Mike Rutherford - Interview April 1974

[@budgetkeyboardist]

What a treasure trove. Listening to Mike, he could be 25 or 55 - he just seems so mature and so well spoken. He was SO important to Genesis.

[@SOLOLULA2]

Aquí, Mike Rutherford tenía 23 años. Cumpliría 24 años, en octubre de ese mismo año 1974. Es una maravilla de colección, este vídeo. 🎵🎶🎵🎶💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

[@johnthomas8606]

Amazing interview and window into the band at that period. Thanks for sharing it. What Mike says here about Steve's ability to create amazing sounds, and what Steve has said in other interviews about prodding the band to get a mellotron, and a few comments offered by Tony and Peter about Steve's creative sound making, make me realize Steve had a large influence, maybe the largest, on bringing Genesis into the big prog sound of mellotron, more effects textures, and broader instrumentation that is the "classic" sound beloved by fans. I recently heard Tony offer the rare compliment to Steve in saying it was Steve's idea to make Firth of Fith "larger and louder" (Steve called it his "King Crimson" version of a much quieter song) and it was Steve's phrasing of Tony's melody that lifted the song into the massive iconic version. Steve stated in an interview, 1975 during the Lamb tour, that Genesis did not play "rock-opera" , as the press called the band's music, but actually played "Pageant" music with medieval overtones "and it is undeniable that our music has a medieval sound."

[@bobbrown8155]

This is amazing… just amazing…. Better than most other interviews. More genuine… They were quite young at the time. Their level of maturity at such a quite young age is very impressive.

[@lisamoroney3036]

Lost my dad in July of ‘74, his record collection had every Genesis album , plus all of mine !

[@davebellamy4867]

This interview really surprised to the upside. It started slow and built into something utterly fascinating because Mike in his quietly spoken way covered so many things in depth.

[@rk41gator]

"Never compromised." That is why we love Genesis.

[@pasi8800]

These interviews are a absolute treasure trove! Can you imagine how great it would have been if they did that retrospective concert?!

[@mariojorgecaeiro]

Great great historic moment.

[@maciektrybuszewski9964]

This is gold.

[@JohnMacRae23]

Great interview... thanks for sharing all this amazing audio and footage for the diehard Genesis fans.

[@greg-warsaw4708]

This is sensational find! Take your time, do not fast-forward it, perhaps listen in stages, but to the whole thing if you are fan. This is very interesting, unlike some of their interviews from the 80s when they tended to repeat the same things every time and were very predictable in what they said.

[@greg-warsaw4708]

What an apt observation he made when he said: I know very few people who are good enough musicians to improvise, compared to the number who actually _do_ improvise.

[@davebellamy4867]

Yes. This is a gem. Especially later on.

[@davebellamy4867]

​@@greg-warsaw4708 31:50 It took me a while to find where it was but it was an interesting comment.

[@tonymain341]

Michael is such a brilliant musician and talented writer, he's always been such an integral part of Genesis, he and Tony are such brilliant writers and their music will stand the test of time as will all the members of Genesis.👍😎

[@AJMjazz]

Interesting interview. And where the band ended up many years after this was recorded... At least Mr. Rutherford stayed true to his musical convictions and created some of the best - and underrated - songs and recordings of all time.

[@krismurphy7711]

Priceless. And he sounds the same 50 years ago as he does today. Nice down to earth guy.

[@TheLegendMaster]

The slight dig at Gentle Giant at 11:37 made me laugh as I've just got into them.

[@JackandTom-tz8kj]

Best interview I've ever heard from Mike. Great job, guys. "We're just not that good performers"....geez, how humble. His introspection on how early Genesis developed their songs is fascinating. Years later, Mike would say, "playing the same sort of our older music would bore me to death". The mind of a savant!

[@Javiermontanespianista]

Thank you!

[@Islander2112]

Amazing! Thanks for sharing!

[@pietrozaffutomusic]

The best❤️

[@jimw6659]

What a great interview. Many thanks for sharing!

[@Chuckles..]

Fascinating to hear Mike's thoughts in their pre-Lamb era. A lot of people think that's their best era. Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, England By The Pound, then a return to that form with Trick Of The Tail. Epic run.

[@Divedown_25]

Absolutely fantastic to listen to this interview. Thanks for the upload.

[@rutherfordsquire]

bless you

[@krisscanlon4051]

Wow you really can hear the Motown in their live sound wow

[@simone.mazzilli]

Grazie!!!

[@fabianbourgeais5784]

Mike le sage ! Un homme extraordinaire !

[@CatStanleySpaceDemon]

Interesting, they didn't use the words prog, or progressive rock once throughout the interview. Was that term used alot at the time to describe bands like Genesis and Yes, or was it coined ex pos facto by fans and critics to give the music historic context?

[@GenesisMuseum]

It existed (check an album Genesis was on called Wowie Zowie) but they rarely referred to "progressive" music while in the middle of the actual progression. It was used much more after the height of the movement was almost over.

[@projectz975]

i listen to a lot of old interviews with people who were young during this time, and usually their voices are softer and higher, but Mike Rutherford sounds like a wisened old man even in his 20's 😆

[@davebellamy4867]

Mike's voice is very softly spoken here. He always had a very deep bassy voice tone.

[@davebellamy4867]

He sounds like a wise man.

[@davebellamy4867]

50:46 Mike might have said, "Major 7ths," because definitely major 7ths are very strong in Genesis.

[@GenesisMuseum]

Probably, nice catch

[@davebellamy4867]

​@@GenesisMuseum Great interview. Wonderful video. A joy to hear.

[@davebellamy4867]

​​​​@@GenesisMuseum You know, in Church sometimes I've heard a hymn or piece of the Liturgy and I've said to myself, "Hey, that's SO like a Genesis song!"🤣👍 The tune to "Lamb of God you take wway the sins of the world" has the same climbing down bass note as the end of Squonk. Nearly every time it comes, I see Phil at the Lyceum in my head and it makes me smile!🤣

[@GT380man]

@@davebellamy4867 I’ve often detected this tendency for English church musical themes, chord progressions and even the voicing (of keyboards) to influence what they wrote in the 1970s. It’s far more obvious to me now, after a break of 25 years during which time I’d rarely pick up a Genesis cassette. Fell in love all over again with Nursery Cryme, TOTT, Foxtrot, SEBTP, The Lamb. Just astonishing material from a band at the height of their powers. I think they’d all had some “proper” musical training & were all extraordinary musicians as well. How they wrote what they did, I’ve no idea.

[@aMan-or9ij]

@@davebellamy4867 Tremendously good/interesting comment.

[@jeffsimon9594]

It is strange listening to Mike speak so long ago, before he began saying "You know what I mean" after every second sentence

[@jimw6659]

At 57.27, there’s a clip of Phil drumming where he looks freakishly like Nic.

[@davebellamy4867]

57:27 Absolutely. Or Nic looks like Phil especially since he has a beard. Wow this bit has just appeared by coincidence. Which song? Phil has the schoolteacher whistle in his mouth. Maybe Supper's Ready. Or Get em out by Friday. Or The Knife? Phil's whistle features often.🤣👍

[@autismguy2060]

Where did they find this tape from 48 years later?

[@GenesisMuseum]

Many collectors keep these kinds of things forever :)

[@rk41gator]

Make a film.....if only they had done a grand movie of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway! (or even a decent video) :(

[@LawrenceLanberg]

They didn't even touch the topic of how the band got by after losing John Mayhew. Maybe it was still too traumatic to bring up.

[@joey6280]

The Lamb was too proggy and maybe that is what pushed the band to become gradually more and more pop rock because from A Trick of The Tail on there is that necessity to be a little bit more concise.

[@clannad99germany70]

For a German both, Tony but even more Mike, are so difficult to understand, what they are saying, the words et cetera. Phil is much butter. Maybe it is the speed, maybe the accent, maybe he "swallowed" the words he uses. IDK, but thanks here on YT for subtitles. lol

[@GenesisMuseum]

It was tough to understand, even for a native English speaker. Some segments I had to listen to many times to get the transcription.

[@clannad99germany70]

Lol, that really comforts me !!! Great !! As long as they can understand each other in terms if music, everything is fine (I am talking ob Phil, Tony, Mike, Daryl and Chester) @@GenesisMuseum

[@johnthomas8606]

@@clannad99germany70 for my ear, Mike has the most difficult accent of the five to understand.

[@clannad99germany70]

@@johnthomas8606 Yes it is, especially, IMHO as a foreigner, in the way of his speech rhythm, the rhythm within a sentence, a line and the pronunciation of words. Real difficult to follow his talking.