The Living Years
The First Genesis Memoir
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4.2 • 12 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The story of Genesis is the rock legend of how a humble schoolboy band grew into a group of global superstars. At its center stood Mike Rutherford, driving the music from pioneering prog rock to chart-topping hits. Now for the first time, he tells the remarkable inside story of Genesis and his own band, Mike + The Mechanics.
Against the rhythm of drink, drugs, and lineup changes, Mike's father, a World War II naval officer, always stood in the background. He would watch Genesis grow, supporting them from the very beginning when they toured Britain in the back of a bread van. Through extreme highs and lows, loyal Captain Rutherford was always there, earplugs at the ready.
But when his father suddenly died, Mike was forced to reexamine their relationship and only then began to understand how much their lives had overlapped. The Living Years is a revealing memoir of the relationship between father and son and the story of how music, families, and friendship combine.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rutherford, bassist and guitarist for the renowned progressive-rock band Genesis, gives thisautobiography the same title as his emotional number-one hit song with Mike + the Mechanics; the song is about Rutherford's recently deceased father, whose unpublished memoir inspired his book. Rutherford recounts the origin of Genesis at Charterhouse, a boarding school in the English county of Surrey, where he, guitarist Anthony Phillips, keyboardist Tony Banks, and vocalist Peter Gabriel met and formed a band that pioneered the mix of theatrical elements with odd lyrics and complex song structures. After Gabriel's departure in 1975 for a wildly diverse solo career, drummer Phil Collins took over lead vocals and brought Genesis to even greater commercial heights amid his own solo success. Refusing to dwell too much on particulars the band's final two albums receive surprisingly short shrift, as do stories about rock-and-roll excess Rutherford writes with British wit, charm, and honesty. His depiction of the rigid Banks is less than favorable, for example, and there's little emotion in his description of the departure of guitarist Steve Hackett. This book is being heavily promoted as the first memoir by a member of Genesis and is already a bestseller in Britain.
