History
Genesis were persuaded by their label, Charisma Records, to release Genesis Live as a budget-priced title to mark time while the band recorded Selling England by the Pound in mid-1973. (Contractual obligations to Charisma's North American distributor, Buddah Records, may also have been a factor, as Charisma would move its distribution to Atlantic Records shortly before Selling England's release.)
The tracks on the album were recorded at De Montfort Hall, Leicester, England by the Pye Mobile Recording Unit, engineer Alan Perkins, on 25 February 1973 (1973-02-25) except for "Return of the Giant Hogweed", which was recorded at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England on the previous day, when the band was touring in support of Foxtrot. These recordings were originally made for the US radio show King Biscuit Flower Hour, although they were never broadcast.
A remastered version was released on CD in 1994 by Virgin in Europe and Atlantic in the U.S. and Canada.
A live recording of "Supper's Ready" from the following year's tour was released on 1998's 4-CD boxed set, Genesis Archive 1967-75. However, Gabriel re-recorded some of his vocals before allowing release.
A handful of early radio promotional double-LP test pressings by Philips/ Phonogram Int. B.V. (actually PolyGram at the time) were created which included a 23-minute version of "Supper's Ready" from the Leicester show. This pressing's running order was 1-3-5-"Supper's Ready"-2-6 and included between-song patter by Gabriel. Whether this test pressing was intended to be released as the actual album is unknown. In any event, "Supper's Ready" was not included, even though a photograph taken during a live performance of "Supper's Ready" (with Gabriel donning the "Magog" mask) was used for the front cover. Excellent digital copies of the double-LP test pressing are readily available.
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