The song is actually based on Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End, and the description of the Watcher of the Skies in the book is quite different. More like the horned and tailed devil, lol!
Agreed! Tony Banks, Wakeman, Mike Pinder (moody blues) were/are the definitive masters of the Mellotron IMO. And this dude completely nails it!! Beautiful.
Gosh! 197x in Princeton, NJ, my sister encouraged me to see a band I'd never heard of. And I'm coming from years of bluesy heavy rock. This opening, and the Gabriel apparition (not to mention some pretty good players up there) just reset my mind as to what modern, great, music could be.
Never forget being at the concert in Detroit, early 70's opening piece, complete dark room, intro playing, then a glow of green on Peter's weird head dress and boom! Watcher of the Skies!!! Thank you!!!
Well played sir…if someone needs to be exceptionally gifted (as you obviously are) to be able to cover that…imagine just how brilliant one must be, to be able to compose that…😮 🤯
Extraordinary setup (Mello, Moog, Hammond and so on) and wonderful rendering. One of the greatest Genesis openings with "Firth of fifth". Thank you so much.
The Mellotron sounds so organic, it has more life than almost anything else done with a keyboard; Banks' intro here was actually a big formative influence on my own music in terms of how fluidly it moves between keys and eerie/resigned/hopeful tonalities. Thanks for posting this, John!
Though this isn't a "real mellotron". Purists would say that a real mellotron can't be digital, as the M4000 are. Perhaps they exaggerate, but it's true that there's something different when played with a M400 or MkII.
Thanks for the awesome Mellotron demonstration, and for playing one of our favorite Mellotron songs! As longtime lovers of the sound of the Mellotron (Craig's 1st musical instrument was his M400 acquired in 1976) our philosophy is... "There is no such thing as too much Mellotron". We have the M400 (W/4 tape frames) an M4000D (the big one), and two Mellotron Micro's. We also used several Mellotron Apps on our 1st album. Long live the Mellotron!
Cherry Records is releasing a compilation called Blank Generation. One cut is called Gimme Cigarette by Cigarettes, basically Philo Cramer and me in 1975-1977. Opening chords are from my chamberlain 100, strings, the prototype for a Mellotron. A true bonafide nightmare instrument.
I have listened with real pleasure and I am listening again several times to this little piece by Genesis, really very exciting; it makes me want to learn to play wonderful music like this.
I've heard this intro hundreds of times (well done!) And just now realized it sounds like the soundtrack to a 1950's creature feature monster movie. I can just picture Dracula emerging from his coffin, or Frankenstein coming alive with lightning. So cool.
Thats what it looked like to me, at the Roxy in 1973. I had never even heard the band before, this was my first intro to them, live, with Peter Gabriel in the dark, spreading out his bat wings right in front of me! It really made an impression, I have to tell ya!
Thanks! That modular is the product of a wonderful small company located south of Dallas Tx called Synthesizers.com. I have it featured on another video, playing a Bach Invention, but I have this idea for something completely different hopefully coming soon.
I have been fascinated by the Mellotron since the early 1970s. Here I recommend two interesting pieces. Amon Düül II with "Sleepwalker's Timeless Bridge on the album Wolf City, Germany 1972 and from the Dutch band Earth & Fire the album "Song Of The Marching Children" (1971) the epic 18 minute title track.
Yes, me as well! I’m 67 years old, went to work at 17 and got my first Hammond M3 organ for my 18th birthday. I keep buying keys ever since that time! 50 years of working, but I finally have them! Haha Now I need to use them more, your comments are inspiring
Una delle più belle introduzioni strumentali col Mellotron che abbia mai ascoltato e sempre nello stesso brano uno dei più bei finali sempre col Mellotron e sempre dei Genesis un altro grande finale da Seven Stones sempre col Mellotron !!!!
@@orcogenialeBeh, no. Il piano in Seven Stones non viene utilizzato, ci sono solo organo e Mellotron ed è proprio quest'ultimo che termina il brano unitamente all'organo Hammond.
The song is actually based on Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End, and the description of the Watcher of the Skies in the book is quite different. More like the horned and tailed devil, lol!
I remem ber seeing them when they first came touring in the US. First time i ever saw a Melotron.They had 3 separate tape racks all in road cases and they had to sit out in room temperature so they would be stable when inserted in the Melotron. It sounded so cool. Back then in 1973 my friend bought a brand new B3 with a 122 Leslie right out of the box for $3000 USD as well as a Mini Moog Model D. They did Yes ELP and Gen and played in battle of the bands. They never won despite how good they were. It was always the Led Zep style bands that won. BTW nice job on WOTS. :)
I love the Mellotron... and this sounds great.. but wasn't the start of "Watcher" Mike Rutherford playing a cello multitracked??? - on the album anyway... bit difficult to do it live I know.
He looks exactly like what I imagined a watcher of the skies would look like
Brilliant 😂
Haha
He looks like he is from the 1700s...lol
😂❤
The song is actually based on Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End, and the description of the Watcher of the Skies in the book is quite different. More like the horned and tailed devil, lol!
I knew that Santa kept all the best Toys for himself!
🤣😂
😂😂😂❤
What a sick setup! There is no sound more beautiful than a mellotron.
Worked on this setup my whole life! Thanks!
@@ProgRockKeys NO thank you for displaying an age and style of playing that no longer exists. Oh how I miss the 60's and 70's
@@BP-kx2ig Unbelievable - amazing
except bagpipes duh.
Such a beautiful haunting sound!
One of the most beautiful uses of the Mellotron, in Progressive rock history.
Wonderful performance sir.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, that was very nice!
Agreed! Tony Banks, Wakeman, Mike Pinder (moody blues) were/are the definitive masters of the Mellotron IMO. And this dude completely nails it!! Beautiful.
Not "one of" ... this is the quintessential portrait of the instrument, especially as solo and intro sequence ...
@@robertpfeiffer8836- and someone from King Crimson. Many good Mellotron lines from their early albums.
Brilliant!
It's the warble and imperfections that make it great.
Behold the majesty and glory of our Mellotron overlord! Praise!!!
A dream, these chord progressions...
I love that there’s a screwdriver on the mellotron. It takes an engineer to keep those things running right. Great playing! This guy has an ear !
Lol
Wish bands could make music like this again. Love it,. Peace to EVERYONE
fantastic....I absolutely love this.
One of Progs greatest intros.
Amazing. Goosebump time. How I miss Genesis live from the 70 and 80's.
I was 10 8n 1973 and this was the first thing I heard from Genesis. Hooked ever since. I'll never forget that moment.
Gosh! 197x in Princeton, NJ, my sister encouraged me to see a band I'd never heard of. And I'm coming from years of bluesy heavy rock.
This opening, and the Gabriel apparition (not to mention some pretty good players up there) just reset my mind as to what modern, great, music could be.
the meletron sounds so sweet
From a Long Term Italian Genesis's Follower only one word PERFECT! Thanks!
prefect.. one of the most beautiful chord progressions of all Genesis songs!
Nicely done, I have had the privilege of Hearing and seeing genesis perform this live several times !
Still blows my mind today today
Never forget being at the concert in Detroit, early 70's opening piece, complete dark room, intro playing, then a glow of green on Peter's weird head dress and boom! Watcher of the Skies!!! Thank you!!!
I had the same experience in Hollywood at the Roxy Theater.
Unforgettable! Glad you were as lucky as I was
Brilliant.
Ah! The sound of these old analog synthesizers and these great titles from the great era of Genesis!
A mellotron isn‘t a synthesizer.
Glorious chords and sequence from Tony Banks.
"Watcher of the Skies (Live)" demeure encore ma pièce préférée du groupe Genesis.
Love this!!
Wonderful vintage synthesizers and mellotron.🤟👍👍🥰
What a beautiful rendition of such a masterpiece?
Gave me chills to watch this!! Off the hook!
Wow!
“How appropriately monumental, and that without decadence!
What we’ve captured in that one composition alone-ALONE!”
Long time Genesis fan-bravo-well done-great gear too!
Magnificent playing sir.
That's beautiful.
Beautiful, thank you
Well played sir…if someone needs to be exceptionally gifted (as you obviously are) to be able to cover that…imagine just how brilliant one must be, to be able to compose that…😮 🤯
beautiful, made my day Thnx
Ohhh this is pretty!! Those harmonies ❤❤❤ Oh Tony...
Stoopid algorythm, please, more of this.
Extraordinary setup (Mello, Moog, Hammond and so on) and wonderful rendering. One of the greatest Genesis openings with "Firth of fifth". Thank you so much.
The Mellotron sounds so organic, it has more life than almost anything else done with a keyboard; Banks' intro here was actually a big formative influence on my own music in terms of how fluidly it moves between keys and eerie/resigned/hopeful tonalities. Thanks for posting this, John!
Though this isn't a "real mellotron". Purists would say that a real mellotron can't be digital, as the M4000 are. Perhaps they exaggerate, but it's true that there's something different when played with a M400 or MkII.
Best intro ever 🤩
Nicely done.
Woah, you are like a wizard. Great cover sir!
He is the watcher of the skies
A l’identique ❤
C’est parfait , j’en ai encore le frisson !
Only Tony my friend can play GENESIS ❤🎉
That's really good! Thanks.
Thanks for the awesome Mellotron demonstration, and for playing one of our favorite Mellotron songs! As longtime lovers of the sound of the Mellotron (Craig's 1st musical instrument was his M400 acquired in 1976) our philosophy is... "There is no such thing as too much Mellotron". We have the M400 (W/4 tape frames) an M4000D (the big one), and two Mellotron Micro's. We also used several Mellotron Apps on our 1st album.
Long live the Mellotron!
Cherry Records is releasing a compilation called Blank Generation. One cut is called Gimme Cigarette by Cigarettes, basically Philo Cramer and me in 1975-1977. Opening chords are from my chamberlain 100, strings, the prototype for a Mellotron. A true bonafide nightmare instrument.
@@ProgRockKeys Sounds awesome! We will look for it!
I have listened with real pleasure and I am listening again several times to this little piece by Genesis, really very exciting; it makes me want to learn to play wonderful music like this.
The MOST CORRECT Sound I have ever heard from Cover !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Excellent !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow, thanks!
I hope I am this cool when I am older ❤️ you absolutely rock.
I've heard this intro hundreds of times (well done!) And just now realized it sounds like the soundtrack to a 1950's creature feature monster movie. I can just picture Dracula emerging from his coffin, or Frankenstein coming alive with lightning. So cool.
Thats what it looked like to me, at the Roxy in 1973. I had never even heard the band before, this was my first intro to them, live, with Peter Gabriel in the dark, spreading out his bat wings right in front of me! It really made an impression, I have to tell ya!
Absolutely wonderful!
Beautiful performance. Apologies for being greedy, but please give us more Genesis.
Wow! That hits the spot. Well done sir.
As a life long Genesis fan I can say that was perfectly done! however my eye was drawn to that modular Moog behind you. Keith would have been proud!
Thanks! That modular is the product of a wonderful small company located south of Dallas Tx called Synthesizers.com. I have it featured on another video, playing a Bach Invention, but I have this idea for something completely different hopefully coming soon.
Of course the true way to make him proud is to stab knives into its keyboard
Nice Time and Tide profile pic!
@@reeseboyd5730 Thanks, Greenslades finest album, sadly too late to save the band from breaking up!
One of my favorite videos on youtube at the moment, i love the end how he keeps going
I have been fascinated by the Mellotron since the early 1970s. Here I recommend two interesting pieces. Amon Düül II with "Sleepwalker's Timeless Bridge on the album Wolf City, Germany 1972 and from the Dutch band Earth & Fire the album "Song Of The Marching Children" (1971) the epic 18 minute title track.
uah! vera fantascienza grandiosa 💥💥💥🐻👍👍👍
とても素晴らしいです。
For my whole life I dreamed to have such instruments.. ( Minimoog first )
Congratultions and greetings from Italy
Yes, me as well! I’m 67 years old, went to work at 17 and got my first Hammond M3 organ for my 18th birthday. I keep buying keys ever since that time! 50 years of working, but I finally have them! Haha
Now I need to use them more, your comments are inspiring
@@ProgRockKeys I use the bass pedals too... Amazing
These chord changes are absolutely amazing. Brilliant and satisfying all these years later,!!!!!
Why am I crying?
who is this mad genius ??
sounds great! well done !
Che emozione. Sembra proprio di ascoltare l'inizio di Foxtrot. ♥️ Tony Forever.
Una delle più belle introduzioni strumentali col Mellotron che abbia mai ascoltato e sempre nello stesso brano uno dei più bei finali sempre col Mellotron e sempre dei Genesis un altro grande finale da Seven Stones sempre col Mellotron !!!!
Ma seven stones non finisce col piano? 🤔
@@orcogenialeBeh, no. Il piano in Seven Stones non viene utilizzato, ci sono solo organo e Mellotron ed è proprio quest'ultimo che termina il brano unitamente all'organo Hammond.
Look at his Moog setup to the right. He can play Genesis, ELP and Yes all at the same time!
Perfection!!!!!!!
What a big sound! Terrific!
As a drummer I start the hi hat rhythm off as you fade out, perfectly played John, wonderful!
Lovely! I like how you keep the top Ab and allow the 8 seconds tape length to have it die off, just like on Genesis Live. Thank you.
Loved it 😍
Spot-on! Well done!
Simply Amazing. Wonderful.
The song is actually based on Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End, and the description of the Watcher of the Skies in the book is quite different. More like the horned and tailed devil, lol!
Amazing Mellotron intro from the summer of my years.❤❤❤❤❤
I remem ber seeing them when they first came touring in the US. First time i ever saw a Melotron.They had 3 separate tape racks all in road cases and they had to sit out in room temperature so they would be stable when inserted in the Melotron. It sounded so cool. Back then in 1973 my friend bought a brand new B3 with a 122 Leslie right out of the box for $3000 USD as well as a Mini Moog Model D. They did Yes ELP and Gen and played in battle of the bands. They never won despite how good they were. It was always the Led Zep style bands that won.
BTW nice job on WOTS. :)
great cover
Well, that was pretty much spot on, huh? Pretty much perfect. Congrats!
Ethereal, spine tingling and wonderful....
Marvellous!
That introduction is prog in a nutshell.
Nice !!
Excellent!
Now I've got, how real watcher of the skies looks like!) Great mild sounds and slow deepest tempo of performing!
excellent Mellotron !
Thank you!
Excellent ! 🙂JM.
Anyone else start singing the high hat pattern toward the end? beautiful work.
Gorgeous!!
Damn, Santa. Kick ass!
great 😀
Extraordinaire!
One of the greatest cover i’ve heard. Fantastic!!
Perfection
Didn't realize Darwin was a musician as well. He naturally selects his music very well!
I love the Mellotron... and this sounds great.. but wasn't the start of "Watcher" Mike Rutherford playing a cello multitracked??? - on the album anyway... bit difficult to do it live I know.
Impressive!
awesome
oh lala ...excellent 👏👏