A Genesis In My Bed

Amazing interesting insight inside the life of one great musician and also about the way life was in those times.educational.

An autobiography that actually appears to be written by the author and not ghost written from many taped interviews. Amusing in many places but varies from other accounts I've read about The Lamb recordings and his departure from the band. It is after all, his viewpoint.

Nothing- Steve seems an all round nice chap!

Yes it was a good biography. Interesting his upbringing. He gives some good insight into his Genesis and solo stuff. It's a bit short on stuff.

I would agree with what many others have said about this book, but I would also go further by saying that it is perfunctory at best. Yes, it's a quick read, because it's short and has large print, and yes, it covers his entire life as far as I can tell, but I do get the feeling that Hackett rushed the ending, covering a multitude of years and recordings in just few brief pages at the tail end. I adore his orchestral work but there's very little about the creation of the wonderful 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and 'Metamorpheus '.I'he been a fan of Genesis since 1973, and i already knew about the fall-out with band or, more specifically, Banks and Rutherford, but I was hoping that Hackett would give the full story here. After all, this is HIS biography and it's HIS chance to give HIS side of the story, but he pretty much elects not to, displaying a very submissive approach. I certainly wasn't expecting a News of the World-style exposé, but I did think that there was going to be a lot more to it. It's the same again with the documentary made several years later, where Hackett's contributions to the band and his subsequent solo career were pretty much dismissed out of hand - surely he couldn't be as passive as he suggests here?And then there was the failure of his marriage to artist Kim Poor and the subsequent wrangling over the copyright of songs and other things, a period which caused him great anguish and which he has definitely discussed at length in the press, so why nothing here? In fact she barely warrants a mention.It's just really very, very bland.And yes, it is clearly written by the artist himself, complete with the odd spelling and grammatical error that a good editor/proof-reader should have corrected.Disappointing.

Aficionados don’t need me to point out that Steve Hackett is a genius guitarist - whether it be a fast and furious electric solo, or a contemplative piece on a nylon-stringed instrument - he has all bases covered.He was the guitarist in the two best Genesis line-ups - when they truly were the best band in the world: (1971-1975 - Nursery Cryme to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway) and (1975-1977 - A Trick of the Tail to live album, Seconds Out).He pioneered the use of ‘tapping’ on the electric guitar and directly influenced Brian May, Eddie Van Halen and Alex Liefson of Rush - among others.If I’m asked to explain why he’s so good, I’d describe it in terms of the four ‘T’s - ‘Timing’, ‘Technique’ ‘Taste’, and ‘Touch’He’s had a fascinating life and reveals aspects of this in his genuinely self-written autobiography. As he’s always been very articulate in the many interviews I’ve seen or read, I expected this to be well-written - and indeed it largely is - with only occasional patches of over-florid prose.Beginning with his early days in Pimlico, London, where he was born in 1950, it charts his upbringing, early inspiration, his constant practicing, playing in bands - and eventually filling the guitarist’s berth in Genesis (via an add in Melody Maker) - through his years with that (great) band, his solo career, brief stint with ‘supergroup’ GTR, formed with Yes’s Steve Howe, before coming to his current touring band, relationship with co-writer and keyboard player Roger King, and the love of his life, wife Jo, whom he married in 2011.There’s no real criticism of his former band members, or anything else contentious - he’s always been a very nice, modest man - excepting, perhaps, the story of him crushing a wine glass at a party and injuring his hand - but that is already a well documented tale.Indeed, he has two hugely complimentary things to say about Genesis keyboard player, Tony Banks - despite the fact that in the past there’s been the occasional element of discord between the two.So, while he doesn’t dish the dirt, it’s still a nicely measured story of his life. My only bugbear is its length: it’s pretty short if we exclude the brief index and photos. In a career as long and varied as Steve’s, it really ought to be more expansive.I have a ticket for his concert at Newcastle City Hall on his current (2021) tour - rescheduled from last year due to COVID restrictions. It’ll be the 11th time I’ve seen him perform live, and he and the band will be performing old Genesis stuff - the RIGHT way. He’s also just released a new album called Surrender of Silence (his second this year), which I haven’t full explored yet. So he’s still very much productive and active.I hope he continues to tour and release albums for many years - even though he’s now a (very young-looking) 71 years old!

My partner is a massive Genesis fan so he loved this book especially as I took him to see him in concert for his birthday