A Trick of the Tail

A Trick of the Tail
Studio album by Genesis
Released	2 February 1976 (UK) / 20 February 1976 (US)
Recorded	October–November 1975, Trident Studios
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	51:11
Label	Charisma, Virgin, Atco
Producer	David Hentschel and Genesis
Genesis chronology
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974) A Trick of the Tail (1976) Wind & Wuthering (1976)[1]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Q	[3]
Uncut	[4]
Rolling Stone	(not rated)[5]

A Trick of the Tail is the seventh studio album by the rock band Genesis and the first to feature Phil Collins as full-time lead vocalist following the departure of original vocalist Peter Gabriel. It was released in February 1976.

Post-Gabriel Genesis

After Peter Gabriel left Genesis, the remaining members held auditions for a permanent lead singer, although some members (most notably Banks) considered continuing as an instrumental act, while most songs were written without knowledge as to how they would be sung.^[6] Initially, Phil Collins did not wish to take over from Gabriel, instead teaching the potential lead singers the songs. One of the 400 auditioners, Mick Stickland, came close, but the band and Mick decided against working together in the end. According to the band members, the backing tracks for A Trick of the Tail had already been recorded and were in a key in which Mick was not comfortable singing. When the auditions failed to produce a suitable vocalist, Collins reluctantly went in the studio to sing "Squonk" and the band decided that Collins should be the new vocalist.^[7]

Recording

The album was recorded and mixed at Trident Studios in October/November 1975. It also marked the first album that the band would co-produce with David Hentschel. They would work with Hentschel for the next four years.

Videos

For the first time in their career, Genesis filmed promotional videos for their songs. Three videos were filmed. Banks' "A Trick of the Tail" was the first, which featured the band playing to the track together around a piano. A miniature Phil Collins can be seen hopping around on a piano and a guitar (Collins later revealed that this video was the most embarrassing of his career). The second video was for the song "Ripples," which was a performance clip. The third was for "Robbery, Assault and Battery" which depicted Collins as a bank robber who shoots an elderly man (played by Mike Rutherford) after holding him up and is then pursued by cops (played by Banks, Hackett and Rutherford), shooting Banks in the process.

Chart performance

A Trick of the Tail reached No.3 in the UK, remaining on the charts for 39 weeks, and No.31 in the US. Additionally, the album was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA in March 1990. Also according to Tony Banks in the essay that comes with Platinum Collection, the album doubled the band's previous albums sales. This success was also financially crucial for Genesis who were $400,000 in debt by the time Peter Gabriel left.

Track listing

• All Songs Copyright Control. This album is the first to depart from the practice of crediting all members/the band for all songs used during the Peter Gabriel era (with the exception of the band's debut single "Silent Sun").

Original release

Side one
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Dance on a Volcano"	Mike Rutherford	Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Steve Hackett, Rutherford	5:53
2.	"Entangled"	Hackett	Banks, Hackett	6:28
3.	"Squonk"	Banks	Banks, Rutherford	6:27
4.	"Mad Man Moon"	Banks	Banks	7:35

Side two
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Robbery, Assault and Battery"	Banks, Collins	Banks, Collins	6:15
2.	"Ripples...*"	Rutherford	Banks, Rutherford	8:03
3.	"A Trick of the Tail"	Banks	Banks	4:34
4.	"Los Endos"	(instrumental)	Banks, Collins, Hackett, Rutherford	5:46
Total length:				51:11

B Side

Extra Track
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"It's Yourself**"	Collins/Hackett/Rutherford/Banks	5:46

• This is the first song in the Genesis catalogue to feature an ellipsis in its name, used to convey the mysteriousness of the track. All future issues of this track (including live versions) omit the elipsis, however.
• "It's Yourself" is the B-side to "Ripples" as well as a single from the Wind & Wuthering album.

Working titles for the album

Before A Trick of the Tail was released, two songs had working titles. Below is a list of the original working title and finalised song title (in parentheses):

• "Indians" ("Squonk")
• "Beloved Summer" ("It's Yourself")

Remastered

The remastered version of the album had slightly different track timings
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Dance on a Volcano"	Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford	5.55
2.	"Entangled"	Banks, Hackett	6.26
3.	"Squonk"	Banks, Rutherford	6.29
4.	"Mad Man Moon"	Banks	7.35
5.	"Robbery, Assault and Battery"	Banks, Collins	6.16
6.	"Ripples..."	Banks, Rutherford	8.08
7.	"A Trick of the Tail"	Banks	4.34
8.	"Los Endos"	Banks, Collins, Hackett, Rutherford	5.46

Squonk

"Squonk"
Song by Genesis from the album A Trick of the Tail
Released	20 February 1976
Recorded	October–November 1975
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	6:27
Label	Charisma/Virgin (UK) Atco (US)
Writer	Tony Banks/Mike Rutherford
Producer	David Hentschel and Genesis
A Trick of the Tail track listing
"Entangled" (2) "Squonk" (3) "Mad Man Moon" (4)

"Squonk" is based on the North American tale of the squonk which when captured dissolves in a pool of tears. The song features many different sections and was a live favourite at Genesis concerts between 1976 and 1980. According to Collins, in the interviews on the DVD release, this song was intended to be the closest thing Genesis ever got to Led Zeppelin (who were signed to Atlantic Records, the US label for Genesis), presumably because of the incredibly heavy drumming a la 'When the Levee Breaks'. Steve Hackett, in particular, remembers getting an ecstatic reception when the band opened a show with this song at Madison Square Garden. Overall, this song is symptomatic of a new direction they would follow well in the 80s, the most notable departure from other earlier work being the change of Collins' drumming style from light, snare-heavy, jazz-rock to full-blooded rock. This change is mainly due to new producer David Hentschel. The working title of the song was Indians.

2007 SACD/CD/DVD Release

A new version of A Trick of the Tail was released in the U.K. and Japan on 2 April 2007. It was released in the US and Canada as part of the Genesis 1976-1982 box set on 15 May 2007. This includes the entire album in remixed stereo, the entire album in surround sound, and related video tracks.

• Disc 1, in the European and Japanese releases, is a hybrid SACD/CD disk. The stereo layer includes the remixed tracks, and the SACD layer is a multichannel surround sound remix.^[8]

• Disc 1, in the Canadian and U.S. releases, is a standard CD, containing the stereo remixes. No SACD layer is included.^[9]

• Disc 2, in all releases, is a DVD-Video disk containing both audio and video tracks. This DVD includes three audio mixes of the album: DTS 5.1-channel surround sound, Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound, and Dolby Digital stereo.^[10] The DTS surround sound is a slightly compressed version of the surround sound on the SACD,^[9] and the Dolby surround sound is of slightly inferior quality to the DTS.^[11]

• Disc 2 also includes the following video tracks:

1. Band interview about this album (2006).
2. Promotional videos: "Robbery, Assault and Battery", "Ripples" and "A Trick of the Tail".
3. Genesis: In Concert (1977 concert movie filmed during 1976 tour). Songs include "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", "Fly on a Windshield", "The Carpet Crawlers", "The Cinema Show", "Entangled", "Supper's Ready" and "Los Endos".
4. White Rock premiere program, from 1977 show (8 page gallery).

Personnel

• Phil Collins – vocals, background vocals, percussion, drums
• Steve Hackett – electric guitar, 12-string guitars
• Tony Banks – organ, synthesisers, pianos, background vocals, 12-string guitar, mellotron
• Mike Rutherford – bass guitar, 12-string guitar, bass pedals

Production

• Arranged By Genesis
• Produced By Genesis & David Hentschel
• Recorded & Engineered By Nick "Haddock" Bradford & David Hentschel

Tour

The tour of 1976 was the first to feature Phil Collins as the band's lead vocalist. In order for Phil to truly focus on singing, the decision was made to bring in another drummer to play during the songs when Phil was singing. A legend at the time, former Yes drummer (who was at the time on hiatus from King Crimson) Bill Bruford was brought in on the tour after he suggested that they might use him to fill in for a bit. This added a bit of star power to the new line up of the band. The resulting tour was widely regarded as a success, and launched the band into a new level of stardom. It is documented on the film "Genesis In Concert" and is included on the 2007 re-issue of A Trick of the Tail.

Set List

• "Dance on a Volcano"
• "Lamb Stew Medley" – "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"/"Fly on a Windshield"/"The Carpet Crawlers"
• "The Cinema Show"
• "Robbery, Assault and Battery"
• "White Mountain"
• "Firth of Fifth"
• "Entangled"
• "Squonk"
• "Supper's Ready"
• "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)"
• "Los Endos"

encore

• "It"/"Watcher of the Skies"

Personnel

• Phil Collins – vocals, percussion, drums
• Steve Hackett – electric guitar, 12-string guitars
• Tony Banks – organ, synthesisers, pianos, background vocals, 12-string guitar, mellotron
• Mike Rutherford – bass guitar, 12-string guitar, bass pedals, background vocals
• Bill Bruford – drums, percussion, glockenspiel, gong

External links

• Video clip for A Trick of the Tail

Footnotes

1. ^ "Wind & Wuthering" Official Genesis Discography www.genesis-music.com. Retrieved on 21 August 2008.
2. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2011 [last update]). "A Trick of the Tail – Genesis | AllMusic". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r8173/review. Retrieved 25 July 2011. 
3. ^ Andy Fyfe Q, May 2007, Issue 250.
4. ^ Mick Houghton Uncut, May 2007, Issue 120.
5. ^ Nicholson, Kris (2011 [last update]). "Genesis: Trick Of The Tail : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". web.archive.org. http://web.archive.org/web/20080620101014/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/genesis/albums/album/215190/review/5941181/trick_of_the_tail. Retrieved 25 July 2011. 
6. ^ DVD Interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nErUmembqdg
7. ^ DVD Interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nErUmembqdg
8. ^ Formats described at http://www.genesis-news.com/genesis/reviews/sacds/1976-1982.htm
9. ^ ^{a b} Explained in interview with producer and remixer Nick Davis, at http://www.genesis-news.com/genesis/reviews/sacds/interview-with-nick-davis.htm
10. ^ The DVD interface has two audio choices: Dolby 5.1 and DTS 5.1. If the Dolby 5.1 option is chosen on a system that does not support surround sound, the Dolby stereo mix is played.
11. ^ Comparison from Sound and Vision magazine article online at http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/musicreviews/2285/genesis-in-surround.html