Genesis "Nursery Crime"

Nursery Cryme is the third studio album from the English rock band Genesis, released in November 1971 on Charisma Records. It is their first to feature drummer / vocalist Phil Collins and guitarist Steve Hackett. The album received a mixed response from critics and was not initially a commercial success; it did not enter the UK chart until 1974, when it reached its peak at No. 39. However, the album was successful in Continental Europe, particularly Italy.

Following extensive touring in support of their previous album Trespass (1970), which included the recruitment of Collins and Hackett, the band began writing and rehearsing for a follow-up in Luxford House, East Sussex, with recording following at Trident Studios. Nursery Cryme saw the band move away from their earlier folk-oriented sound into progressive rock with a more aggressive direction, with substantially improved drumming. The opening piece, "The Musical Box" combined the band's trademark mix of twelve-string guitars with harsh electric guitars and keyboards. The song, a macabre fairy story set in Victorian Britain, became the inspiration for the album cover, and went on to be a live favourite. Collins brought a new dimension to the group, covering the majority of the backing vocals (including his first lead vocal with Genesis on "For Absent Friends") and bringing in a sense of humour on tracks like "Harold The Barrel". Banks made more prominent use of the Mellotron at Hackett's suggestion and used it prominently on several tracks. The band toured the UK and Europe for one year to promote the album, which raised their profile in both territories. The tour included a successful Italian leg in April 1972, where the group played to enthusiastic crowds. Nursery Cryme was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry in 2013.

Genesis recorded their first album since become a professional outfit, Trespass in June 1970, but immediately afterwards, founding member and guitarist Anthony Phillips quit owing to increased stress and unhappiness in touring. The other founders, singer Peter Gabriel, keyboardist Tony Banks and bassist / guitarist Mike Rutherford almost split the group up, but decided to carry on and replace drummer John Mayhew with someone who was an equal stature to the others, and who could write.


Phil Collins joined as the new drummer in August, also becoming an important backing vocalist, but they were unable to find a suitable replacement for Phillips, so they completed the first half of their 1970–1971 tour as a four-piece with Rutherford playing rhythm guitar and bass pedals and Banks playing lead guitar lines on a Pianet through a distorted fuzz box amplifier in addition to his own keyboard parts, something he credits in improving his technique as it required him to play two keyboards simultaneously. The group felt that Collins' was easily the best drummer they had worked with at that point, and his playing style and musical tastes gave a new dimension to their sound. Some songs didn't work well with just the four of them, so they decided to look again for a lead guitarist. In November 1970, Mick Barnard joined the group on recommendation from Friars Aylesbury's David Stopps, and "The Musical Box" was added to the live set. However, the rest of the group quickly realised that Barnard was not up to the same standard as the others, and they kept a look out for a better player.

Genesis recruited Steve Hackett after Gabriel spotted an advert he placed in Melody Maker in December 1970, which read "Imaginative guitarist/writer seeks involvement with receptive musicians, determined to drive beyond existing stagnant music forms". He saw Genesis play a concert at the Lyceum Theatre, London on 28 December, and was told by Gabriel that Barnard would have to be replaced. Hackett quickly developed a rapport with Rutherford, sharing their love of twelve-string guitars and new musical ideas, and joined the band in early 1971.

With the addition of Hackett, Genesis continued touring which included the "Six Bob Tour" with Lindisfarne and Van der Graaf Generator, their first overseas shows which occurred in Belgium and the first of three appearances at the annual Reading Festival. Early attempts to work on material for their next studio album in what Hackett described as "the odd day in a windy church hall" while on tour were unproductive, causing the group to dedicate time. In July, they began a three-month break from touring to write and record which was Hackett's first experience of rehearsing with a group to a professional standard.


At the suggestion of Tony Stratton-Smith, the owner of their label Charisma Records, the five retreated to Luxford House, a 16th-century Grade II listed building that he owned in Crowborough, East Sussex. The group nicknamed the house "Toad Hall". The group was apprehensive about writing without Phillips, and both Collins and Hackett were unsure of what level of musical contributions they would be able to make. Hackett was keen to explore new sounds and musical ideas, and suggested the group buy a Mellotron, which Banks used as his main instrument, along with the Hammond organ, instead of the piano. Some material had been written when Phillips and Mayhew were still in the band, and were reworked by the new members. Collins was a particular workaholic and was happy to jam with anyone at any time.

With the new material worked out, Genesis recorded Nursery Cryme at Trident Studios in London in August 1971 with John Anthony as their producer and David Hentschel their assistant engineer who, like Anthony, had worked the same role on Trespass. The album features Hackett playing a Les Paul guitar which the band had bought him with a Hiwatt stack amplifier. He recalled some difficulty in understanding what Banks and Rutherford were talking about as the two had devised their own sayings, for instance a passage that they had played was referred to as a "nice guy".

The album's sleeve was designed and illustrated by Paul Whitehead who had also designed the cover for Trespass and the band's next album, Foxtrot. The cover depicts characters and scenes based on "The Musical Box" and Coxhill, the manor house with a croquet lawn, itself based on the Victorian home Gabriel grew up in. The inner sleeve resembled an old photo album, with a panel for each song along with an illustrated picture. Whitehead later picked his design for Nursery Cryme as his favourite of the three done for Genesis, noting: "It just works very well with the music. It fits perfect. It's the right colour, the right vibe".

Nursery Cryme was released in November 1971. Charisma didn't promote the album as much as Trespass as Stratton-Smith felt it wasn't as good, and the company was busy with Lindisfarne's Fog on the Tyne. The group felt discouraged by the general indifference from the record company, and believed songs like "The Musical Box" could have been as popular as "Stairway to Heaven", released at the same time.

The album did not chart in the UK until May 1974, when it peaked at number 39, and charted there again in March 1984, reaching number 68. Though the group still had a minor cult following at home, they started to achieve commercial and critical success in mainland Europe, with the album reaching No. 4 on the Italian charts. The album continued to sell, and reached Silver certification by the British Phonographic Industry on 22 July 2013 for sales in excess of 60,000 copies.

From November 1971 to August 1972, Genesis toured to support the album which included further visits to Belgium, and Italy for the first time where they played to enthusiastic crowds. During the tour Genesis recorded "Happy the Man", a non-album single, with "Seven Stones" from Nursery Cryme on its B-side. The group played a thirty-minute set on Belgian television to promote the album, which is the earliest surviving full broadcast of the group and has been repeated numerous times. Gabriel had yet to develop his on-stage costume attire and performed the show in a more straightforward frontman role. It has been one of Genesis' most popular bootlegs.