour, Genesis recorded "Happy the Man", a non-album single, with "Seven Stones" from Nursery Cryme on its B-side. The group played a thirty-minute set on Belgian television to promote the album, which is the earliest surviving full broadcast of the group and has been repeated numerous times. Gabriel had yet to develop his on-stage costume attire and performed the show in a more straightforward frontman role. It has been one of Genesis' most popular bootlegs.
Critical reception
Critical response to the album was mixed. Richard Cromelin of Rolling Stone summarised that its "main problem lies not in Genesis' concepts, which are, if nothing else, outrageously imaginative and lovably eccentric, nor with their musical structures—long, involved, multi-movemented frameworks on which they hang their narratives—nor even with their playing, which does get pretty lethargic at points. It's the godawful production, a murky, distant stew that at best bubbles quietly when what is desperately needed are the explosions of drums and guitars, the screaming of the organ, the abrasive rasp of vocal cords." He nonetheless remarked positively on some of the songs, and noted that he saw promise in the band. In a full-page advert published in Melody Maker, keyboardist Keith Emerson wrote a positive summary: "This is not the start for Genesis neither is it the end. No bullshit: Their new album really is incredible". Village Voice critic Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in a review compiled for Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981). Writing in sarcastic exclamations, he said of the record: "God's wounds! It's a 'rock' version of the myth of Hermaphroditus! In quotes cos the organist and the (mime-influenced) vocalist have the drummer a little confused! Or maybe it's just the invocation to Old King Cole!" Although Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic deemed the album highly uneven, he considered "The Musical Box" and "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" to be "genuine masterpieces", and concluded that even if the rest of the album "isn't quite as compelling or quite as structured, it doesn't quite matter because these are the songs that showed what Genesis could do, and they still stand as pinnacles of what the band could achieve".
Track listing
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's 1971 and 2007 liner notes.
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Certifications
References
Notes
Citations
Books
DVD media
External links
- Nursery Cryme at Discogs
- Nursery Cryme at MusicBrainz