Detroit might be renowned
for its insurrectionary
rock’n’roll rather than any
contribution to the
development of progressive
rock but, when Peter Gabriel
was forging ideas for the first
Genesis line-up, John Peel’s
hammering of the first SRC
album had a profound
influence. In hindsight, it’s
easy to hear in the dramatic
interplay between stinging
guitar, mellifluous organ and
braying vocal.
1968’s Black Sheep
single set out the stall on
which the band would build
on its eponymous debut
album: Glenn Quackenbush’s
Hammond organ dogfighting
with brother Gary’s stinging
lead guitar, conjuring West
Coast axe titans such
as John Cippolina and
Jorma Kaukonen. It was
a perfect vehicle for Scott
Richardson’s impassioned
brand of Detroit vocal soul
on impressive outings such
as Dogstar and Marionette.
After the first album’s
luminous meringue of Love-style
eloquence and axe-organ
dynamics, the prog-intricacies
billowed on March 1969’s
Milestones, including SRC’s
explosive mash-up of In The
Hall Of The Mountain King and
Beck’s Bolero. Gary
Quackenbush, without doubt
a much overlooked late 60s
guitar shredder, had been
replaced by the more laidback
Ray Goodman by 1970’s
Traveller’s Tale, on which an
orchestra was drafted in for
The Offering.
Going on these three
albums, roped together over
two discs with informative
sleevenotes, there was
a volcanic band here with
ideas running wild before their
time; an unlikely wellspring for
early Genesis devotees to
investigate.
