Under the Influence: Lou, YouTube Gurus & a Genesis Bootleg

November 17, 2025

Lou often faces accusations of being under the influence. In the case of his vinyl purchases, this is undoubtedly true. Lou falls under the spell of YouTubers who rank and file away music of the past. Andy Edwards. The Prog Corner. Sea of Tranquility. Capo Fetish. Lou listens and takes note of all these guys, but to be honest, anyone on YouTube who has a top 10 Ten List or a Tier Ranking will capture Lou’s buzzed brain.

Many of these YouTubers mentioned above are deep into progressive rock. They praise Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant, Soft Machine, and so on. These obsessives speak with such passion and devotion that it is contagious. So, at Vinyl Vogue Lou bought Fragile, Thick as a Brick, A Passion Play, Foxtrot, and A Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. In addition, Lou bought these bands’ live albums as well. And Lou is here to tell you he is going to stop drinking the Kool-Aid. This stuff all sucks. One listen and done. Lou does not regret these purchases one iota, but they are just not for him. Lou like any good addict will try anything once. Except Rush. Lou draws the line at Rush. Lou does not care how effusive the praise for Rush might be. He is not buying into the cult. There must be limits.

Despite the wrong turns into Yes, Genesis, and Jethro Tull, many of these same YouTubers have steered Lou into some interesting directions out of his comfort zone. Jazz fusion for example. Lou has become an enthusiastic fan of Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Cobham, Larry Coryell, fusion era Jeff Beck, and several others. These influencer videos are also responsible for Lou’s obsession with 1970s era Miles Davis.

The same goes for Deep Purple. Lou knew little more than “Smoke on the Water” and “Hush” before these YouTubers raved about Deep Purple’s live albums and the Mach II lineup but like all these obsessives Lou digs almost any Deep Purple lineup as well as the offshoots like Rainbow. The list of new discoveries goes on and on. For years, Lou would only listen to Black Sabbath up to Sabotage, but under the influence of YouTubers, Lou now finds all the Ozzy-led Black Sabbath quite good, and he even likes the Dio-led Black Sabbath as well. New discoveries abound and untested prejudices are challenged. That is a good thing.

Now maybe just maybe, Lou will one day change his opinion on Genesis. People rave about Peter Gabriel-era Genesis and the Peter Gabriel solo albums before he blew up in the 1980s, andbecame popular with the mainstream and as a result not as cool. Lou bought all the self-titled Gabriel albums. No bueno. Lou prefers the Phil Collins solo stuff. Better yet Lou prefers Brand-X, another tip provided by YouTubers. But for the past few decades the video for “Take Me Home” by Collins is a late-night standard to be followed up by the video for Motley Crüe’s “Home Sweet Home” just before Lou stumbles to his bed a little worse for the wear.

But back to Genesis. Several YouTubers rave on and on about Genesis’ live performances and that Steve Hackett’s guitar work on “Firth of Fifth” is one of the greatest of all time. Lou bought Seconds Out. And he taps out. These YouTubers are the same guys who champion Eddie Hazel on “Maggot Brain” and Terry Kath on “25 or 6 to 4”. This is fine but give Lou “Machine Gun” by Jimi Hendrix or better yet the video of Jimi playing “Wild Thing” at Monterey. It doesn’t get much better. Pretty standard takea on Lou’s part but as mentioned earlier the YouTubers introduced him to a new appreciation of Jeff Beck in Wired and Blow by Blow as well as John McLaughlin. Tommy Bolin, Allan Holdsworth. Everyone has a suggestion, and Lou will listen to them all.

This is the exact opposite of Lou’s stance on book recommendations. He is decidedly wary and wearied by anyone who pushes a work of fiction or poetry on him. One time back when Lou was living in a nice cozy triangle marked by his apartment, a bar and a library, Lou was drinking at the bar and got into a conversation with a fellow boozer about the best post-WWII American novel. Lou will listen to your takes, and he has heard them all. Beloved. Gravity’s Rainbow. To Kill a Mockingbird. White Noise. Blood Meridian. On the Road. The Adventures of Augie March. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The list is endless. This fucking guy said Pat Conroy’s Prince of Tides. Lou was outraged. But he had to hold his tongue because he had not read the novel. So, he bid his newfound friend goodbye and walked right into the library and got a copy of Conroy’s alleged masterwork. And damned if Lou did not stay up all night reading it. Not because it was so good, but because he could not believe anyone thought this was the Great American Novel. After that experience Lou vowed to take reading recommendations few and far between.

Now if you fancy yourself a Genesis obsessive, Vinyl Vogue has something for your suspect tastes. Living at the Twilight Alehouse, a bootleg of a live recording from Town Hall, Watford, England on June 28, 1972, and a single track from Montreal Radio on April 21, 1974. Issued in 300 copies around 1979 or 1980, this is early Genesis in action. I can find almost no information about this LP anywhere. Several Genesis siteslist bootlegs but do not include it at all. Lou tends to listen to allthe LPs he writes about but this record was so rare he fearedfucking it up by playing it so he cannot comment on how it sounds. But according to Lou’s research on Popsike and DIscogs it sounds rare and that is music to some record collectors’ ears and all they need to hear. Have at it.