A WINTER'S TALE / ONE-EYED HOUND

Genesis second single released in 1968 was another flop and is very rare to find. Both songs here were non LP tracks and became collectors items for some time (they soon would become available as bonus tracks in just about every reissue of their debut, From Genesis To Revelation). It shows the group was evolving fast, since its superior to their debut: although Winter´s Tale is very much a pop song it is far more elaborated than The Silent Sun, with Tony Banks piano and organ leading the track. The backing vocals are good, although they still have that amateurism of the youth. Production could be a lot better, but I guess it was ok for the time.

The b side is more interesting, although that stylistic it is pretty much the typical middle tempo rocker of the period. There are some great guitar lines by Anthony Phillips, both acoustic and electric. The lyrics show that Genesis was not really the pop writers of the day. Again those backing vocals appear and they would not be used that much from now on. As the previous single, it was not something to write home about it, but showed great promise that, as we all know, was more than fulfilled. It would be long way.

Those early singles are just that: collectors items, since all the tracks can be easily found on the new editions of From Genesis To Revelation. But I found very interesting to observe them at this stage of their career, when they were not much more than students, part time musicians, beginning to get professional. Another nice find.