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/ News

Anthony Phillips' "The Geese and the Ghost," with Genesis Bandmates Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford, Goes Deluxe

April 3, 2015 By Joe Marchese 3 Comments

Geese and the Ghost“You should hear what Anthony Phillips has been doing since he left Genesis,” heralded an advertisement for the former Genesis guitarist’s 1977 album The Geese and the Ghost.  A largely-instrumental album of orchestral splendor, The Geese had a bumpy road to release, but it’s now the subject of a deluxe, expanded 2-CD/1-DVD mini-box set edition that ranks as one of the most striking reissue packages of the year.

Certainly a candidate for the great lost Genesis album, The Geese and the Ghost is a deliberate, atmospheric and largely instrumental record in a baroque orchestral style.  Phillips had begun composing the piece in 1969, recording a demo with his bandmate Mike Rutherford.  Following his departure from Genesis in July 1970 after the recording of the band’s second album Trespass, he continued to write and shape the medieval-themed music that became The Geese and the Ghost.  (The finished album certainly is reminiscent of portions of Trespass.)  Though he put the songs on the shelf to pursue other endeavors including the study of classical music and orchestration, Phillips returned to his opus in 1972-1973, writing in tandem once more with Rutherford.

In 1974, the duo became more focused on what was to be a joint album, but Rutherford’s commitment to Genesis threatened to derail it.  After some initial sessions with both men, Phillips pressed forward in spring 1975 while Rutherford was on tour promoting The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.  Following the Lamb tour, Rutherford rejoined Phillips, and other musicians (including students from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama) were enlisted to participate in the sessions.  John Hackett, younger brother of guitarist Steve, played flute.  Phillips himself took on bouzouki, mellotron, harmonium, piano, organ, celeste, glockenspiel, timbales, bells, chimes, gongs and dulcimer, in addition to a variety of guitars.  Phil Collins was drafted to provide vocals on “Which Way the Wind Blows” and “God If I Saw Her Now.”  On the latter, an ethereal folk-styled ballad, he was joined by Viv McAuliffe.  The third sung composition, the piano-driven “Collections,” was performed by Phillips.

1976 proved a difficult year for Phillips, however.  Rutherford was once again called away from the proceedings due to his obligations with Genesis, and the band’s label, Charisma Records, declared their lack of interest in releasing the ambitious album.  Other labels were similarly disinclined to issue The Geese and the Ghost, perhaps turned off by its lack of much that could be described as rock.  Finally, American label Passport Records agreed to release the album, and Phillips set about to completing it in the fall.  Finding a U.K. label continued to prove difficult until Genesis’ manager Tony Smith agreed to form Hit and Run Records to distribute the epic recording.  Smith also arranged for Vertigo Records to distribute The Geese and the Ghost internationally.

The frequently pretty, often stately, and altogether sprawling and multi-layered album – reminiscent of a soundtrack to a never-made film - was credited in the end to Phillips solo, though Rutherford remained a key player as a musician, engineer and writer.  He was also credited with production along with Phillips and Simon Heyworth.  The LP barely cracked the U.S. albums chart at No. 191 but its cult reputation grew over the years.  In 2008, a deluxe CD edition added a bonus disc with twelve additional cuts: mostly demos and work-in-progress tracks plus the 1973 Phil Collins-sung track “Silver Song,” proposed for an unreleased single.

Esoteric’s new 2015 edition, produced by Mark Powell, has been curated with Phillips’ participation.  In addition to the album as remastered by original co-producer Simon Heyworth, it retains the twelve previously issued bonus tracks and adds “Only Your Love,” the intended B-side of “Silver Song” also sung by Phil Collins.  It also premieres a new 5.1 surround mix in the high-resolution DVD-Audio format.  (The DVD-A is happily in NTSC/region-free format, playable everywhere in the world.)  The album’s hypnotic, shimmering sound is well-suited to the 5.1 treatment as mixed by Andy Miles and original co-producer Simon Heyworth.  A 24-page booklet is packed with information on the album, and boasts copious liner notes, track-by-track annotations as to the bonus cuts, plenty of memorabilia images, and new commentary from Anthony Phillips.  It’s all housed in a compact clamshell-style box which also contains a fold-out poster.

The 2-CD/1-DVD edition of The Geese and the Ghost is available now at the links below!  (Note that the U.S. listing shows the set format as "vinyl" but the product description and all specifications are correct.)

Anthony Phillips, The Geese and the Ghost (Hit & Run HIT 001, 1977 – reissued Esoteric ECLEC 32482, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

CD 1/DVD-A: The Original Album

  1. Wind – Tales
  2. Which Way the Wind Blows
  3. Henry: Portraits from Tudor Times – Fanfare
  4. Lute’s Chorus
  5. Misty Battlements
  6. Lute’s Chorus (Reprise)
  7. Henry Goes to War
  8. Death of a Knight
  9. Triumphant Return
  10. God If I Saw Her Now
  11. Chinese Mushroom Cloud
  12. The Geese and the Ghost Part 1
  13. The Geese and the Ghost Part 2
  14. Collections
  15. Sleepfall: The Geese Fly West

CD 2: Bonus Tracks

  1. Master of Time (Demo)
  2. Title Inspiration
  3. The Geese and the Ghost Part 1 (Basic Track)
  4. Collections Link
  5. Which Way the Wind Blows (Basic Track)
  6. Silver Song (Geese Sessions Version)
  7. Henry: Portraits from Tudor Times (Basic Version): Fanfare/Lute’s Chorus/Reprise/Misty Battlements
  8. Collections (Demo)
  9. The Geese and the Ghost Part 2 (Basic Track)
  10. God If I Saw Her Now (Basic Track)
  11. Sleepfall (Basic Track)
  12. Silver Song (1973 Unreleased Single Version)
  13. Only Your Love (1973 Unreleased Single) (previously unreleased)

Tracks 1-12 from Voiceprint CD VP432CD, 2008

Categories: News Formats: CD, DVD-Audio Genre: Classic Rock Tags: Anthony Phillips, Genesis, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins

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Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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Comments

  1. Bob Romano says

    April 3, 2015 at 10:15 am

    The 5.1 mix on this disc is just breathtaking. The quality of the mix as well as the sound is exemplary. This is the best Genesis album they never made. Well done!!!!

    Reply
  2. Jason Whittaker says

    April 5, 2015 at 5:35 am

    You're about a month late on this, and I'm really not convinced the album really has a "hypnotic, shimmering sound" (I prefer your description of it being "baroque orchestral"), but this has to be my favourite surround mix of the past few years. Lovely stuff.

    Reply
    • Avatar photoJoe Marchese says

      April 5, 2015 at 12:22 pm

      I'm happy that we can agree on the quality of the surround mix! Note that we first covered this title upon its release date in our weekly Release Round-Up. Thanks for reading!

      Reply

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