Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats
Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats is a compilation album by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was released in 1990 as Gabriel's first career retrospective, including songs from his first solo album Peter Gabriel , through Passion: Music for [The Last Temptation of Christ]. It was remastered with most of Gabriel's catalogue in 2002. The vinyl version of the album is called Shaking the Tree: Twelve Golden Greats.
Track selection
The tracks are creatively re-ordered, ignoring chronology. Some of the tracks were different from the album versions. New parts were recorded for several tracks in Gabriel's Real World Studios. Most songs are edited for time, either as radio, single, or video edit versions. "Shakin' the Tree"—a track from Youssou N'Dour's 1989 album The Lion—is a 1990 version featuring new vocals from Gabriel. "I Have the Touch" is listed as a 1983 remix, although it is actually the 1985 remix which appeared on the "Sledgehammer" single."Here Comes [the Flood (song)|Here Comes the Flood]" is a new recording from 1990. This version is a piano and voice arrangement, that is far simpler than the highly produced version on Peter Gabriel. Its sparseness is closer to the version Gabriel recorded with Robert Fripp on Fripp's Exposure. In interviews, Gabriel has said that he preferred the 1979 version, which he also chose to overdub in German as the flipside of the single "Biko" released before Ein deutsches Album.
Although this album highlights songs from Peter Gabriel's earlier albums, tracks from Peter Gabriel and the soundtrack to the film Birdy are not included. "In [Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel song)|In Your Eyes]" is missing from the compilation. Say Anything..., in which it was played in a prominent scene, had been released the year before. Although this made "In Your Eyes" perhaps the most well known Peter Gabriel song aside from "Sledgehammer" in the U.S., it was not released as a single in Peter Gabriel's UK homeland. "In Your Eyes" was therefore omitted from the album in favour of five of the other eight tracks from So – four other hits and the album track "Mercy Street".
Release
For the album packaging, Gabriel decided to forgo longboxes in favour of a jewel box as a means of reducing waste. Robert Smith, who served as the head of marketing for Geffen Records, defended Gabriel's decision to exclusively release the album in a jewel box, saying that "it is not a clause in his contract. It is Peter Gabriel's personal wishes, and we are respecting those wishes." Some record store outlets including Show Industries, Kemp Mill, and Music Plus refused to carry the album in their stores because of Gabriel's choice of packaging.Music & Media called Shaking The Tree a "quality compilation" with "intelligent, melodic pop songs, which, in all their diversity, possess the unmistakable Gabriel touch of genius". Cashbox thought that the compilation served as "an excellent introduction" to Gabriel's solo discography.
Track listing
Tracks marked with do not appear on the vinyl release of the album.Personnel
;"Solsbury Hill"- Bob Ezrin – production
- Larry Fast – synthesizer
- Robert Fripp – guitar
- Peter Gabriel – vocals
- Steve Hunter – guitar
- Tony Levin – bass guitar
- Alan Schwartzberg – drums
- Larry Fast – processing
- Robert Fripp – guitar
- Peter Gabriel – piano, synthesizer, vocals, and production
- Tony Levin – Chapman Stick
- Jerry Marrotta – drums
- David Rhodes – guitar
- Peter Walsh – production
- P.P. Arnold – backing vocals
- Peter Gabriel – Fairlight CMI, Prophet, piano, vocals, production
- Carol Gordon – backing vocals
- Manu Katche – drums
- Wayne Jackson – trumpet
- Daniel Lanois – production
- Tony Levin – bass guitar
- Dee Lewis – backing vocals
- Don Mikkelsen – trombone
- David Rhodes – guitar
- Mark Rivera – saxophone
- Larry Fast – synthesizer
- Phil Collins – snare drum
- Peter Gabriel – piano, vocals
- John Giblin – bass guitar
- Dave Gregory – guitar
- Steve Lillywhite – production
- Jerry Marrotta – drums
- Dick Morrissey – saxophone
- David Rhodes – guitar
- Djalma Correa – surdu, congas, and triangle
- Peter Gabriel – Fairlight CMI, Prophet, piano, CS80, vocals, and production
- Larry Klein – bass guitar
- Daniel Lanois – production
- Mark Rivera – processed saxophone
- George Acogny – Fairlight CMI percussion
- Roger Bolton – Fairlight CMI percussion and sequencing
- Simon Clark – organ, piano, keyboard bass, and synthesizer
- Habib Faye – bass guitar, guitar
- Peter Gabriel – vocals and re-recorded vocals
- Manu Katche – drums
- Youssou N'Dour – vocals
- David Rhodes – acoustic and electric guitar
- Peter Gabriel – chant, vocals, CMI, Prophet, piano, production
- Kate Bush – vocals, chant
- David Rhodes – guitar
- Tony Levin – bass guitar
- Simon Clark – chorus CS 80
- Richard Tee – piano
- Daniel Lanois – production
- Peter Gabriel – vocals, production
- David Lord – production
- Peter Gabriel – piano, vocals, and production
- Peter Gabriel – vocals, production
- Daniel Lanois – production
- Steve Lillywhite – production
- Kate Bush – background vocals
- Peter Gabriel – vocals, production
- David Lord – production
- Peter Gabriel – keyboards, vocals, and production
- David Lord – production
- Simon Phillips – drums
- James Guthrie – remix engineer
- Peter Gabriel – vocals, production
- Daniel Lanois – production
- Peter Gabriel – production
- Steve Lillywhite – production
- Alexander Knaust – styling and photography assistance
- Robert Mapplethorpe – photography
- Mouat Nomad, London – design
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
| Chart | Position |
| Austrian Albums | 167 |
| German Albums | 58 |
| Swiss Albums | 131 |
| UK Albums | 134 |