Mike Rutherford – Bass

I came to Genesis a long time after this recording was released so I didn’t hear it ‘fresh out of the box’ but, as much as I liked the band, I never really thought of Rutherford as a chopsy bass player like my then main squeeze, Chris Squire. As I matured as a player, I began to recognise that Rutherford was first and foremost a composer and arranger and he was as happy play roots on one as he was ripping around on his Shergold basses, I have since recognised his virtuosity (look for the 1984 live version of The Cage medley – the one where Rutherford is wearing a striped shirt – his playing on that is outstanding).

This tune has some absolutely delightful compositional bass playing – really ‘British’ in outlook – I always thought that what made Prog attractive to me was the absence of the Blues and the lack of any expectation to dance. The tune is ‘A Trick Of The Tail’ from the 1976 album of the same name. Not hard to play but hard to read due to the 8va sections and melodic playing.