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In 1966, Lutonians Chris Stokes (keys and vocals) from The Mantis Set, Snip Turner (lead guitar) of local heroes Bryan and The Brunelles, Derek ‘Jock’ Carleton (guitar and vocals), Steve ‘Siggi’ Holmes (bass), and Mick Loughton (drums) formed a new band. After a brief spell as The Regency Five, they rebranded as Genesis and shifted focus from soul covers to Stokes’ original songs, with wilder performances inspired in part by an all-band trip to see The Jimi Hendrix Experience at an early show in Brixton.
In 1968, in the spirit of the times, and with ambitions beyond the somewhat stale local gigging scene, Holmes suggested they should compose a suite of connected songs with a story threaded through; or, as the local paper described it, ‘a pop cantata’. Crafted by Holmes and keyboardist Stokes over the latter half of the year, The Story
is a quasi-gothic tale of romantic misadventure culminating in murder, with philosophical reflections on the nature of existence itself! With the narrative based on a love affair not just fading out, but spiralling into a heavy, dark nightmare, the album is a far cry from the gentle, flower-power psych of fellow private press contemporaries Forever Amber, and closer to an actual operatic tragedy.
In 1968, in the spirit of the times, and with ambitions beyond the somewhat stale local gigging scene, Holmes suggested they should compose a suite of connected songs with a story threaded through; or, as the local paper described it, ‘a pop cantata’. Crafted by Holmes and keyboardist Stokes over the latter half of the year, The Story
is a quasi-gothic tale of romantic misadventure culminating in murder, with philosophical reflections on the nature of existence itself! With the narrative based on a love affair not just fading out, but spiralling into a heavy, dark nightmare, the album is a far cry from the gentle, flower-power psych of fellow private press contemporaries Forever Amber, and closer to an actual operatic tragedy.
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