walking upstream…
Peter Gabriel
photo: raph_ph · cc by 2.0 ↗Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel co-founded Genesis as a teenager steeped equally in church hymns and his first record purchase, The Beatles' Please Please Me, before leaving the band in 1975 to chase a stranger, more physical sound as a solo artist. His solo albums fused art rock with soul, world music, and cutting-edge production — 1986's So, powered partly by his love of Otis Redding's horn-driven soul, made him an unlikely MTV-era pop star without dulling his art-rock instincts.
the sound in question
1986
In Your EyesPeter Gabriel
walk the tributaries ↓
Otis Redding1960s · Soul / R&B
Gabriel has called Otis Redding his all-time favorite singer, and 'Sledgehammer' was directly inspired by Redding's music — Gabriel sought out Stax horn player Wayne Jackson, who had toured with Redding, specifically to get an authentic soul horn sound on the track.
listen: upstream & here
1966
Try a Little TendernessOtis Redding
1986
SledgehammerPeter Gabriel
listen forCue Otis Redding's brassy, elastic 'Try a Little Tenderness' and then Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer' — listen for the same punchy horn stabs and the way both vocalists lean hard into raw, physical soul phrasing.
King Crimson1970s · Progressive rock / Art rock / Experimental rock
Gabriel hired former King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp to play on and help shape his 1978 album Peter Gabriel II, crediting the King Crimson veteran with pushing him toward a tenser, more unpredictable sound; Fripp plays electric guitar on the album's opening track, 'On the Air.'
listen: upstream & here
1969
21st Century Schizoid ManKing Crimson
1978
On the AirPeter Gabriel
listen forListen to the tense, unpredictable interplay of King Crimson's '21st Century Schizoid Man' and then Gabriel's synth-and-guitar workout 'On the Air' — listen for the same restless, slightly menacing energy running under a pop structure.
The Beatles1960s · Rock / Pop rock
As a 12-year-old, Gabriel used money set aside for professional singing lessons to buy The Beatles' debut album Please Please Me instead — an early, personally cited spark for his songwriting years before he'd co-founded a band.
listen: upstream & here
1963
Please Please MeThe Beatles
1977
Solsbury HillPeter Gabriel
listen forPlay the bright, hooky title track of The Beatles' Please Please Me and then Gabriel's own breezy, skipping 'Solsbury Hill' — listen for the same instinct toward an unabashedly melodic, immediately singable pop chorus underneath more adventurous arrangements.