The Living Years

by Mike Rutherford

"Now Michael, you're the son of a naval officer, you must behave like a naval officer at all times..."What Captain William Rutherford told his seven-year-old son Michael was to stay with him all his life. Born in 1950, Michael was truly his father's son, even serving in the naval section of the student cadet corps at one of England's top public schools, Charterhouse. Mike's future lay in the civil it was a subject that he discussed with his father at Captain Crawford's gentlemen's club. But then something happened. Mike discovered rock music. As one of the founder members of Genesis, Mike was to tour the world and achieve international fame. From unpromising beginnings - demonised by his teachers as a fomenter of revolution, driving to gigs in a bread van - Mike would go on to crisscross the globe with bandmates Peter Gabriel and, later, Phil Collins, playing to packed-out stadiums and achieving record sales of over 150 million. Swapping old school ties and Savile Row suits for flares and Afghan coats, Mike and Genesis would pioneer the pomp and theatricality of 1970s progressive rock before becoming household names in the 1980s with hits like Turn It On Again, Mama and Land of Confusion. There was drink, there were drugs; there were arguments and excess. But, in the background - and sometimes in the audience - there was also the loyal Captain Rutherford, earplugs at the ready, Melody Maker in hand. A proud father still.The Living Years spans the entire history of Genesis, from the earliest days as a school band to the triumphant 2007 reunion tour when Genesis played to over 500,000 people in Rome. But this is not just another rock 'n' roll memoir. This is also a book about two men whose lives and complex relationship reflect the seismic social and cultural shifts that took place during the twentieth century. A book for every father and son.

Genres: Music

257 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 23, 2014

About the author

Michael John Cleote Crawford Rutherford was born the son of Annette and Crawford Rutherford on October 02, 1950 at 7.30p.m. in Surrey, in the south of England. He has a sister four years his elder, Nicolette. His youth was influenced by the navy since his father was Captain at the Navy Gunnery School in Portsmouth. When Mike was six, his father retired. The family moved to Cheshire and Crawford found a job in industrial management. At the age of seven, Mike was sent to a boarding school. He attended The Leas in Hoylake near Liverpool. At that time he first came into contact with music and found that he wanted to learn how to play the guitar. His parents bought him his first instrument, a 6-string nylon guitar. His sister influenced his musical taste because she would listen to Elvis and The Everly Brothers at that time. Mike experienced his first concert with his parents. They took him to see Cliff Richard and The Shadows at the Palace in Manchester. These early musical impressions led to Mike buying his first electric guitar – to the ‘delight’ of this father who from that time on had to deal with the neighbours complaining about the ‘noise’ coming out of the house. With his school buddy Dimitri Griliopoulos and another friend he formed his first band, The Chesters. They would rehearse songs like Sweet For My Sweet for a school concert.




In September 1964 Mike entered Charterhouse School. His first year there was “terrifying”. He had to find his feet in this very strict world. Luckily, he soon met Anthony Phillips, another Charterhouse pupil, with whom he got along very well. Mike was influenced by The Beatles, The Small Faces, The Kinks and The Rolling Stones in these years. In early 1967 two Charterhouse bands, Anon (founded by Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips) and The Garden Wall, joined forces and became Genesis. Mike became the bass player in the new band. His strength, however, lay in playing the 12-string guitar, an instrument he grew to know and love. Over the years he would develop “an original and wonderful 12-string sound” (Tony Banks) with Anthony Phillips.
Luck and fate would have it that Genesis got a record contract thanks to a couple of well-made demo tapes and the nose of producer Jonathan King. In March 1969, they released their first album, From Genesis To Revelation. History took its course. October 1970 saw the release of Trespass. Some time before, in July or August 1970, Anthony Phillips had decided to leave Genesis. This must have been a hard blow for Mike. Both musicians had become close friends. The fact that Anthony’s successor-to-be Steve Hackett had to audition at Mike’s sick-bed before he was accepted showed how important working with Anthony had been for Mike and how determined he was to keep up and develop the special guitar sound he and Phillips had found.
During the next years there was a long string of fantastic Genesis records. Mike grew ever more competent at playing both the guitar and the bass guitar both on the records and countless live shows. The double-neck guitar became a long-time trademark of Mike Rutherford. He would use it up until the Mama tour of 1984. It was made up of a twelve-string part (upper neck) and a four-string part (lower neck). At first he used a Rickenbacker double-neck, but later he switched to a Shergold product. Supper’s Ready was the reason why Mike began to use a double-neck guitar. This opus (released in 1972 on the Foxtrot album) has many fast changes, and he just could not work with two instruments. That was why he chose “this big heavy object hanging round my neck”, as Mike put it.

Another anecdote about guitars. Let’s hear Mike himself: „I used to play the original ‚stick’ Steinberger which looked quite ridiculous because I am so tall… I asked Steinberger whether they could change the design for me. They said no, as a small company they could not afford custom jobs. So one night I laid my guitar on a big sheet of cardboard and drew up the

Reviews

[Alistair Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only problem with Mike's autobiography is its brevity. It's thoroughly entertaining yet told in a very amiable and almost self deprecating manner. It does concentrate very much on the earlier era of Genesis far more than the later years, and his solo projects get very little mention including Mike & The Mechanics which is covered in a handful of pages. It's a shame as I would have liked to know more about that time and the post-Phil split leading to Calling All Stations. But what is there is a very enjoyable read and, despite darting around quite a bit at times with small anecdotes and asides, it's a highly recommended read. I initially thought the insertion of pieces of his own father's biography might be a little too gimmicky but it works beautifully and gives insight into the character Mike became and the inspiration for much of his later music. A little more length and a better editor and the rating would have been 5 stars.

[Jordi Planas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Después del fabuloso libro coral de Genesis (“El libro de las revelaciones”), tenemos ahora la autobiografía de su bajista/guitarrista Mike Rutherford. Su paso por una estricta escuela privada le creó una coraza sentimental que tardó años en sacarse de encima, algo que ocurrió sobre todo a raíz de la muerte de su padre (se incluyen aquí fragmentos de su diario), y para el que compuso la canción que da título al libro, “The Living Years”. Rutherford a menudo ha ocupado un segundo plano con respecto a Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett o Phil Collins. Pero, dejando a un lado su carrera paralela con los insulsos Mike + The Mechanics, conviene recordar que puso los cimientos del sonido Genesis con esos entramados exquisitos de guitarras acústicas junto al gran olvidado Anthony Phillips en “Trespass” (o más tarde en el disco de Phillips “The Geese & the Ghost”). Y tras la disidencia de Hackett, Rutherford supo combinar bajo y guitarra eléctrica en discos estimables como “Duke” o “Abacab”. Contra lo que podría esperarse de alguien tan “british”, Rutherford relata en el libro episodios de groupies, cocaína e ingreso en la cárcel por posesión de marihuana. Y también muchas anécdotas divertidas, incluyendo varias puyas a su colega Banks, dormirse sentado en el escenario mientras Gabriel contaba una de sus surrealistas historias, la compra de un hotel como inversión que resultó ser un burdel, o una luna de miel accidentada: paseando por la calles de Luxor con chilaba y sandalias empezaron a seguirle porque pensaban que era… Jesucristo. Amén.
JORDI PLANAS

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Recommended for fans of Genesis. Phil Collins's memoir, Not Dead Yet, is better written and better structured and if you only have time for one Genesis memoir, read that one. But of course, Phil's memoir doesn't quite cover the entire history of the band, so if you're interested in the early history of the band or you're simply hungry for more Genesis, then by all means read The Living Years. There are no major revelations, but it is still interesting to read about those early days when they were driving from gig to gig in a beat up car and learning how to write music with three strong personalities in the band. I also came to enjoy Mike's straightforward, self-deprecating voice. Mike also ties in his father's memoirs of being an admiral in the British navy. He quotes from them extensively and relates his father's experiences to his own, sometimes more successfully than others. But all in all, it was an enjoyable read and I loved getting to go behind the scenes and learn more about Genesis.

[Darren Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Living Years, like the famous song that this book is named after, is a personal and often painful story that could be said to resonate with more than just the writer. Obviously there are plenty of the mandatory sex, drugs and rock anecdotes which show that Mike Rutherford isn’t the squeaky-clean guy that many think he is. Surprising, enlightening and entertaining in equal measures. An excellent account of his life before, during and after Genesis but to me there is far more to this book than a simple guitarist's story. It wears its heart on its sleeve in a way that many musicians in rock bands would never allow to be published.
This book is also a kind of therapeutic confessional story of how his father’s death affected him. A seemingly distant relationship highlighted when Mike read his father’s writing and discovered a man that he never truly knew when he was a child or wannabee rock star focusing on his band.
The sense of catharsis is obvious and it is a moving and enjoyable read that I think would be appreciated by Genesis and non-Genesis fans alike.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I liked how he interwove his father’s life and career progression with his own, how he told the story of how Genesis came to be and how they recorded each album, the band dynamics and personalities, and all the funny anecdotes throughout his career. The only thing that stopped this book getting five stars is I would’ve loved some more detail in certain places, for example he skipped over the recording of the Abacab album almost entirely. A must read for any genesis fan.

[Chris F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly surprised i decided to borrow this book given my relative unfamiliarity with Genesis. Since i started the book though i have been looking up the songs to listen to. I know thats kind of a backwards way of doing things, but this is an interesting and at times emotional book and i’m so glad i randomly picked it out. I would like to read Mike’s dad’s book too!

[Charles James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather slim autobiography . Focuses a lot on the family side of things and his earlier years .A lot of focus on his father (not surprising bearing in mind he co-wrote the Living Years ) . Music dealt with lightly . OK

[Bob Barker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve never read a book before where criticism of past behavior from former bandmates was so polite

[Cameron Roxburgh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love anything Genesis

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

Mike fills that last remaining plot hole that Phil’s biography and the Genesis bio “Chapter and Verse” summarily started filling for their fans. This is a must- read for any true Genesis fan. If you love Mike’s dry humor, you’ll appreciate it even more after this read.