Richard Macphail obit

Richard Macphail has passed away

 

He was not on the list.

The news that Richard Macphail had passed away made the rounds on social media today.

In the late afteoon, we received confirmation that this sad news is true. Richard was an important companion, especially in the early days of the band, and many saw him as the sixth member of the band. He had many responsibilities, but above all he was a close friend and always motivated the band to develop further. Supper's Ready was the central piece for him and also the reason why he considered his work for Genesis to be complete. He was finally bid farewell on the back cover of Genesis Live.

Richard then went his own way, but continued to be involved with the band and was, among other things, Peter Gabriel's manager in his early days as a solo artist. At the time of the German Fanclub Magazine in the 1990ies, we dedicated a large cover feature to him and we were able to publish his Private Tales & Stories over several issues, which was something like the demo version of his book My Book of Genesis, which was published in 2017. In 2005, he was also a special guest at our Early Years Event in Welkers with his wife Maggie Cole. In 2011, we were able to release the track Pensylvannia Flickhouse by Anon on CD, mainly thanks to him - we felt this was a great honor.

More recently, Richard has been part of the Genesis cosmos again, of course also due to the attention his book received. He also had an online radio station called Radio Rich Pickings, where there were often Genesis-related contributions.

Richard Macphail died unexpectedly on August 27, 2024.

Rest in peace, Richard, we will miss you!

Macphail was born in Bedford, Bedfordshire on 17 September 1950. He was the vocalist for Anon, one of the two bands formed at Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey, the other being Garden Wall. In 1967, members of the two groups formed the first line-up of Genesis. Macphail then joined the Austin Hippy Blues which also featured Harry Williamson, who later wrote and performed music with Macphail's old bandmate and original Genesis guitarist Anthony Phillips. Once this band had dissolved, Macphail's next musical venture was tour manager for Genesis from 1969 until 1973. He is credited as "sound friend" in the liner notes to their fourth album Foxtrot (1972), and the band dedicated their first live album, Genesis Live (1973), to him.

Macphail worked with Genesis once more in 1976 for their A Trick of the Tail Tour, and with former Genesis singer Peter Gabriel as tour manager in 1977 and 1978.