Peter Gabriel is in your life for a good reason.  So many progressive music fans tuned in to early Genesis as they offered something more than the usual techno-electronic noise: Peter Gabriel’s charisma, shamanic crowd ownership, disciplined histrionics, and overall band artistic leadership.  Imagine Genesis without Gabriel, and you have a very polished musical enterprise with excellent bass and Phil Collins’s incredible percussion and vocals.   Genesis with Gabriel was so much more.  The images throughout this article and featured herein are of Wilshire and Surrey, UK. Today, he makes his home in Wiltshire, England, where he maintains a commercial recording studio and a record label, Real World Records.  Peter was born in Chobham, England. 

Kate Bush – Here Comes The Flood with Peter Gabriel (1979) Xmas TV Special

Kate Bush
“Kate”
Xmas TV Special
BBC TV Studios
Birmingham
The U.K.
1979-10

Peter Gabriel in NYC winter after leaving Genesis to begin his solo career

 

ARTIST

ALBUM
So

WRITERS
Peter Gabriel

LICENSES

itspetergabriel (on behalf of Real World Records); BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, LatinAutor – PeerMusic, Global Music Rights LLC, Warner Chappell, SOLAR Music Rights Management, UMPG Publishing, ООО С.Б.А. Мьюзик Паблишинг/S.B.A.Music Publishing LTD, Abramus Digital, LatinAutorPerf, CMRRA, LatinAutor – SonyATV, and 12 Music Rights Societies

G#2 – B4 (2.3 octaves)

Song with the LOWEST pitch:
The Book of Love (G#2-D#4)
Song with the HIGHEST pitch:
Here Comes the Flood (C#3-B4

 

Four Kinds of Horses is the fifth song to be released from Peter Gabriel’s forthcoming album i/o. This is the Bright-Side Mix by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent. Released on the full moon, 5 May 2023.

Written by Peter Gabriel and produced by Peter Gabriel and Richard Russell, Four Kinds of Horses was recorded at Real World Studios in Wiltshire, The Beehive, and Copper House in London.

“Four Kinds of Horses ” began on Richard Russell’s project ‘Everything Is Recorded’. He’s a friend (and founder of XL Records) and asked me to pop into his studio. I came up with chords, melodies, and words on top of a groove he was working on. We tried a few things that didn’t work, so it laid dormant for quite a while. Then I started playing around with it again and changed the mood and groove, and something else emerged with a better chorus.”

Several things triggered ideas for the song as it developed, including the Buddhist parable of the Four Kinds of Horses, which describes different ways a student can approach their spiritual practice. There is also a focus on “the interesting overlap of religion and peace on the one hand and violence and terrorism on the other. There was also a wonderful film by Hany Abu-Assad called ‘Paradise Now, ’ which shows two young men who end up being trained to become terrorists, and it’s a real insight into where the head goes.”

As well as Russell, who set things in motion, Four Kinds of Horses also features Brian Eno on synths, which “sounded like electric worms to me,” says Gabriel. “As soon as I heard one, I thought they would make a great three-dimensional wallpaper of sound and asked Brian to create eleven more.” John Metcalfe again provides string arrangements, “beautiful work and as the song progresses, the strings play a key role,” and backing vocals from Peter’s daughter Melanie, “another lovely moment for a dad.”

Continuing the theme of working with a different artist for each song release, this month’s track is accompanied by a cover image featuring the work of Cornelia Parker.

This month we have a fascinating artist, Cornelia Parker, who does extraordinary work. When we were originally looking at the Art from Us project, I’d seen some of her stuff with exploding rooms and had been fascinated by that, so I’m really happy that she agreed to work with us on this. The photogravure technique of William Henry Fox Talbot was an inspiration for her in this piece and some of the other glass-based images in the series. I fell in love with this particular work – it’s called ‘Snap.’

Just like the previous full moon releases, Four Kinds of Horses will come with differing mix approaches from Mark ‘Spike’ Stent (Bright-Side Mix), here, plus Tchad Blake (Dark-Side Mix) and Hans-Martin Buff’s Atmos mix (In-Side Mix).

As well as new music, Peter Gabriel is about to embark on a tour with dates in the UK, Europe, and North America on sale now. livenation.com / petergabriel.com

Further details on the release plans for the full album will follow.

Cornelia Parker: https://www.instagram.com/corneliapar…
Cover image: Snap by Cornelia Parker

Peter Gabriel 2024

 

Peter Gabriel’s Full Moon Club update for June 2023, where he discusses the release of Road to Joy, the sixth track to be taken from the forthcoming album i/o.

Listen to the full track Road to Joy from Sunday, 4 June: https://lnk.to/PG21.

Written by Peter Gabriel and produced by Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno, Road to Joy features the Soweto Gospel Choir, a string arrangement from John Metcalfe, and contributions from several of Gabriel’s current touring bands; long-time collaborators Tony Levin (bass), David Rhodes (guitar) and Manu Katché (drums) as well as two newer members Don E (bass keys), ‘he did the funkiest bass line that you can imagine’ and Josh Shpak (trumpet), ‘beautiful playing, a super musical guy.’ The song was recorded at Real World Studios, Bath, The Beehive and British Grove, London, and High Seas Studios, South Africa.

‘I’m working on a project which is partly a story focused around the brain and how we perceive things, and this song connects to that. It deals with near-death experiences and locked-in syndrome situations where people cannot communicate or move. It’s an amazingly frustrating condition. There have been some great books and films about this subject, but at this point in our story, the people looking after our hero manage to find a way to wake him up. So, it’s a lyric about coming back into your senses, back to life, back into the world.’

The song is one of the last tracks to emerge for the i/o record, but it has some DNA from an earlier project; ‘It was very late in the record that we got to this. There had been a song that musically I’d started, I think, around the OVO project called Pukka. It was very different from this, but it was the starting point for returning to this song. I just felt there was a good groove there, and I wanted something else with rhythm, so we tried a few things while working with Brian Eno. The excitement and energy in the song were something that I was getting off on. I felt we didn’t have enough of that for this record.’

As with previous full moon releases, Road to Joy comes with an artist of the month, and for this June release, that artist is Ai Weiwei and his work ‘Middle Finger in Pink’.

‘I’m a big fan of Ai Weiwei, both as an artist, designer, and human rights campaigner. He’s incredibly brave and regularly risks the wrath of the Chinese government. But his work is exceptional, often political, and quite extraordinary.
When I was hustling him, I think he had no idea who I was, so it was an uphill battle at first, but he was open to talking, and we got to know each other and hung out a little bit.
I was delighted when he agreed to participate in the i/o project and generously sent us three designs. He has this middle finger image that he uses a lot in his work, and it is often directed to those in power.
He’s been at the root end of power, as his father was before him. So that’s an important symbol for him, and I guess in the context of the story I am now working on, death is the dominant power, and the hero is coming back to life and raising his finger to death.’

Like the previous full moon releases, Road to Joy will come with differing mix approaches from Mark ‘Spike’ Stent (Bright-Side Mix), released on 4 June. Tchad Blake’s (Dark-Side Mix) and Hans-Martin Buff’s Atmos mix (In-Side Mix) were released later in the month.

Peter Gabriel riding bicycle on round stage 2006

Peter Gabriel – Solsbury Hill

 

PG & Co. playing a funny Solsbury Hill!

 

 

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Cheddar, England, United Kingdom Published on August 18, 2017 DJI, FC220 Free to use under the Unsplash License Taken in Cheddar Gorge, England - August 2017.

Peter Gabriel – San Jacinto – Live in Athens 1987

 

Peter Gabriel – Live in Athens: 1987
Music in this video
Song
PETER GABRIEL (THE STORY OF GROWING UP FILM)
Licensed to YouTube by
LatinAutor – SonyATV, LatinAutorPerf, EMI Music Publishing, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, SOLAR Music Rights Management, and 3 Music Rights Societies

Peter Gabriel – San Jacinto (Secret World Live HD)

Taken from the Secret World Live concert film, which captures Peter Gabriel’s extraordinary 1993 live show – conceived by Peter and Robert Lepage – it was filmed across two nights (16 & 17 November) at the Palasport Nuovo in Modena, Italy. Stream/download the concert here: http://smarturl.it/pgsecretworldlive The Secret World Live tour itself was in support of Peter’s sixth solo album, US. The concert has been digitally restored and remastered from the original 16mm film stock and the audio remixed and remastered in Stereo, Dolby 5:1, and DTS Soundtracks. Buy DVD / Bluray now – http://petergabriel.com/release/secre… # http://petergabriel.com #Live #DVD

 

Deepdale, Patterdale, England Published on January 14, 2019 Sigma, dp0 Quattro Free to use under the Unsplash License Powerful winds and passing squalls as Lisabet and I hiked up Deepdale for photos of Greenhow End. I managed to snag this shot. Later, the wind took me flat cap off me head!

Peter Gabriel – Come Talk To Me

 

The opening track off the DVD film is based on his Secret World Live video. Pretty much the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.

Pulham, England Published on August 21, 2019 Canon, EOS 550D Free to use under the Unsplash License Black and White photo of grey squirrel hanging from a bird feeder

Peter Gabriel – Family Snapshot – Live in Athens 1987

Song
PETER GABRIEL (THE STORY OF GROWNING UP FILM)
Licensed to YouTube by
LatinAutor – SonyATV, LatinAutorPerf, EMI Music Publishing, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, SOLAR Music Rights Management, and 3 Music Rights Societies

Peter Gabriel Album Cover of Peter Gabriel solo
North Downs, Surrey, London, UK Published on August 14, 2019 SONY, ILCE-6000 Free to use under the Unsplash License The North Downs in Surrey, UK. Red berries.

Peter gabriel, Games without frontier, no self control.live vost 1987

Peter Gabriel en concert à Athènes 1987 Games without frontier, no self control sous titre français
Movie
Peter Gabriel – Live in Athens: 1987
Music in this video
Song
PETER GABRIEL (THE STORY OF GROWNING UP FILM)
Licensed to YouTube by
LatinAutor – SonyATV, LatinAutorPerf, EMI Music Publishing, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, SOLAR Music Rights Management, and 3 Music Rights Societies
Kate Bush with Peter Gabriel in Studio
Peter Gabriel in Games without Frontiers
Peter Gabriel 2nd Album cover
North Downs, Surrey, London, UK Published on August 14, 2019 SONY, ILCE-6000 Free to use under the Unsplash License The North Downs in Surrey, UK. Almost harvest time.

Peter Gabriel – Mercy Street – Live in Athens 1987

Peter Gabriel – Live in Athens: 1987
Music in this video

Song
PETER GABRIEL (THE STORY OF GROWING UP FILM)
Licensed to YouTube by
LatinAutor – SonyATV, LatinAutorPerf, EMI Music Publishing, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, SOLAR Music Rights Management, and 3 Music Rights Societies

In October of 1987, after many months on the road, it was in the elevated surroundings of the hillside open-air theatre at Lycabettus overlooking Athens, that the “So” tour came to a climactic close. The three nights were filmed in what was the first-ever Peter Gabriel concert to be committed to film. As a concert film, it was brilliantly shot and has now been equally brilliantly remastered, a crystal-clear record of Gabriel and the band in their mid-80s pomp. The viewer is placed right in the heart of the action all the way, from the band’s synchronized choreography on the opening number “This Is The Picture”, right through to the skin-pricking closer “Biko”. In between, we’re lost in the music, spellbound by the spectacle, totally absorbed by the imperfection-free tightness of a band that’s been on the road for so long

 Pinterest Peter Gabriel's Mercy Street - directed by Paul Roget. |
Mercy Street Peter Gabriel

Editorial The Roman Baths, Bath, England Published on April 12, 2019 Canon, EOS 600D Free to use under the Unsplash License

Peter Gabriel – In Your Eyes (ft Youssou N’Dour &

 

Winchester, England, UK Published on October 28, 2021 Free to use under the Unsplash License

Peter Gabriel – The Family And The Fishing Net, Munich, Olympiahalle, 30/04/2014

Peter Gabriel live - Back To Front Encore Series 2014 Live in Europe - spring and fall/winter 2014
THE FAMILY AND THE FISHING NET
Peter Gabriel
Munich, Olympiahalle
30/04/2014
Dover, England, Vereinigtes Königreich Published on September 8, 2021 Free to use under the Unsplash License take your seat.
This performance of ‘In Your Eyes’ is taken from Peter Gabriel’s ‘Secret World Live’ concert film and features the late, great Papa Wemba.

Peter Gabriel – In Your Eyes (Secret World Live)

Peter Gabriel Album cover solo

Peter Gabriel ft. The Blind Boys of Alabama – Sky Blue (Growing Up Live)

 

Sky Blue’ featuring the Blind Boys of Alabama. Stream/download the concert here: http://smarturl.it/growinguplive Filmed in high definition, Growing Up Live was originally released on DVD in 2003 but never on Blu-ray or digitally. The DVD is now available again and the concert is also available on Blu-ray and digital download for the first time. The Still Growing Up concert film, originally released in 2005, was filmed in standard definition only and is being re-issued on DVD.

Peter Gabriel Secret World Live DVD live

Peter Gabriel – Shaking The Tree (Secret World) ~ 1080p HD

 

Peter Gabriel – Shaking The Tree (Secret World) ~ 1080p HD Available Now: https://mercury-studios.lnk.to/PeterG… Peter Gabriel’s Grammy Award-winning film “Secret World Live” has now been newly restored and remastered from the original film to be seen and heard in the best possible quality on DVD/Blu-ray. http://smarturl.it/petergsecretdvdblu Filmed in Modena, Italy across two nights in November 1993 as part of Peter Gabriel’s acclaimed “Secret World Live” tour in support of the “Us” album, the show is elaborately presented and choreographed with two stages joined by a narrow pier. Peter Gabriel has always been a charismatic live performer with the ability to draw his audience into the onstage world he has created and rarely has this been better captured than on “Secret World Live”.

Peter Gabriel – Shaking The Tree (Secret World Live HD

Taken from the Secret World Live concert film, which captures Peter Gabriel’s extraordinary 1993 live show – conceived by Peter and Robert Lepage – it was filmed across two nights (16 & 17 November) at the Palasport Nuovo in Modena, Italy. Stream/download the concert here: http://smarturl.it/pgsecretworldlive The Secret World Live tour itself was in support of Peter’s sixth solo album, US. The concert has been digitally restored and remastered from the original 16mm film stock and the audio remixed and remastered in Stereo, Dolby 5:1, and DTS Soundtracks.