Gentle Giant: Legends Of Progressive Rock

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Gentle Giant



(From left to right: Kerry Minnear, Derek Shulman, Gary Green, Ray Shulman, John Weathers (who looks similar to Karl Henning))

Formed at the dawn of the progressive rock era in 1969, Gentle Giant seemed poised for a time in the mid-'70s to break out of its cult-band status, but somehow never made the jump. Somewhat closer in spirit to Yes and King Crimson than to Emerson, Lake & Palmer or the Nice, their unique sound melded hard rock and classical music, with an almost medieval approach to singing.

Gentle Giant was born out of the ruins of Simon Dupree & the Big Sound, an R&B-based outfit led by brothers Derek, Ray, and Phil Shulman. After switching to psychedelia in 1967 and scoring their only major hit that year with "Kites," as Gentle Giant the group abandoned both the R&B and psychedelic orientations of the previous band; Derek sang and played guitar and bass, Ray sang and played bass and violin, and Phil handled the saxophone, augmented by Kerry Minnear on keyboards, and Gary Green on guitar. Their original lineup also featured Martin Smith on drums, but they went through several percussionists in the first three years of their existence.

In 1970, Gentle Giant signed to the Vertigo label, and their self-titled first album -- a shockingly daring work mixing hard rock and full electric playing with classical elements -- came out later that year. Their second effort, 1971's Acquiring the Taste, was slightly more accessible and their third, Three Friends, featuring Malcolm Mortimore on drums, was their first record to get released in the U.S. (on Columbia). Their fourth album, 1973's Octopus, looked poised for a breakthrough; it seemed as though they had found the mix of hard rock and classical sounds that the critics and the public could accept, and they finally had a permanent drummer in the person of John Weathers, an ex-member of the Graham Bond Organisation.

In 1974, however, Gentle Giant began coming apart. Phil Shulman decided to give up music after the Octopus tour, and became a teacher. Then the group recorded the album In a Glass House, their hardest-rocking record yet, which Columbia's U.S. arm rejected as too uncommercial. The two-year gap in their American release schedule hurt their momentum, and they weren't heard from again until the Capitol release of The Power and the Glory in 1975.

Gentle Giant released Free Hand, their most commercial album, in 1976, but then followed it up with the jarringly experimental Interview. After the 1978 double-album Playing the Fool, the group went through a seeming change of heart and issued a series of albums aimed at mainstream audiences, even approaching disco, but by the end of the 1970s their popularity was in free-fall. Gentle Giant called it quits in 1980. Ray Shulman later became a producer and had considerable success in England working with bands like the Sundays and the Sugarcubes, while Derek Shulman became a New York-based record company executive.

[Article taken from All Music Guide]

What does our resident prog rock fans think of Gentle Giant? For me, they're right up there with Genesis, King Crimson, Yes, ELP, etc. One of the most distinctive bands of the 1970s. Like many progressive rock bands, GG took many different genres and it put them in a huge blender. One of the main differences with GG is they actually looked to Renaissance and Baroque music for inspiration and incorporated this into their music. None of GG's songs outstay their welcome. They're all impeccably crafted and played with such an intimacy. All of the musicians in GG were greatly talented. All of them with the exception of one of their older drummers, Malcolm Mortimore, were multi-instrumentalists. Such a talented group.

[NorthNYMark]

They are pretty special indeed.  I particularly enjoy their softer, more classically-oriented material with Kerry Minnear as lead vocalist; sometimes, their more conventional rock tracks wear a little thin with me.   It took me a while to really get into them, because my first CD of theirs was the live Playing the Fool, which emphasizes their more hard rock side. However, albums like Acquiring the Taste, Octopus, In a Glass House, and Free Hand have since become favorites of mine.

[Mirror Image]

They are pretty special indeed.  I particularly enjoy their softer, more classically-oriented material with Kerry Minnear as lead vocalist; sometimes, their more conventional rock tracks wear a little thin with me.   It took me a while to really get into them, because my first CD of theirs was the live Playing the Fool, which emphasizes their more hard rock side. However, albums like Acquiring the Taste, Octopus, In a Glass House, and Free Hand have since become favorites of mine.

I like all of the sides of Gentle Giant (except for their pathetic bow out to commercialism) and I just recently acquired Playing The Fool which I'm really enjoying. Three Friends, Octopus, and The Power and the Glory are perhaps my favorites, but I do like Acquiring the Taste, In a Glass House, and Free Hand a lot. I think the first album I heard by them was Octopus when a friend of mine played me The Advent of Panurge and I thought "WTF was that?" A few years went by before I actually bought Octopus though and when I was finally in isolation I was able to appreciate the music. It was Three Friends, however, that ended up being my 'breakthrough' with the band.

[NorthNYMark]

I like all of the sides of Gentle Giant (except for their pathetic bow out to commercialism) and I just recently acquired Playing The Fool which I'm really enjoying. Three Friends, Octopus, and The Power and the Glory are perhaps my favorites, but I do like Acquiring the Taste, In a Glass House, and Free Hand a lot. I think the first album I heard by them was Octopus when a friend of mine played me The Advent of Panurge and I thought "WTF was that?" A few years went by before I actually bought Octopus though and when I was finally in isolation I was able to appreciate the music. It was Three Friends, however, that ended up being my 'breakthrough' with the band.

I'll have to revisit Three Friends.  That's an album I got to rather late--in fact, I think I may have heard it for the first time a little over a year ago.  My sense was that it was very solid, but nothing jumped out and grabbed me like "Advent of the Panurge" or "On Reflection," etc.  I think I've only heard it through headphones thus far, so maybe a listen through the speaker system will "open it up" for me (as happened with In a Glass House, which only "clicked" for me after hearing it through speakers).

[Mirror Image]

I'll have to revisit Three Friends.  That's an album I got to rather late--in fact, I think I may have heard it for the first time a little over a year ago.  My sense was that it was very solid, but nothing jumped out and grabbed me like "Advent of the Panurge" or "On Reflection," etc.  I think I've only heard it through headphones thus far, so maybe a listen through the speaker system will "open it up" for me (as happened with In a Glass House, which only "clicked" for me after hearing it through speakers).

I do hope you bought the recent remasters on Alucard. These remasters sound freakin' fantastic! Three Friends is quite a different album for them. The opening Prologue is quite ear-catching when I first heard so many years ago. Schooldays was quite mesmerizing. Surely a strangely structured work but each successive listen really helped me understand it much better. It's more or less an atmospheric work that has some fascinating sonorities used throughout. I just haven't heard a lot of progressive bands from the '70s that really were doing anything like GG and Three Friends really made quite the impression on me on first hearing.

[mn dave]

What a lonely little thread. Let's bump it, shall we? 

I tried Free Hand by Gentle Giant last night and thought it was amazing!

I see above that it's considered their most commercial effort; hopefully that won't prevent me from enjoying their other albums. On Free hand, they remind me of a looser Gabriel-era Genesis with a touch of Yes, but then, of course, they have a sound all their own. Much melody and beauty to be found.

Great stuff, amigos! I look forward to hearing more, perhaps their second most commercial LP. 

[Mirror Image]

What a lonely little thread. Let's bump it, shall we? 

I tried Free Hand by Gentle Giant last night and thought it was amazing!

I see above that it's considered their most commercial effort; hopefully that won't prevent me from enjoying their other albums. On Free hand, they remind me of a looser Gabriel-era Genesis with a touch of Yes, but then, of course, they have a sound all their own. Much melody and beauty to be found.

Great stuff, amigos! I look forward to hearing more, perhaps their second most commercial LP. 

Excellent, Dave. Actually, they're most 'commercial' effort would be their last two albums: Giant for a Day and Civilian. Both of these albums aren't my cup of tea and display an artistic degradation for the band who are some very talented musicians. A shame but so many bands went this route and became successful. Whereas a band like Genesis were selling out stadiums with their new pop rock direction, GG, who also converted to pop rock, were left out in the cold. So giving into the commercialism of the day definitely worked against them.

[mn dave]

Excellent, Dave. Actually, they're most 'commercial' effort would be their last two albums: Giant for a Day and Civilian. Both of these albums aren't my cup of tea and display an artistic degradation for the band who are some very talented musicians. A shame but so many bands went this route and became successful. Whereas a band like Genesis were selling out stadiums with their new pop rock direction, GG, who also converted to pop rock, were left out in the cold. So giving into the commercialism of the day definitely worked against them.

Thank you. I will keep that in mind. I'll probably start with their debut and move forward.

[Mirror Image]

Thank you. I will keep that in mind. I'll probably start with their debut and move forward.

No problem, Dave. Please report here and tell us what you think. For me, Three Friends through Free Hand is the band in peak form.

[mn dave]

No problem, Dave. Please report here and tell us what you think. For me, Three Friends through Free Hand is the band in peak form.

Will do!

[Karl Henning]

I don't think I've heard a note of their music. Yet, an old schoolmate of mine mentioned them, while we were a-gabbing t'other evening.

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I don't think I've heard a note of their music. Yet, an old schoolmate of mine mentioned them, while we were a-gabbing t'other evening.

Check them out, Karl. I think you'll enjoy them. I recommend giving Octopus or Three Friends a spin first.

[The new erato]

Check them out, Karl. I think you'll enjoy them. I recommend giving Octopus or Three Friends a spin first.

I agree, to me that is their two most successfull albums.

[Mirror Image]

I agree, to me that is their two most successfull albums.

Yes and these two albums couldn't be more different from each other. Of course, Malcolm Mortimore was playing drums on Three Friends while Octopus introduced 'the' GG drummer, Welshman John Weathers. To my ears, Weathers brought a stability and more of an edge to the band's sound that seemed to be lacking in their earlier output.

[Sef]

I'd never heard a note of GG until I saw this post late last year - strange, as knowing what I know now I would have thought that GG would have been high up on my favs. Anyway, I listened to Octopus and Playing the Fool and have got hooked. Right now looking for Three Friends and Free Hand!

[Mirror Image]

I'd never heard a note of GG until I saw this post late last year - strange, as knowing what I know now I would have thought that GG would have been high up on my favs. Anyway, I listened to Octopus and Playing the Fool and have got hooked. Right now looking for Three Friends and Free Hand!

Excellent! Be sure to seek out the remastered recordings on Alucard as the remastering was assisted by several of the band members and they just sound superior to the original issues. It's also nice to have the original cover art back on these recordings as well. Like, for example, that Roger Dean (famed Yes artist) cover on Octopus.

[Karl Henning]

Thanks.  I was just reading an interesting series of album-by-album essays.

What is the consensus on Interview?

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Thanks.  I was just reading an interesting series of album-by-album essays.

What is the consensus on Interview?

You're welcome. Interview is good but is rather uneven. I do recall enjoying the song Empty City which stood out to me. I need to revisit it, though, as it's been quite some time since I've heard it.

[Mirror Image]

I too had not heard any of their music.  I listened to a few tracks from Octupus and am now playing Free Hand.  My first impression is that they remind me a little of XTC.  Which I consider a good thing.

That's a bizarre comparison. XTC are least likely band I would associate GG with.

[mn dave]

Parts I'm sure remind you of XTC, because they do a little bit of everything on there.

Now, who's starting a Van Der Graaf Generator thread?