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| label = Charisma
| producer = Bob Ezrin
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| next_title = Peter Gabriel
| next_year = 1978
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Peter Gabriel is the debut studio album by the English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel, released in February 1977 by Charisma Records. After his departure from the progressive rock band Genesis was made public in 1975, Gabriel took a break to concentrate on his family life. In 1976, he began writing material for a solo album and met producer Bob Ezrin, who agreed to produce it. Gabriel hired several additional musicians, including guitarist Robert Fripp and bassist Tony Levin.
The album was later known as Peter Gabriel I or Car, referring to the album's artwork produced by Hipgnosis. Some music streaming services, including Gabriel's own Bandcamp page, refer to it as Peter Gabriel 1: Car.
Peter Gabriel reached No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 38 on the US Billboard 200. It is certified gold in both countries for selling 100,000 and 500,000 copies, respectively. "Solsbury Hill" was the first single, and reached No. 13 in the UK. Gabriel supported the album with a tour of Europe and the US through 1977, featuring a seven-piece band including Fripp and Levin. The album was remastered in 2002 and 2011.
Background and recording
In August 1975, Gabriel's departure from the progressive rock band Genesis was made public. He had announced the decision to leave the band early into their tour supporting The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974), citing estrangement from the other members, the strains on his marriage, and his wish to spend more time with his family. He also wanted to avoid giving the impression of quitting Genesis "to run off and do my solo album", and took a break. When they learned that Gabriel was to make a solo album, they sent a telegram wishing him luck. By mid-1976, Gabriel had recorded a collection of demos for his album. One of those songs, "Excuse Me", was written in 1975 with poet Martin Hall, a creative partnership that predated Gabriel's departure from Genesis. He considered several producers, including Todd Rundgren and Jack Nitzsche. Someone suggested Canadian producer Bob Ezrin, known for working with Alice Cooper, Lou Reed and Kiss. Gabriel played his demo of "Here Comes the Flood" to Ezrin, who enjoyed the track so much he went to bed that night singing the song. The pair agreed to share production duties; Ezrin led the "American rhythm sections" and "very rock passages", while Gabriel led the "more European things" and "quiet parts". Ezrin was responsible for recruiting the remaining musicians, including drummer Allan Schwartzberg, percussionist Jimmy Maelen, and guitarist Steve Hunter.
Gabriel described the Toronto sessions as "fast, exciting and hot". After two days of hearing Levin play, Gabriel invited him to play on the tour. After the sessions concluded in Toronto, a dinner was arranged at the Napoleon Restaurant where Ezrin bestowed gifts upon the session musicians, which included a tuba for Levin and a gold antique watch for Fripp.
Although mainly happy with the music, Gabriel felt that the album, particularly "Here Comes the Flood", was overproduced. He would later record and perform versions of that song exclusively with keyboards and voice, including a recording on Fripp's album Exposure and his appearance on Kate Bush's television special in December 1979, during which Gabriel and Bush also sang "Another Day" by Roy Harper. A third version appeared on the 1990 compilation album Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats. Gabriel often performs the song live, accompanied by only himself on keyboard, either in German (called "Jetzt Kommt Die Flut") or English, depending on the audience. The song debuted during an appearance on Thames Television's Good Afternoon in the summer of 1976. Because Gabriel's first four albums were not titled or numbered, the album later became informally known as Car. An alternative proposal was to feature a photograph of Gabriel wearing contact lenses intended to give his eyes the appearance of metallic ball bearings; this was included on the inner sleeve. Music Week later announced that it would be released by Atlantic Records during the week of 5 February 1977 in North America and 18 February 1977 by Charisma Records throughout the rest of the world. Peter Gabriel was ultimately released later that month on Charisma Records in Europe and Atco Records in North America. Billboard listed the album as a "national breakout" based on station playlists that factor in add-ons, airplay, and requests on a regional and national level. Peter Gabriel reached No. 7 in the UK and No. 38 in the US. "Solsbury Hill", the first single, became a Top 20 hit in the UK and reached No. 68 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Modern Love", did not chart.
After Peter Gabriels release, Gabriel assembled a touring band, consisting of Fripp (occasionally using the pseudonym "Dusty Rhodes", and sometimes performing from offstage) and Hunter on guitar, Levin on bass, Fast on synthesisers, Schwartzberg on drums, Phil Aaberg on keyboards and Jimmy Maelen on percussion. The first leg of his debut solo tour, entitled "Expect the Unexpected", started on 5 March 1977 in the United States and continued until April. The UK portion of the tour concluded on 30 April. This leg of the tour consisted of a different band that included Sid McGinnis on guitar, Levin on bass, Jerry Marotta on drums and Bayeté (Todd Cochran) on keyboards.
| rev2 = Chicago Sun-Times
| rev2score =
| rev3 = Classic Rock
| rev3score = 9/10
| rev4 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev4score = A
| rev5 = Q
| rev5score =
| rev6 = Record Mirror
| rev6score =
| rev7 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev7score =
| rev8 = Sounds
| rev8score =
| rev9 = Uncut
| rev9score = 7/10
| rev10 = The Village Voice
| rev10score = B+
In Beat Instrumental, Peter Douglas called the album a "mixed effort, but a brave one". He felt that the music was diverse and varied and found Ezrin's production to have lived up to his expectations "in all respects" with the exception of the vocals, which he believed were "consistently indistinct." Nick Kent, writing in NME in 1978, said that Peter Gabriel was "a fine record with at least one 24-carat irresistible classic in 'Solsbury Hill' and a strong supporting cast of material that, all in all, in a year besmeared with great albums was, in retrospect, sorely underrated". The album received the prize of the French Académie Charles Cros.
Rolling Stone critic Stephen Demorest described Peter Gabriel as "a grab bag collection of songs that bear little resemblance to one another" and called it "an impressively rich debut album". Robert Christgau of The Village Voice found it "a lot smarter" than Gabriel's past work in Genesis, and despite noting that "every time I delve beneath its challenging textures to decipher a line or two I come up a little short", felt that it was "worth considering". Record World found each track stylistically diverse, highlighting the barbershop quartet influences on "Excuse Me" and the twelve-bar blues of "Waiting for the Big One". Cashbox called the album an "eclectic musical masterpiece" that was "well worth the wait".
Track listing
All songs by Peter Gabriel, except "Excuse Me", co-written with Martin Hall.
Personnel
- Peter Gabriel – lead vocals, keyboards, flute, recorder
- Robert Fripp – electric guitar, classical guitar, banjo on "Excuse Me"
- Steve Hunter – acoustic guitar on "Solsbury Hill", lead guitar on "Slowburn" and "Waiting for the Big One"; electric guitar, electric rhythm guitar, pedal steel
- Dick Wagner – backing vocals, electric guitar on "Here Comes the Flood"
- Tony Levin – bass guitar, tuba, leader of the Barbershop Quartet on "Excuse Me"
- Jozef Chirowski – keyboards, additional vocals on "Excuse Me"
- Larry Fast – synthesizer, programming
- Allan Schwartzberg – drums, phone directory
- Jimmy Maelen – percussion, synthibam, bones, additional vocals on "Excuse Me"
- London Symphony Orchestra – strings on "Down the Dolce Vita" and "Here Comes the Flood"
- Michael Gibbs – orchestral arrangement
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"|Chart (1977)
!scope="col"|Peak<br />position
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! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
| style="text-align:center"| 25
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|-
|-
!scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)
| align="center"| 5
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|-
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Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col" | Chart (1977)
! scope="col" | Position
|-
! scope="row" | UK Albums (OCC)
| 42
|-
|}