page_title: Nursery Cryme
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Nursery Cryme / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of the South Elevation of the house, as featured on the Van Der Graaf Generator album, Pawn Hearts.
context_page_description: Nursery Cryme is the third studio album by the English rock band Genesis, released in November 1971 on Charisma Records. It was 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. At approximately 39 minutes long, it is the shortest studio album by the band to date.
  Following extensive touring in support of their previous album Trespass, 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 take a more aggressive direction of some songs, 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.
context_section_description: Genesis recorded their first album as 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 up the group, but decided to carry on and replace drummer John Mayhew with someone who was of 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. This led to the group completing 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. Banks credited this to improving his technique as it required him to play two keyboards simultaneously. The group felt that Collins was 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 were not practical to play live as a four-piece, 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 their Charisma Records labelmates 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.
  The five moved to Charisma owner Tony Stratton-Smith's residence, Luxford House, a 16th-century Grade II listed building 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.
caption: Rehearsals took place at Luxford House
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