A WINTER'S TALE / ONE-EYED HOUND

I don't own this single, but I want to write about this two songs since they aren't really part of the From Genesis to Revelation album, although of course I know the two tracks from one of many From Genesis To Revelation reissues. Ithink they are worth talking about, given that they are easily the better ones of Genesis's early career.

A Winter's Tale is quite a decent piece of music, a sympathetic piano ballad which (despite its amateurish nature, especially the drum work which is authentically school-band-like) creates a wonderful melancholic mood. For example there are cozy organ backings in the first stanza sounding quite like a church organ and Peter Gabriel uses his unique voice to great effect. But the most interesting thing is the bombastic chorus where the Farfisa/Vox/or-whatever organ and the solid backing vocals create quite a wall of sound which would sound quite impressive with an adequate production. A nice piano interlude repeats the melody of the chorus afterwards and hints at Tony Banks's talent of working with musical themes. The last chorus is also worth listening to as Peter Gabriel (contrary to the rest of the early Genesis pieces) sings quite expressively with this baaing vocal style for which he should later be famous for. I don't know who wrote the lyrics for this piece, but lines like 'the winter's bitterness begins, it's the fireside warmth that comforts me' are some kind of tasty and well-done in my book.

One-Eyed Hound is totally a predecessor to Harold the Barrel, albeit by far simpler and constructed as a softer pendant to the Rolling Stones or the Beatles. In fact, the stanzas are actually quite uninteresting whilst in special the This man committed a sin backing vocals annoy me heavily. But I must admit that the catchy riff and the rocking, nearly Kinks-like chorus are very pleasant. A thing which should be written about is the guitar work here that is a bit rough, but nonetheless inventive and playful; listen to the country lick in 1:45 or the strange, muffled sound in the beginning combined with the acoustic guitar: Anthony Phillips should later be the master of strange guitar sounds, for example his typical guitar (Stagnation or Which Way the Wind Blows) of which I still don't know if it is electrically or acoustically recorded. And there's this cozy organ around 2:10 which has the total charming school band feeling.

Not more than two stars for this record. The music is still well-behaved, but it points into the direction the band already went in late 1969 with the Jackson Tapes. Only recommendable for those who want to recapitulate the history of the band, and for those who like amateur 1960s pop music with an eccentric twist.