Peter Gabriel 1977

Peter Gabriel is the debut solo studio album by English progressive rock singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel and the first of four with the same eponymous title. Released on 25 February 1977, it was produced by Bob Ezrin. Gabriel and Ezrin assembled a team of musicians, including King Crimson frontman and guitarist Robert Fripp, to record the album. Upon the album's release, Gabriel began touring with a seven-piece band under his own name.

This album is often called either Peter Gabriel 1 or Car, referring to the album cover by London artist Peter Christopherson when he was associated with the London artists group Hipgnosis. The car was a Lancia Flavia owned by Hipgnosis founder Storm Thorgerson.[1]

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Gabriel's first solo success came with the album's lead single "Solsbury Hill", which Gabriel has said is about being prepared to lose what you have for what you might get ... It's about letting go."[2] Although mainly happy with the music, Gabriel felt that the album, in particular the track "Here Comes The Flood", was over-produced. Piano-only or piano with synth versions may be heard on Robert Fripp's Exposure, his appearance on Kate Bush's 1979 TV special and a third version on his greatest hits compilation Shaking the Tree (1990). He often performs the song live accompanied by only himself on keyboard, either in German or English, depending on the audience.[3]

Direct Disk Labs released a half speed mastered version from the original master tapes. It has a longer version of "Slowburn" (5:16 instead of 4:36) with the song's introduction intact. All other versions of this album have the introduction (with a full band) edited out

1. "Moribund the Burgermeister" 4:20

2. "Solsbury Hill" 4:21

3. "Modern Love 3:38

4. "Excuse Me" Gabriel, Martin Hall 3:20

5. "Humdrum"3:25

Side Two

6. "Slowburn" 4:36

7. "Waiting for the Big One" 7:15

8. "Down the Dolce Vita" 5:05

9. "Here Comes the Flood" 5:38

Peter Gabriel – vocals, keyboards, flute, recorder

Robert Fripp – electric guitar, classical guitar, banjo

Tony Levin – bass guitar, tuba, leader of the Barbershop Quartet

Jozef Chirowski – keyboards

Larry Fast – synthesizer, programming

Allan Schwartzberg – drums

Steve Hunter – acoustic guitar on "Solsbury Hill"; lead guitar on "Slowburn" and "Waiting for the Big One"; electric guitar, rhythm guitar; pedal steel

Dick Wagner – backing vocals, guitar on "Here Comes the Flood"

Jimmy Maelen – percussion, synthibam, bones

London Symphony Orchestra - orchestra on "Down the Dolce Vita" and "Here Comes the Flood"

Michael Gibbs – arrangement of orchestra