Genesis' Greatest Non-Guitar Guitar Song 

This song deserves a separate 'What Makes This Song Great' video! The whole Duke album is so good🔥

Rick, if you haven't already done this song, Squonk deserves an episode, another fascinating Genesis song in its own right.

My vote is "Home by the Sea". The haunting theme throughout the entire song is what gets me.

I've seen videos of 70s prog rock Genesis and Phil Collins is a MONSTER drummer, singing backing vocals like a boss while playing crazy time signature stuff. I know he's famous for playing drums in the 80s on stuff like In the Air Tonight, but that song doesn't do him justice. He is a beast drummer who deserves even more fan attention than he already gets. I know he's not a good physical shape these days and can't play drums anymore, but I hope he lives a long happy time and gets comfortable. He is a lesser-known drum god in my opinion.

Genesis is my all-time favorite band, because of the variety of songs from their early Peter Gabriel days and especially through the Phil Collins albums. Such a unique collection of songs.

“Riding The Scree” from Lamb might be my favorite example of this in Genesis’s catalog. The feeling of Mike’s one bass note fighting against Tony’s solo and chords the entire song, is amazing! And in 9/4 as well. Please do more Genesis vids! and even cooler if you could interview any of them

It’s the perfect opening for their Three Sides Live album, which was a revelation for me as a young college student. Still one of my fave live albums ever

Genesis really were the masters of the pedal point. "Supper's Ready" has some of the best examples of this technique ("Ikhnaton and Its-a-Con and Their Band of Merry Men" and ""Apocalypse in 9/8"), not to mention the entire keyboard solo section of "Cinema Show."

Whole Duke album is a masterpiece.

1980 - Phil was coming into his own as a kick ass front man. His melodies and vocal power was taking shape - Genesis - best band ever!

Genesis touring guitarist Daryl Stuermer included an amazing cover in his record Another side of Genesis back in 2000. In fact, I reckon that Rick could consider interviewing Daryl who has great experience with Genesis, Phil Collins, Jean-Luc Ponty, George Duke and many more big names, without forgetting his solo career

Duke album to me is so underrated and one of the best albums of all time

Mike Rutherford is an unsung hero of the 12-String guitar.

I'm a keyboard player who absolutely idolizes Tony Banks & Genesis- this is one of my all-time favorites!!!! (I wish I could throw a song like this out to my band- they would laugh me out of the room)

I remember this song came on in the car when my Dad was driving us to Scotland and I fell in love with it. It's not often you remember when you first heard a song. I asked my brother who it was. I was 14

One of the coolest and most complicated Genesis "hits" for sure! I know it would be really self indulgent Rick, but I think it would be really cool if you broke down Suppers Ready piece by piece, section by section. It might take an hour to do but would be really fun.

I saw them do this on the Duke tour at the Philadelphia Spectrum, summer of 1980. It was fantastic to hear Chester Thompson and Phil Collins playing together!

I liked “Misunderstanding” but bought the Duke album because of this song. I was so fascinated with the time, and just their SOUND. So cool. Still a fave. High school years… fun

Genesis have often spoken about their love of Motown. Turn It On Again is their tribute to that genre. Rutherford came up with the rhythmic riff on guitar. The debate over timing was also correct. Rutherford thought it was 4/4, Collins pointed out it was 13 beats but resolved anyway!

Many bands have an album that is the turning point between old and new. An album that keeps some of the old sounds and signatures but also moves forward with new sounds and a new direction. Duke is that album for Genesis.

Live in concert Genesis' Taurus bass pedals ROCKED. You could feel it through your whole body and it was epic within their music. They were so dramatic and Phil drumming so brilliant.

The best version of this song was during the 3 Sides Live Tour. 1) They increased the tempo from 128 to 132 bpm; 2) All those layers of keyboards were replaced by a sole Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano (which was also buried somewhere in the studio version). This is my all time favorite song because of all the quirks you mention. Between the meter changes and the use of the pedal point, there is so much unresolved tension here, much like in my own life. The 3 Sides Live version has the most passion and power to it. And only the live versions finally resolve (with an open 5th).

Favorite Genesis song, transports me back to winter 1980-81. My last year of High School.☺

A quote of this video says it all: “There is something amazing here: A band like this was massively big, and they did this really sophisticated music, but made it so commercial. That’s what really is the genius of Genesis, … and frankly the genius of Phil Collins as a solo-artist.”

Tony Banks loved to play lots of chords over single bass notes…in Supper’s Ready in the 9/8 part he creates tension release and more tension over that riff, he said it gives him free reign to do what he wants

When will you talk about the Anthony Phillips/Steve Hackett-years of Genesis? 😉

Daryl Stuermer played the bass pedal live too!

This is what happens when a group of talented musicians are given time to think, time to explore, time to look outside the norm.., music now is too formulaic nothing really stands out. I’ve not missed a UK Genesis tour since 1980 the Duke tour, brilliant band..🤘

I absolutely LOVE pedal tones. The chordal movement around the pedal note adds incredible tension and release.

Great Genesis song, one of my faves from the summer of '80. Phil actually opens and closes his hi-hat while he's playing it to get that unique, almost backwards sounding hi-hat.

One of the biggest Genesis fans on the planet ! Love ALL Genesis. Drove from Tucson to the Hollywood Bowl to see what turned out was the last show on that Turn it on Again tour. 2007. Think that was the last performance as a band, before the whole Phil sitting in a chair thing. So on one hand I'm privileged to have seen it, but on the other very sad. Of course it rained that day. Genesis is a Musical Treasure !!!

I seem to remember hearing that the riff was Mike Rutherford, who thought it was in fours until Phil Collins gave him pelters for it being in 13s - “bloody typical guitarist” was Collins’ comment, after having to count it out to prove it. Might be my memory playing tricks to be fair…

"You can't dance to it." -Phil Collins. "Turn it on" 6/4 "Turn it on again" 7/4. Genius. Genesis! Thank you Rick.

The intro is epic and the song rocks. Transition from art rock to pop and one of the best in both.

I would love if you gave Tony Banks some much appreciated love. He was the principal song writer on many of there hits and is an incredible pianist

Great song. Its awesome that you are big Genesis fan. So many ppl dont know Genesis prior to Abacab. Best stuff. Interview Tony, Mike or Phil!!!!!!!!

Pete Townsend used the pedal points in Pinball Wizard. The whole intro is a bunch of chords over one note. He even said in an interview he was fooling around with all the chords he could play over that one anchor note and that’s how he came up with the song.

God I Love Turn It On Again. I think the Phil Collins years as front man didn't get the respect they deserved. Phil always stood in Peter Gabriel's shadow, but this song grabs you in the gut and reminds you why they were so commercially successful in later years.

Paddy McAloon deserves an episode or 2 on your channel for his compositions ability, and Genesis are all time legends of course.

This is a very important album to me (I also graduated high school in 80). My fav song on the album is the song before called Heathaze. Partly because of the lyrics and also because of the bass lines. It just spoke to me at that lost time as a college freshman. This is a great album that defines the pivot from the prog rock when Gabriel left and the pop rock that was to follow. I love the former and I kinda checked out after Duke and kept following Peter Gabriel’s journey.

Illegal Alien from the Genesis LP is another "non guitar song" that's really cool.

I remember hearing Tony and Mike talking about trying make guitars sound like keyboards and vice-versa. One of my favorites! Thanks Rick!

Hope you interview Genesis.. before it's too late.. ;)

Behind the Lines smokes. Best song on Duke.

Love this Rick! The joy on your face going thru the songs. Don’t think you would mind but Tom Bukovac does three old Genesis tracks with Sarah and they are sensational, Ripples in particular.

Phil Collins talked about this song and said that Mike Rutherford (edit: I had originally remembered it as Tony Banks talking about it) wanted to just write straight-ahead song, something not so "prog". Tony Banks played it for Phil Collins and Phil told him it was in 13. I guess they had a pretty laugh about it because Mike (not Tony) was somewhat taken aback that it wasn't straight 4 like he thought it was. Such a great song no matter what the time signature(s).

Love how Rick's face lights up when he hears Genesis.

Always loved this song. Love hearing how so many musicians love this song too

They kept the bass note the same all the time because Rutherford found himself having to play bass and guitar simultaneously after Hackett left (certainly on the jam-based songs), and he wasn't particularly good at moving around the Taurus bass pedals while playing guitar at the same time. Many other Genesis songs have this from ATTW3 on. Even though he probably got better at it, it became a big part of the sound of Genesis's trio era. Not exclusive to that era either. They had the pedals since at least Selling England. Plenty of double-guitar songs where they use the Taurus for the lower end. It just took a while for Rutherford to feel the need to improve.

'Turn It On Again' was the theme tune to our school Geography field trip in 1980. Possibly, my favourite Genesis track👍🤠

I saw the headline for this and KNEW it was this song! Just listened to it yesterday.

Check out Keep it Dark by Genesis.. that one will really blow your mind with the time signature. The drums, keyboards everything come together for a crazy sound..

There's also a breakdown in back-in-black where pedal-point is used and it is freaking awesome

Immediately goose bumps hearing the first notes.....great song.

Another great thing is riffs that stay the same through changing harmonies like on Genesis “Keep it Dark”

About 10 days ago was thinking I need Rick Beato to do a Genesis, and here it is! I play some Phil Collins tunes and just beautiful in C-Tuning, except In the Air Tonight, in D-Tune is just Classic!

I recall Rutherford saying that he typically tunes the high E string to D. I wonder if that's true for this tune? Though, with your ear, I'm sure you would have caught that. I've been watching for years, love the channel!

Turn It On Again is actually not solely written by Banks. The guitar riff and the lyrics are written by Mike. I believe the vocal melodies are written by Phil. I'm pretty sure the C-pedal part is written by Tony because it sounds like it was written with keyboards rather than guitar. Also, it is maybe the most harmonically dense part of the song, and Banks often was the one who came up with the weirdest and most complex bits. I think the rest of the parts were written together as a group.

by the way the correct and easiest way to play it, is with this tuning: from low to high, E B D F# A D. Once you got the tuning, you'll find the voicing and finger placement surprisingly fast

Great look at this song, i've always loved this song and this album. I was only 7 when this was released but my uncle was a huge Genesis/Phil Collins fan so i was educated to their music around 1982/3 🙂

There’s a really interesting video you can find online with Mike Rutherford who came up with the progression on guitar. So it is a guitar song. Apparently he plays it with alternate tuning.

I was born in 1980. I learned "Dear Prudence" a month ago, then "Tie Your Mother Down" by Queen, started learning "Turn it on again" & saw the Kirk Hammett interview the next day. I'm working on learning "Under Pressure" & if I need a break from learning the opening triads, I work on learning Genesis. I also saw the Ian Thornley interview. I got into Foo Fighters in the summer of 98, then saw Big Wreck in early 99 & they're both my favourite bands. My parents aren't musicians but they liked music, my brother & I grew up listening to The Beatles, Queen, Dire Straits, Tom Petty, The Eurythmics, Roxette, Jimmy Buffet, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Genesis, The Cars, etc. I got into Led Zeppelin later on. I teach beginner guitar lessons or whatever I know that they want to learn. My brother & I were in a band until I got & survived brain cancer in February of 2008. I'm fine but I'm in a wheelchair & wear an eye patch on my left eye. I was a lead singer/rhythm guitarist, so I figured I could go deeper into guitar & teach for a slightly bigger pay check than my disability check that just covers our mortgage. Music has helped me in many ways, so it's nice to see other people appreciating it!

Van Halen did peddling on Jump and it's done on "Metropolis Zone" in Sonic 2. Yes it's a video game but it's still music and great music at that. There's something about peddling that gets me feeling pumped. Love it.

The riff on "Turn It On Again" is brilliantly reprised and blended in with "Behind the Lines" in "Duke's End" to close the album...just an incredible climax. Arguably one of Genesis's greatest moments.

Would love to hear some analysis of King Crimson in this format.

Taylor Swift - Blank Space… I thought when I heard that… Taylor Swift being influenced by Michael Rutherford of Genesis… nice! Also, Anti Hero is very Peter Gabriel influenced… of course with Taylor’s twist… I must be open and give her credit… she is very crafty. Give these two a listen and tell us what you think. Clearly it’s not Genesis, but very clever.

Rock and pop music started off pretty simple- and then got really complex in the late 70s-90s- and now, it's simple again- what happened? I thought it would just keep progressing, keep getting more and more complex- but that's not what happened at all. Somewhere along the way something happened- ppl started not liking complex, phenomenal playing because it seemed to take away from the passion and it started being about how fast and technical you could play instead of how much passion and raw emotion you could convey. But there for just a fleeting moment- we had the perfect balance- Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Steely Dan, Genesis, etc., etc.- they all had really complex, technical skills- but they could also give you the chill bumps. It's been a long time since I've gotten chill bumps listening to a piece of music. Part of that is that I'm no longer young, and no longer as open to it and naive as I once was- but it's also the music, it's changed. There are still a few bands left that manage to move me- Tool, some of John Mayer's stuff, and there are others, but mostly I just listen to all the old stuff I loved that's no longer being made. You would think it would come back with all the ppl who seem to love it- but I guess we're fewer than I think.

Man-o-man! If i found a genie and got 3 wishes, it would be to go back to this time in music! Remember hewring this stuff as a kid fresh from Jamaica to Canada (actually, this was a few years after i had already lived in Canada). I could t get enough!!! Listen to the MAMOTH sound! Wow!

Ok. Rick Beato should receive and honorific Polar Prize. I'm not kidding. What he is doing to make people know/love/understand music and musicians more and more is out of this world. Is a labour of love. You can really feel this guy loves music as much as he knows musical theory. And how he mixes love and knowledge to make everybody enjoy music even more... Not to speak about his incredible clever interviews wirh musicians. Keep on going Rick, you're work is incredible!!!

This was in the charts when I started high school, great song

The harmonies made this music interesting for me to play in my the car during touring in the 1980s, fun you are talking about this now! Also Steely Dan

Always love ❤️ hearing the Phil Collins stuff 🎶

Dear Rick, thank you so much for this video. I am a Genesis fan for 40 years because I love their fantastic compositions. Many people I know hate Genesis due to their 80s stuff. I think they are the best composers (together with the Beatles). John Frusciante also said that in an interview a few months ago. Hope they will receive even more appreciation in the future. By the way, the main riff is composed as a guitar riff by Mike Rutherford. (so it is actually a guitar song 😊). I would love if you talk more about the pedal approach in Genesis (e.g. the fantastic end of Supper’s Ready). Best

The riff is Rutherford's but as Banks said many times, the drums and the odd time signature totally make the song, it was orginally very slow and Phil told Mike to pick it up.

Hi Rick! Would be great if you would interview Tony Banks and go into his compositions a little deeper. He's such a unique composer with chord sequences and changes only he does.

Rick, your success is definitely due to your talent and hard work. But also, you're just a good guy and that comes through. Keep it up!

Great songs. I used to play Rochester New York a lot in the late 70s and early 80s at a club called the Penny Arcade. My band (805) played a lot of Genesis covers including the two songs mentioned here. Turn It On was a huge hit that included odd meters, plus interesting harmony and chord progressions.. what happened to Pop music?

Fantastic song and the one that got me seriously into Genesis. I loved it so much that I ended up translating guitar tab so I could play it on keyboard. It was tricky but so satisfying.

Yay I'm so happy you're covering this song it is my favorite Genesis song I think I ask you one time to add it to your greatest keyboard songs another great song off this album I think it's called misunderstanding

Thank you Ric, just love Genesis, can't get enough to them

ha was just listening to Genesis/Phil Collins non-stop lastnight. great stuff!

This is son of ‘streets of soho’ from Brand X on the Product album. Common feature: Phil Collins drums & vocals. This is has that je ne sais quoi of Genesis all over it though.

Genesis are my favourite band. Thank you for showing their master songwriting again Rick.

Mike Rutherford is in my opinion fantastic guitarist (in addition ti bassist). Serving songs.

Rick i'm the same age as you by a few months... and you have made me sad today. 😔 To remember that a song this complex and musical use to be a big hit with the general listeners and they all dug it.... then to compare that to what is considered a 'hit' today, being an accomplished pro musician myself for over 45yrs.... this makes me sad. Sad for the future of popular music.

Great song! Dream Theater did a great cover of this in their "Big Medley" which really brought out the guitar part.

This continuous bass note you refer to, prominent in many popular songs, but frequent in Genesis’ work; it is a component of the ancient music of many cultures. And, it is a feature of many instruments (think bagpipes and the continuous drone pipes playing while melody is fingered on the chanter), including Celtic music and music from Persia and the far east and pacific islands. I think it’s primal. It must interact with the brain in a very basic way, because audiences may consciously observe that this is monotonous or boring and yet we are drawn to it again and again. I love artists like Genesis, and others who innovate by incorporating approaches from several millennia in the past.

This is also one of the many songs of the era that holds off the chorus until the end, something that would be difficult to get away with today.

So the reason Mike came up with this guitar riff is that he used an open tuning or a variant of it. For some songs (including Alone Tonight from the same album - Duke is a masterpiece), he used Open D and I believe Turn It On Again uses a variant where it's E B D F# A D (instead of D A D F# A D). So the E at the beginning is played by barring the D F# A D strings with the first finger and the A is played by putting the second and third down; E ⇾ 2 2 2 2 then A ⇾ 2 3 4 2. The other chords follow suit. I'm fairly certain some songs from Acting Very Strange also use the open tuning. Incidentally, I believe the G C G is actually a G A G, but I'm not 100% sure. Either way, excellent riff, amazing song and phenomenal album.

Collins was such a great vocalist. I remember when he was getting into acting around the Miami Vice gig, he said he already had been acting for years as a singer so it was a logical progression for him. Ironically, his acting didn't really translate on screen but such great emotion in his vocals.

The progression at 22:03 is Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.

Duke - Genesis, one of my favorite Albuns! Thx Mister Beato.

Great song Rick!! The bass licks are so cool. Thx for covering this song.

When I first heard it on the radio I sat right up, pulled the car over and just listened with wide eyes!! ❤❤❤❤ It's still one of Genesis's best!!!

One of my favs of this band, makes a great car driving tape list. 🎉

Might break down Gino Vannelli music... Talking about 70's music .. "People Gotta Move" (1974), "I Just Wanna Stop" (1978), "Brother To Brother" (1978), "Living Inside Myself" (1981)

Lots of fun working out Turn It On Again though, IMO, Lamb Lies Down is the best Genesis non-guitar song (and it has a better bass line :)

Rick Beato is music teacher to the world

I listen to this song quite often. Rick, you nailed this video

So glad you visited this album Rick as I grew up listening to Genesis, saw them live and this is still my favourite album. When practicing/learning drums, I always try playing duke from the beginning and feel so enthused! Also the guitar chords on turn it on has been a small mystery to me so I’ll practice from your video 🙏