Gentle Giant
Encyclopedia
Gentle Giant were a British progressive rock
band
active between 1970 and 1980. The band was known for the complexity and sophistication of its music and for the varied musical skills of its members. All of the band members, except the first two drummers, were multi-instrumentalists. Although not commercially successful, they did achieve a cult following.
The band's onetime stated aim was to "expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of becoming very unpopular," although this stance was to alter significantly with time. While never achieving the commercial heights of progressive rock contemporaries such as Jethro Tull
, Genesis
, Yes
or Emerson, Lake & Palmer
, Gentle Giant was considered to be one of the most experimental bands in the genre (as well as one of the most experimental rock bands of the 1970s).
Gentle Giant's music was considered complex even by progressive rock standards, drawing on a broad swathe of music including folk, soul, jazz, and classical music. Unlike many of their progressive rock contemporaries, their "classical" influences ranged beyond the Romantic
and incorporated mediaeval, baroque
, and modernist chamber music
elements. The band also had a taste for broad themes for their lyrics, drawing inspiration not only from personal events but from philosophy
and the works of both François Rabelais
and R. D. Laing.
, Scotland, in The Gorbals
, then a notorious slum. The family moved to Portsmouth
, England, where Ray was born. Their father was an army musician turned jazz
trumpet
er, who continued his musical work in Portsmouth. He encouraged his sons to learn various instruments; and Phil, Derek, and Ray all became multi-instrumentalists.
During the early 1960s, Derek and Ray became interested in playing rhythm-and-blues
and formed a band in order to do so. Phil — originally acting as a manager figure in order to look after his much younger brothers — gradually became a band member himself. By 1966, the Shulmans' band — initially called The Howling Wolves, then The Road Runners — had taken on the name of Simon Dupree and the Big Sound
and was pursuing more of a soul
/pop
direction. As lead singer and frontman, Derek Shulman took on the "Simon Dupree" pseudonym while Phil played saxophone and trumpet, and youngest brother Ray played guitar and violin. (Both Ray and Phil also played trumpet and sang backing vocals for the group which, during its lifetime, briefly featured the future Elton John
as pianist as well as recording a single with Dudley Moore
as guest). Signing to the EMI
record label, Simon Dupree and the Big Sound
produced several non-charting singles before being pushed by their management and label in the direction of psychedelia. This resulted in the Top 10 UK hit 'Kites' in the autumn of 1967 (and the release of the Without Reservation album later in the year). Success only served to frustrate the Shulman brothers, who considered themselves to be blue-eyed soul singers and felt that their change of style was insincere and insubstantial. Derek Shulman was later to describe 'Kites' as "utter shit."
The Shulmans' opinion was confirmed, in their eyes, by the successive failure of follow-up singles to 'Kites'. Attempting to escape their new image, they released a pseudonymous double A-side single in late 1968 as The Moles - 'We Are The Moles (parts 1 & 2)'. This compounded their identity crisis as the single was subsequently caught up in a rumour that The Moles were, in fact, The Beatles
recording under a different name and with Ringo Starr
as lead singer. The rumour was eventually debunked by Pink Floyd
leader Syd Barrett
, who outed Simon Dupree and the Big Sound as the band behind the record.
In 1969, the Shulman brothers finally dissolved the group in order to escape the pop music environment that had frustrated them. Surprisingly, they did not return directly to rhythm and blues or soul, but chose to pursue a more complicated direction. Ray Shulman later stated "We knew we couldn't continue with the musicians we'd had before. We weren't interested in the other musicians in the band — they couldn't contribute anything. We had to teach them what to do. It got rather heavy when we could play drums better than the drummer, and even on record we were doing more and more of it with overdubs. It got stupid having a band like (that). The first thing was to get some musicians of a higher standard."
. The classically-trained Minnear had recently graduated from the Royal College of Music with a degree in composition
, and had played with the band Rust. Green was essentially a blues
player and had never worked with a band above the semi-professional level, but adapted readily to the demanding music of the new band. The Shulman brothers, meanwhile, settled into typically multi-instrumental roles of their own: Derek on saxophone and recorder; Ray on bass and violin; Phil on saxophone, trumpet, and clarinet.
The new band also featured three lead vocalists: Derek Shulman (who sang in a tough rhythm-and-blues style and who generally handled the more rock
-oriented vocals); Phil Shulman (who had a softer voice and handled the more folk-influenced leads); and Kerry Minnear (who had a particularly delicate voice and sang lighter folk and chamber-classical lead vocals). However, Minnear did not sing lead vocals at live concerts, due to his inability to support and project his voice at a level suitable for live amplification (Derek and Phil Shulman handled Minnear's lead vocal parts when the band played live). It has been reported that Elton John unsuccessfully auditioned for lead vocalist with the newly formed group.
According to a booklet that was included in their first album, their name was a reference to a fictional character, a "gentle giant" that happens upon a band of musicians and is enthralled with their music. The character is reminiscent of those from the Renaissance tales of Francois Rabelais.
From the start, Gentle Giant was a particularly flexible band due to the exceptionally broad musical skills of its members. One Gentle Giant album would list a total of forty-six instruments in the musician credits — all of which had been played by group members — and five of the six members sang, enabling the band to write and perform detailed vocal harmony and counterpoint. The band's approach to songwriting was equally diverse, blending a wide variety of ideas and influences whether they were considered commercial or otherwise.
in 1970. Combining the collective band members' influences of rock, blues, classical, and 1960s British soul, it was an immediately challenging effort, though sometimes criticised for a slightly disappointing recording quality. Gentle Giant was followed in 1971 by Acquiring the Taste
. This second album showcased a band who were developing rapidly.
Far more experimental and dissonant than its predecessor, Acquiring the Taste was shaped primarily by Kerry Minnear's broad classical and contemporary classical music training and also showed the band diversifying in their already impressive instrumentation (although many years later Derek Shulman would admit "we recorded (Acquiring The Taste) without any idea of what it would be like before we got into the studio. It was a very experimental album and we still didn't have an ultimate direction.") The band's sense of challenge was made evident in the liner notes to Acquiring the Taste, which contained a particularly lofty statement of intent even by progressive rock standards.
After Acquiring the Taste, Martin Smith left the band, following apparent disagreements with both Ray and Phil Shulman. He was replaced as drummer by Malcolm Mortimore, with whom the band recorded Three Friends
(1972). This was the band's first concept album, and was based around the theme of three boys who are "inevitably separated by chance, skill, and fate" as they become men. Over the course of the album, the three friends travel on from being childhood schoolfriends to become, respectively, a road digger, an artist, and a white-collar worker. In the process, they lose their ability to relate to each other or understand each other's lifestyles. The development and fate of each character is musically represented by separate yet integrated styles from hard rhythm-and-blues-edged rock to symphonic classical stylings.
In March 1972, Malcolm Mortimore injured himself in a motorcycle accident. To fulfil tour obligations in April, Gentle Giant hired ex-Grease Band
/Wild Turkey
/Graham Bond
's Magic member John "Pugwash" Weathers, the man who was to become the band's third and final drummer. Weathers was a harder-hitting player who also sang and played melodic percussion and guitar, further expanding Gentle Giant's multi-instrumental performance options. Due to Mortimore's extended convalescence, the band opted to formally replace him with Weathers at the end of the 1972 April tour.
In 2004, Ray Shulman commented '(Octopus) was probably our best album, with the exception, perhaps of Acquiring the Taste. We started with the idea of writing a song about each member of the band. Having a concept in mind was a good starting point for writing. I don't know why, but despite the impact of The Who
's Tommy and Quadrophenia
, almost overnight concept albums were suddenly perceived as rather naff and pretentious." The album maintained Gentle Giant's trademark of broad and challengingly integrated styles. One of the highlights was the intricate madrigal-styled vocal workout "Knots". "Knots" was lyrically inspired by the writings and word play of R. D. Laing, according to the liner notes on the back cover of the North American version of the 1972 Octopus album. One of Laing's books is entitled Knots.
Before embarking on the Octopus tour, the band played a grueling set of dates supporting Black Sabbath
, during which they proved to be very unpopular with the majority of the headlining band's fans.
Over thirty years later, Phil Shulman expanded on his reasons for departure in a 2008 podcast interview conducted by his son Damon and grandson Elliot. In the interview, he stated that his main motivation for leaving was because he had realised that the lifestyle of a touring musician was damaging his family life. The two blocs of Shulman brothers - with Phil on one side and Ray and Derek on the other would eventually resolve their differences and healed their relationship, although Phil neither rejoined the band nor returned to music as a career. (Ray Shulman has subsequently assisted Phil's son Damon Shulman with his own music.)
Gary Green later recalled "As I remember it, when Phil announced it at the end of an Italian tour, he said he would leave the band. He couldn't continue on. There was too much stress being on the road and the family. Plus the brothers were having a bit of a difficult time. They're brothers and they argued like hell, sometimes to the point where you thought they were going to hit each other. But I guess it was brotherly love (laughs). But when Phil said he was going to leave, we were all like stumped, "Oh! What are we going to do? All right we'll buy a Moog synthesizer!" That's kind of trite; I don't mean it quite like that. We had to do something.
In 2003, Gary Green recalled "John (Weathers) and I really pushed for the band to continue at that point because it looked like we were going to fold. And that seemed just ludicrous – I mean we had Kerry at full strength and Ray writing great. We were really strong live and we were about to get stronger. I think we became a stronger band after Phil left. And that's nothing against Phil. We had just been just hitting our stride as players."
, which was released in 1973. A complex and determined concept album - named for the aphorism that "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" - it was the band's most directly psychological effort to date. The album was also notable for its intriguing three-dimensional cover, using a cellophane overlay (replicated using the CD jewel case on the Terrapin CD reissue, and via a custom digipak
for the later Alucard CD reissue). In a Glass House was never released in the USA, but was in great demand as an import.
The Power and the Glory followed in 1974. This was Gentle Giant's third concept album, this time taking power and corruption as the linking theme. The band also wrote a separate single with the same title. According to Derek Shulman, "WWA said, "Now boys, you've got to be commercial, you've gotta make singles. Now you run away and write us a single." So we did three atrocious numbers. This song's the worst - "You've got it lads!" - and we went into the studio and handed over the tapes when we came out. They put it out, we yelled at them, and they gave it back - took it off the market." (The single was added to CD reissues of the album).
At this point, Gentle Giant were slightly simplifying their complicated music in order to reach a wider (and American) audience, although at this point the band's music could be said to be being "polished" rather than "compromised". Compared to other rock artists at the time, Gentle Giant's music was still very complex. However, the process itself seemed successful enough to get 1975's Free Hand
into the Top 50 album chart in the USA. Strongly influenced by the music of the Renaissance and Middle Ages, the album's songs reflected on lost love and damaged relationships (including the breakdown of the band's relationship with their former manager). Regardless of the issues of simplification, it became one of the band's most popular and accessible releases.
Gentle Giant's next release was 1976's Interview
- another concept album, this time based around an imaginary interview with the band. The music pointedly poked fun at the state of the music industry and at the silly questions that rock stars are repeatedly asked in order to construct an image for marketing. Ironically, this more satirical and subversive approach ultimately proved to be a symptom of the undermining of the band's work and artistic integrity.
Derek Shulman later admitted "I think Interview was the start of the erosion. I think the creative juices were starting to wane a little bit... I think Interview was the start of the slide towards the realization that this is a business now, and that's also a part of what the business had become. I was managing the band at the time and music business became a major business."
Despite this approach, the album did not repeat its predecessor's American chart success, peaking at #137. In the same year, Gentle Giant's notoriously virtuosic live act (featuring rapid-fire instrument swapping and equally demanding rearrangements of the already complex studio pieces) was captured on the live album Playing the Fool
.
(1978) - which showed evidence of being aimed at a market now shifting towards pop. Derek Shulman was later to describe Giant for a Day as being "real contrived."
In 1979, they relocated their centre of operations to America in order to record their twelfth and most mainstream album, Civilian, a record of short rock songs. Ray Shulman later admitted "I hated making (that) last record, I hated being involved with it." In 2005, Derek Shulman reflected "Civilian was done with less passion than some of the other albums. As it turns out we as a band were just not good at being rock or pop stars. We would have loved to be as popular as a Genesis or Rush
or Yes. In hindsight, I sometimes think that Gentle Giant was wrongfully put into the progressive rock category. Much of what we did was very clever, but we certainly didn't do these long complex tunes like Yes or Genesis did."
in 2000, Kerry Minnear asserted "(the split) wasn't because of punk, it was because we had lost our way musically."
Gary Green's opinion of the split differs. In 2003 he commented "My own personal opinion is that the band broke up because Derek really wanted a hit album, and I think Ray did too, and they were fed up. They had been musicians longer than I had, and they had tasted it pretty good when they were with Simon Dupree, at least in Britain. And they were looking for some of that in Giant too. My feeling is that we could have continued on as PFM
did, or Yes
, and still continue. If we had adhered to the statement we started out with, we could still be playing that, and still be earning a reasonable living. That's all water under the bridge and that's fine now. It seemed a bit silly to cut off your creativity for that kind of thing."
. He now is the owner of new music company 2Plus Music & Entertainment). Ray Shulman moved into soundtrack work for television and advertising before becoming a record producer (working with, amongst others, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Sundays, and The Sugarcubes). He has written soundtracks for computer games, as well as producing DVDs for artists such as Genesis and Queen.
John Weathers went on to drum for Man
(an association that lasted until 1996) and most recently was spotted playing drums for Glenn Cornick's
Wild Turkey again (2006). Gary Green (having settled in America, near Chicago) went on to play with various Illinois bands (including Blind Dates, The Elvis Brothers, Big Hello, and Mother Tongue) and guest on recordings and at concerts by Eddie Jobson
and Divae. Kerry Minnear returned to the UK and settled in Cornwall, spending many years working in gospel music He now runs Alucard Music, the organization supervising the legal and royalty issues regarding Gentle Giant's music.
Phil Shulman retired entirely from the music business following his time in Gentle Giant. He subsequently worked as a teacher, in retail, and ran a gift shop in Gosport, Hampshire, UK prior to his retirement. He was briefly in a band with his son Damon Shulman and recorded several pieces with him. Several of these (under the collective title of Then) were spoken-word pieces in which he reminisced about his upbringing in the Glasgow slums. One of these pieces - Rats - appeared on Damon Shulman's solo album In Pieces and can be heard as an audio stream on Damon Shulman's homepage and MySpace page (made available in April 2008).
Original Gentle Giant drummer Martin Smith settled in Southampton and drummed with various bands there - he died on March 2, 1997. Second Gentle Giant drummer Malcolm Mortimore has continued to work as a successful sessions drummer in the rock, jazz, and theatre fields.
There have, however, been two partial reunions, both featuring between two and four of the band members and with neither event being identified as a formal reunion of Gentle Giant. The first of these took place in 2004 and the second in 2008 (developing further in 2009).
The 2004 partial reunion featured four former Gentle Giant members - Kerry Minnear, John Weathers, Gary Green, and Phil Shulman (who only participated as a lyricist). This quartet reunited as a studio-only project solely in order to record three new compositions for the Scraping The Barrel box set ("Home Again", "Moog Fugue", and "Move Over"). There was no live activity and the quartet disbanded immediately after the recordings.
The 2008 partial reunion involved the creation of a new band called Rentle Giant in order to play Gentle Giant material. This band featured two other former members of Gentle Giant (guitarist Gary Green and drummer Malcolm Mortimore) who recruited three noted jazz-fusion musicians to complete the band - Roger Carey (bass and vocals, from Liane Carroll
's band), Andy Williams (guitar, collaborator with Carey in the Engine Clutch And Gearbox trio), and John Donaldson (piano and keyboards). Green also contributed lead vocals to some of the songs. In March 2009, Green and Mortimore were joined by a third Gentle Giant member - Kerry Minnear - and Rentle Giant consequently changed its name to Three Friends. At the same time, the band expanded to a seven-piece by adding current 10cc
vocalist Mick Wilson as dedicated lead singer. About six months later, it was announced that Minnear was leaving the band for personal reasons, and that Three Friends planned to continue as a six-piece. Minnear later revealed that the split was amicable and that he had left for reasons of respect (as the Shulman brothers had "not been particularly enthusiastic" about the existence of Three Friends).
Minnear has also recently announced plans for him to collaborate with Ray Shulman on a new writing project.
In July 2004, the first eponymous album was re-released by Repertoire; in December, 2005, they released Acquiring the Taste; in December, 2006, Octopus in a mini-sleeve with the original design of Roger Dean was released, and in December, 2007, German label Repertoire released Three Friends in a mini-sleeve with the original British release design. Although not widely distributed, these re-issues have been praised for their production quality and remastering. Prior to that all first four albums have been re-released on Universal Japan label.
In 2005, to celebrate the band's 35th anniversary, a series of digitally remastered and specially packaged CDs of their later albums were released by Derek Shulman
's company, DRT Entertainment
. They all featured unreleased live tracks (of varying quality) as bonuses. Many of these albums (most notably, In a Glass House) were previously difficult to purchase in North America without resorting to imports. The re-released albums are: In a Glass House, The Power and the Glory, Free Hand, Interview, The Missing Piece, Playing the Fool (live), and Giant for a Day.
A reissue series on CD and, with bonus tracks, as digital downloads was begun in 2009/2010. In a 2009 interview Derek Shulman also indicated that plans were in the works to put out an animated film based on "The Power and The Glory" (this has yet to come to frutition). In 2011 the original mastertapes for "Three Friends" and "Octopus" were located and Alucard reissued each album with a bonus live performance of material from each respective album. Each album was remastered by Ray Shulman and Francis Kervorkian (both of whom worked on the 2009 remasters).
and Ray Shulman
, with additional musical ideas contributed by Derek Shulman (who was also known to contribute entire songs). Lyrics were written by Phil Shulman
and Derek Shulman up until Phil's departure following the release of Octopus – all subsequent lyrics were written by Derek Shulman. By the standards of progressive rock, Gentle Giant’s music is generally considered to be particularly complex and demanding. It shares several aspects with that of other progressive rock bands, including:
However, it has been noted that in spite of the comparatively complex initial sound, Gentle Giant’s music is in fact fairly traditional in terms of harmony and features relatively few complex chords. In common with most 1970s progressive rock, Gentle Giant compositions are closer to early 20th century neoclassicism than to contemporary classical music. (Some Gentle Giant songs, such as "Black Cat", "Proclamation" and "So Sincere", do utilise more complicated modernist harmonics.) In general, the band relied on sudden and unexpected compositional twists and turns to stimulate their audience, including:
For long time this remained the only existing bootleg
of Gentle Giant. The first further bootlegs will appear not earlier than in the Compact Disc era. No other Gentle Giant bootleg have been seen on vinyl. This LP was already enough famous at the time, till the point that the band decided to adopt the title for the official double live Playing the Fool
(omitting the final "e") that saw the light two years later.
This bootleg, despite what is written on the sleeve, is not live, and was not recorded during any "American tour".
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
active between 1970 and 1980. The band was known for the complexity and sophistication of its music and for the varied musical skills of its members. All of the band members, except the first two drummers, were multi-instrumentalists. Although not commercially successful, they did achieve a cult following.
The band's onetime stated aim was to "expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of becoming very unpopular," although this stance was to alter significantly with time. While never achieving the commercial heights of progressive rock contemporaries such as Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
, Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
, Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
or Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
, Gentle Giant was considered to be one of the most experimental bands in the genre (as well as one of the most experimental rock bands of the 1970s).
Gentle Giant's music was considered complex even by progressive rock standards, drawing on a broad swathe of music including folk, soul, jazz, and classical music. Unlike many of their progressive rock contemporaries, their "classical" influences ranged beyond the Romantic
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
and incorporated mediaeval, baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
, and modernist chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
elements. The band also had a taste for broad themes for their lyrics, drawing inspiration not only from personal events but from philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and the works of both François Rabelais
François Rabelais
François Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes and songs...
and R. D. Laing.
Prehistory (including Simon Dupree and the Big Sound)
The core of what was to become Gentle Giant were the three Shulman brothers: Phil (born 1937), Derek (born 1947) and Ray (born 1949). The brothers were of Scottish-Jewish descent and were born in GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland, in The Gorbals
Gorbals
The Gorbals is an area on the south bank of the River Clyde in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. By the late 19th century, it had become over-populated and adversely affected by local industrialisation. Many people lived here because their jobs provided this home and they could not afford their own...
, then a notorious slum. The family moved to Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, England, where Ray was born. Their father was an army musician turned jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er, who continued his musical work in Portsmouth. He encouraged his sons to learn various instruments; and Phil, Derek, and Ray all became multi-instrumentalists.
During the early 1960s, Derek and Ray became interested in playing rhythm-and-blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and formed a band in order to do so. Phil — originally acting as a manager figure in order to look after his much younger brothers — gradually became a band member himself. By 1966, the Shulmans' band — initially called The Howling Wolves, then The Road Runners — had taken on the name of Simon Dupree and the Big Sound
Simon Dupree and the Big Sound
Simon Dupree and the Big Sound were a British pop band formed by three brothers, Derek Shulman, born 1947 , Phil Shulman, born 1937 , and Ray Shulman, born 1949 .-Career:...
and was pursuing more of a soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
/pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
direction. As lead singer and frontman, Derek Shulman took on the "Simon Dupree" pseudonym while Phil played saxophone and trumpet, and youngest brother Ray played guitar and violin. (Both Ray and Phil also played trumpet and sang backing vocals for the group which, during its lifetime, briefly featured the future Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
as pianist as well as recording a single with Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE was an English actor, comedian, composer and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in the ground-breaking comedy revue Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s, and then became famous as half of the highly popular television...
as guest). Signing to the EMI
EMI Records
EMI Records is the flagship record label founded by the EMI company in 1972 and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia label. The EMI label was launched worldwide...
record label, Simon Dupree and the Big Sound
Simon Dupree and the Big Sound
Simon Dupree and the Big Sound were a British pop band formed by three brothers, Derek Shulman, born 1947 , Phil Shulman, born 1937 , and Ray Shulman, born 1949 .-Career:...
produced several non-charting singles before being pushed by their management and label in the direction of psychedelia. This resulted in the Top 10 UK hit 'Kites' in the autumn of 1967 (and the release of the Without Reservation album later in the year). Success only served to frustrate the Shulman brothers, who considered themselves to be blue-eyed soul singers and felt that their change of style was insincere and insubstantial. Derek Shulman was later to describe 'Kites' as "utter shit."
The Shulmans' opinion was confirmed, in their eyes, by the successive failure of follow-up singles to 'Kites'. Attempting to escape their new image, they released a pseudonymous double A-side single in late 1968 as The Moles - 'We Are The Moles (parts 1 & 2)'. This compounded their identity crisis as the single was subsequently caught up in a rumour that The Moles were, in fact, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
recording under a different name and with Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
as lead singer. The rumour was eventually debunked by Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
leader Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
, who outed Simon Dupree and the Big Sound as the band behind the record.
In 1969, the Shulman brothers finally dissolved the group in order to escape the pop music environment that had frustrated them. Surprisingly, they did not return directly to rhythm and blues or soul, but chose to pursue a more complicated direction. Ray Shulman later stated "We knew we couldn't continue with the musicians we'd had before. We weren't interested in the other musicians in the band — they couldn't contribute anything. We had to teach them what to do. It got rather heavy when we could play drums better than the drummer, and even on record we were doing more and more of it with overdubs. It got stupid having a band like (that). The first thing was to get some musicians of a higher standard."
Formation of Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant was formed in 1970 when the Shulman brothers teamed up with two other multi-instrumentalists, Gary Green (guitar, mandolin, recorder etc.) and Kerry Minnear (keyboards, vibraphone, cello etc.), plus drummer Martin Smith, who had previously drummed for Simon Dupree and the Big SoundSimon Dupree and the Big Sound
Simon Dupree and the Big Sound were a British pop band formed by three brothers, Derek Shulman, born 1947 , Phil Shulman, born 1937 , and Ray Shulman, born 1949 .-Career:...
. The classically-trained Minnear had recently graduated from the Royal College of Music with a degree in composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
, and had played with the band Rust. Green was essentially a blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
player and had never worked with a band above the semi-professional level, but adapted readily to the demanding music of the new band. The Shulman brothers, meanwhile, settled into typically multi-instrumental roles of their own: Derek on saxophone and recorder; Ray on bass and violin; Phil on saxophone, trumpet, and clarinet.
The new band also featured three lead vocalists: Derek Shulman (who sang in a tough rhythm-and-blues style and who generally handled the more rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
-oriented vocals); Phil Shulman (who had a softer voice and handled the more folk-influenced leads); and Kerry Minnear (who had a particularly delicate voice and sang lighter folk and chamber-classical lead vocals). However, Minnear did not sing lead vocals at live concerts, due to his inability to support and project his voice at a level suitable for live amplification (Derek and Phil Shulman handled Minnear's lead vocal parts when the band played live). It has been reported that Elton John unsuccessfully auditioned for lead vocalist with the newly formed group.
According to a booklet that was included in their first album, their name was a reference to a fictional character, a "gentle giant" that happens upon a band of musicians and is enthralled with their music. The character is reminiscent of those from the Renaissance tales of Francois Rabelais.
From the start, Gentle Giant was a particularly flexible band due to the exceptionally broad musical skills of its members. One Gentle Giant album would list a total of forty-six instruments in the musician credits — all of which had been played by group members — and five of the six members sang, enabling the band to write and perform detailed vocal harmony and counterpoint. The band's approach to songwriting was equally diverse, blending a wide variety of ideas and influences whether they were considered commercial or otherwise.
Early lineups and first three albums
The band's first album was the self-titled Gentle GiantGentle Giant (album)
Gentle Giant was the first album of British progressive rock band Gentle Giant, released in 1970.-Side One:# "Giant" – 6:22...
in 1970. Combining the collective band members' influences of rock, blues, classical, and 1960s British soul, it was an immediately challenging effort, though sometimes criticised for a slightly disappointing recording quality. Gentle Giant was followed in 1971 by Acquiring the Taste
Acquiring the Taste
Acquiring the Taste was the second album of English progressive rock band Gentle Giant, released in 1971.This was a departure from the blues and soul styles found on their self titled debut. It was more experimental, more discordant, and with more varied instrumentation...
. This second album showcased a band who were developing rapidly.
Far more experimental and dissonant than its predecessor, Acquiring the Taste was shaped primarily by Kerry Minnear's broad classical and contemporary classical music training and also showed the band diversifying in their already impressive instrumentation (although many years later Derek Shulman would admit "we recorded (Acquiring The Taste) without any idea of what it would be like before we got into the studio. It was a very experimental album and we still didn't have an ultimate direction.") The band's sense of challenge was made evident in the liner notes to Acquiring the Taste, which contained a particularly lofty statement of intent even by progressive rock standards.
After Acquiring the Taste, Martin Smith left the band, following apparent disagreements with both Ray and Phil Shulman. He was replaced as drummer by Malcolm Mortimore, with whom the band recorded Three Friends
Three Friends
Three Friends is a concept album by the British progressive rock band Gentle Giant. The group's third album was also their first American release to chart, peaking at #197 on the Billboard 200...
(1972). This was the band's first concept album, and was based around the theme of three boys who are "inevitably separated by chance, skill, and fate" as they become men. Over the course of the album, the three friends travel on from being childhood schoolfriends to become, respectively, a road digger, an artist, and a white-collar worker. In the process, they lose their ability to relate to each other or understand each other's lifestyles. The development and fate of each character is musically represented by separate yet integrated styles from hard rhythm-and-blues-edged rock to symphonic classical stylings.
In March 1972, Malcolm Mortimore injured himself in a motorcycle accident. To fulfil tour obligations in April, Gentle Giant hired ex-Grease Band
The Grease Band
The Grease Band was a rock band that started out as Joe Cocker's backing band. They recorded two albums in the 1970s. They are probably most widely known for their performance of The Beatles song, "With a Little Help from My Friends", with Joe Cocker at the Woodstock Festival in 1969...
/Wild Turkey
Wild Turkey
The Wild Turkey is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes. It is the same species as the domestic turkey, which derives from the South Mexican subspecies of wild turkey .Adult wild turkeys have long reddish-yellow to grayish-green...
/Graham Bond
Graham Bond
Graham John Clifton Bond was an English musician, considered a founding father of the English rhythm and blues boom of the 1960s....
's Magic member John "Pugwash" Weathers, the man who was to become the band's third and final drummer. Weathers was a harder-hitting player who also sang and played melodic percussion and guitar, further expanding Gentle Giant's multi-instrumental performance options. Due to Mortimore's extended convalescence, the band opted to formally replace him with Weathers at the end of the 1972 April tour.
Later lineups and Octopus
The new line-up of the band delivered the Octopus album later in 1972. The hardest and most "rocking" Gentle Giant album to date, Octopus was allegedly named by Phil Shulman's wife Roberta as a pun on "octo opus" (eight musical works, reflecting the album's eight tracks). The album's release is generally considered to date the start of the band's peak period.In 2004, Ray Shulman commented '(Octopus) was probably our best album, with the exception, perhaps of Acquiring the Taste. We started with the idea of writing a song about each member of the band. Having a concept in mind was a good starting point for writing. I don't know why, but despite the impact of The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
's Tommy and Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
, almost overnight concept albums were suddenly perceived as rather naff and pretentious." The album maintained Gentle Giant's trademark of broad and challengingly integrated styles. One of the highlights was the intricate madrigal-styled vocal workout "Knots". "Knots" was lyrically inspired by the writings and word play of R. D. Laing, according to the liner notes on the back cover of the North American version of the 1972 Octopus album. One of Laing's books is entitled Knots.
Before embarking on the Octopus tour, the band played a grueling set of dates supporting Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, during which they proved to be very unpopular with the majority of the headlining band's fans.
Departure of Phil Shulman
Gentle Giant underwent its most significant line-up change following the tour supporting Octopus. Burnt out and discouraged (especially after the difficult dates with Black Sabbath), Phil Shulman left the band following disagreements with his brothers. Derek Shulman took over all lead vocals for live concerts and consequently became Gentle Giant's de facto lead singer (although Kerry Minnear continued to sing his own share of lead vocals on record).Over thirty years later, Phil Shulman expanded on his reasons for departure in a 2008 podcast interview conducted by his son Damon and grandson Elliot. In the interview, he stated that his main motivation for leaving was because he had realised that the lifestyle of a touring musician was damaging his family life. The two blocs of Shulman brothers - with Phil on one side and Ray and Derek on the other would eventually resolve their differences and healed their relationship, although Phil neither rejoined the band nor returned to music as a career. (Ray Shulman has subsequently assisted Phil's son Damon Shulman with his own music.)
Gary Green later recalled "As I remember it, when Phil announced it at the end of an Italian tour, he said he would leave the band. He couldn't continue on. There was too much stress being on the road and the family. Plus the brothers were having a bit of a difficult time. They're brothers and they argued like hell, sometimes to the point where you thought they were going to hit each other. But I guess it was brotherly love (laughs). But when Phil said he was going to leave, we were all like stumped, "Oh! What are we going to do? All right we'll buy a Moog synthesizer!" That's kind of trite; I don't mean it quite like that. We had to do something.
In 2003, Gary Green recalled "John (Weathers) and I really pushed for the band to continue at that point because it looked like we were going to fold. And that seemed just ludicrous – I mean we had Kerry at full strength and Ray writing great. We were really strong live and we were about to get stronger. I think we became a stronger band after Phil left. And that's nothing against Phil. We had just been just hitting our stride as players."
The five-piece line up (the middle years)
The remaining quintet regrouped to record the harder-rocking In a Glass HouseIn a Glass House
In a Glass House is an album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant, released in 1973.One of Gentle Giant's most popular albums, it was available in North America only as a rare import – both LP and CD – until 2004 when a digitally remastered CD was released. This was because their US label...
, which was released in 1973. A complex and determined concept album - named for the aphorism that "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" - it was the band's most directly psychological effort to date. The album was also notable for its intriguing three-dimensional cover, using a cellophane overlay (replicated using the CD jewel case on the Terrapin CD reissue, and via a custom digipak
Digipak
Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...
for the later Alucard CD reissue). In a Glass House was never released in the USA, but was in great demand as an import.
The Power and the Glory followed in 1974. This was Gentle Giant's third concept album, this time taking power and corruption as the linking theme. The band also wrote a separate single with the same title. According to Derek Shulman, "WWA said, "Now boys, you've got to be commercial, you've gotta make singles. Now you run away and write us a single." So we did three atrocious numbers. This song's the worst - "You've got it lads!" - and we went into the studio and handed over the tapes when we came out. They put it out, we yelled at them, and they gave it back - took it off the market." (The single was added to CD reissues of the album).
At this point, Gentle Giant were slightly simplifying their complicated music in order to reach a wider (and American) audience, although at this point the band's music could be said to be being "polished" rather than "compromised". Compared to other rock artists at the time, Gentle Giant's music was still very complex. However, the process itself seemed successful enough to get 1975's Free Hand
Free Hand
Free Hand is an album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant that was released in 1975. It also marked their first album under their new label, Chrysalis Records in the U.K. This album is noted for its high production values, and a less harsh and dissonant, more musical feel than their...
into the Top 50 album chart in the USA. Strongly influenced by the music of the Renaissance and Middle Ages, the album's songs reflected on lost love and damaged relationships (including the breakdown of the band's relationship with their former manager). Regardless of the issues of simplification, it became one of the band's most popular and accessible releases.
Gentle Giant's next release was 1976's Interview
Interview (album)
Interview is a concept album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant which was released in 1976. This is a unique concept in the canon of Gentle Giant work in that it is conceived as a radio interview. Three of the tracks integrate brief "interview" sections which were staged in the studio...
- another concept album, this time based around an imaginary interview with the band. The music pointedly poked fun at the state of the music industry and at the silly questions that rock stars are repeatedly asked in order to construct an image for marketing. Ironically, this more satirical and subversive approach ultimately proved to be a symptom of the undermining of the band's work and artistic integrity.
Derek Shulman later admitted "I think Interview was the start of the erosion. I think the creative juices were starting to wane a little bit... I think Interview was the start of the slide towards the realization that this is a business now, and that's also a part of what the business had become. I was managing the band at the time and music business became a major business."
Despite this approach, the album did not repeat its predecessor's American chart success, peaking at #137. In the same year, Gentle Giant's notoriously virtuosic live act (featuring rapid-fire instrument swapping and equally demanding rearrangements of the already complex studio pieces) was captured on the live album Playing the Fool
Playing the Fool
The Official Live - Playing the Fool is a live album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant which was released in 1977. It demonstrates the band's complex musicianship and talent as well as showcasing versions of songs which are often greatly modified from the original album versions.-LP 1,...
.
The "pop" years
While the band's skill as performers remained undiminished, their creative peak was now behind them. Momentum of a kind was kept up by two considerably poppier albums - The Missing Piece (1977) and Giant for a DayGiant for a Day
Giant for a Day is an album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant which was released in 1978. The band's facility for counterpoint and medieval-themed arrangements had largely been abandoned by this stage in their career. Commercial success eluded them, while their original fan base began...
(1978) - which showed evidence of being aimed at a market now shifting towards pop. Derek Shulman was later to describe Giant for a Day as being "real contrived."
In 1979, they relocated their centre of operations to America in order to record their twelfth and most mainstream album, Civilian, a record of short rock songs. Ray Shulman later admitted "I hated making (that) last record, I hated being involved with it." In 2005, Derek Shulman reflected "Civilian was done with less passion than some of the other albums. As it turns out we as a band were just not good at being rock or pop stars. We would have loved to be as popular as a Genesis or Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
or Yes. In hindsight, I sometimes think that Gentle Giant was wrongfully put into the progressive rock category. Much of what we did was very clever, but we certainly didn't do these long complex tunes like Yes or Genesis did."
Split
In the summer of 1980, the group quietly disbanded. In 2005, Derek Shulman would recall that "the creative juices just weren't flowing. I was living in Los Angeles at the time when we broke up. We weren't really sure what direction to take. I don't regret the decision we made to disband, and I'd do it again if we were to do the whole thing all over again." Ray Shulman has commented "There was definitely the decision that the last tour would be the last tour. Once we knew that, we enjoyed ourselves. We decided to quit then rather than let it go on too long." In an interview with MojoMojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
in 2000, Kerry Minnear asserted "(the split) wasn't because of punk, it was because we had lost our way musically."
Gary Green's opinion of the split differs. In 2003 he commented "My own personal opinion is that the band broke up because Derek really wanted a hit album, and I think Ray did too, and they were fed up. They had been musicians longer than I had, and they had tasted it pretty good when they were with Simon Dupree, at least in Britain. And they were looking for some of that in Giant too. My feeling is that we could have continued on as PFM
Premiata Forneria Marconi
Premiata Forneria Marconi is an Italian progressive rock band. They were the first Italian group to have success abroad, entering both the British and American charts. Between 1973 and 1977 they released five albums with English lyrics...
did, or Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
, and still continue. If we had adhered to the statement we started out with, we could still be playing that, and still be earning a reasonable living. That's all water under the bridge and that's fine now. It seemed a bit silly to cut off your creativity for that kind of thing."
Post-split
Following the dissolution of the band, Derek Shulman went on to a highly successful career in the organisational side of the music business (initially promotion and artist development for PolyGram, followed by A&R at Mercury, becoming president of Atco Records, after which he became President of Roadrunner RecordsRoadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...
. He now is the owner of new music company 2Plus Music & Entertainment). Ray Shulman moved into soundtrack work for television and advertising before becoming a record producer (working with, amongst others, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Sundays, and The Sugarcubes). He has written soundtracks for computer games, as well as producing DVDs for artists such as Genesis and Queen.
John Weathers went on to drum for Man
Man (band)
Man are a rock band from South Wales whose style is a mixture of West Coast psychedelia, progressive rock, blues and country-rock. Formed in 1968 as a reincarnation of Welsh rock harmony group ‘’The Bystanders’’, Man are renowned for the extended jams in their live performances, and having had...
(an association that lasted until 1996) and most recently was spotted playing drums for Glenn Cornick's
Glenn Cornick
Glenn Douglas Barnard Cornick was the bespectacled, first bass guitar player in the progressive rock band, Jethro Tull....
Wild Turkey again (2006). Gary Green (having settled in America, near Chicago) went on to play with various Illinois bands (including Blind Dates, The Elvis Brothers, Big Hello, and Mother Tongue) and guest on recordings and at concerts by Eddie Jobson
Eddie Jobson
Edwin "Eddie" Jobson is an English keyboardist and violinist noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K., and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zappa's band in 1976-77...
and Divae. Kerry Minnear returned to the UK and settled in Cornwall, spending many years working in gospel music He now runs Alucard Music, the organization supervising the legal and royalty issues regarding Gentle Giant's music.
Phil Shulman retired entirely from the music business following his time in Gentle Giant. He subsequently worked as a teacher, in retail, and ran a gift shop in Gosport, Hampshire, UK prior to his retirement. He was briefly in a band with his son Damon Shulman and recorded several pieces with him. Several of these (under the collective title of Then) were spoken-word pieces in which he reminisced about his upbringing in the Glasgow slums. One of these pieces - Rats - appeared on Damon Shulman's solo album In Pieces and can be heard as an audio stream on Damon Shulman's homepage and MySpace page (made available in April 2008).
Original Gentle Giant drummer Martin Smith settled in Southampton and drummed with various bands there - he died on March 2, 1997. Second Gentle Giant drummer Malcolm Mortimore has continued to work as a successful sessions drummer in the rock, jazz, and theatre fields.
Reunions
Despite having seen many of their progressive rock contemporaries reunite for moneyspinning tours, Gentle Giant are notable for having consistently refused to reunite as a full band. In 1997, the Gentle Giant fanbase unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the members to perform a reunion concert. Reasons cited by members for their rejection include busy schedules, health problems, lack of practice on instruments, and other personal reasons. Asked about a possible reunion in 1995, Phil Shulman replied "we lead such disparate lives now and different lifestyles, different attitudes... I think it's impossible." In 1998, Ray Shulman asserted "For me and Derek, the disruption to our lives now, I can't see how it would be worth it. It would be very difficult. The whole process would take such a long time and you would have to give up what ever you are doing. We both have careers independent of GG."There have, however, been two partial reunions, both featuring between two and four of the band members and with neither event being identified as a formal reunion of Gentle Giant. The first of these took place in 2004 and the second in 2008 (developing further in 2009).
The 2004 partial reunion featured four former Gentle Giant members - Kerry Minnear, John Weathers, Gary Green, and Phil Shulman (who only participated as a lyricist). This quartet reunited as a studio-only project solely in order to record three new compositions for the Scraping The Barrel box set ("Home Again", "Moog Fugue", and "Move Over"). There was no live activity and the quartet disbanded immediately after the recordings.
The 2008 partial reunion involved the creation of a new band called Rentle Giant in order to play Gentle Giant material. This band featured two other former members of Gentle Giant (guitarist Gary Green and drummer Malcolm Mortimore) who recruited three noted jazz-fusion musicians to complete the band - Roger Carey (bass and vocals, from Liane Carroll
Liane Carroll
Liane Carroll is an English pianist/vocalist who grew up in a musical family. She has played professionally since she was 15....
's band), Andy Williams (guitar, collaborator with Carey in the Engine Clutch And Gearbox trio), and John Donaldson (piano and keyboards). Green also contributed lead vocals to some of the songs. In March 2009, Green and Mortimore were joined by a third Gentle Giant member - Kerry Minnear - and Rentle Giant consequently changed its name to Three Friends. At the same time, the band expanded to a seven-piece by adding current 10cc
10cc
10cc are an English art rock band who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians -- Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme -- who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the "10cc" name...
vocalist Mick Wilson as dedicated lead singer. About six months later, it was announced that Minnear was leaving the band for personal reasons, and that Three Friends planned to continue as a six-piece. Minnear later revealed that the split was amicable and that he had left for reasons of respect (as the Shulman brothers had "not been particularly enthusiastic" about the existence of Three Friends).
Minnear has also recently announced plans for him to collaborate with Ray Shulman on a new writing project.
Reissues
There has been renewed interest in Gentle Giant since 1990, with new fan clubs, new releases of live concerts and previously unreleased material, and several tribute albums. Sadly for fans, the rights of the band's catalogue are scattered among many companies, not all of which are keen on re-releasing the albums properly. In particular, the first four albums have yet to receive definitive CD releases. For example, the title track on Acquiring the Taste begins with an obvious defect, possibly due to a damaged master tape, on all current CD and vinyl releases. The 1996 compilation Edge of Twilight includes a corrected version of the song. Conflicting evidence sometimes reports that this defect exists on the original 1971 vinyl release of the album, with the opening note bending up as the tape comes up to speed - probably an engineering error.In July 2004, the first eponymous album was re-released by Repertoire; in December, 2005, they released Acquiring the Taste; in December, 2006, Octopus in a mini-sleeve with the original design of Roger Dean was released, and in December, 2007, German label Repertoire released Three Friends in a mini-sleeve with the original British release design. Although not widely distributed, these re-issues have been praised for their production quality and remastering. Prior to that all first four albums have been re-released on Universal Japan label.
In 2005, to celebrate the band's 35th anniversary, a series of digitally remastered and specially packaged CDs of their later albums were released by Derek Shulman
Derek Shulman
Derek Shulman is a British musician and singer, multi-instrumentalist, and record executive...
's company, DRT Entertainment
DRT Entertainment
DRT Entertainment is a New York City based independent record label founded in 2003 by Derek Shulman, Ron Urban and Theodore "Ted" Green. It is now solely owned by Derek Shulman....
. They all featured unreleased live tracks (of varying quality) as bonuses. Many of these albums (most notably, In a Glass House) were previously difficult to purchase in North America without resorting to imports. The re-released albums are: In a Glass House, The Power and the Glory, Free Hand, Interview, The Missing Piece, Playing the Fool (live), and Giant for a Day.
A reissue series on CD and, with bonus tracks, as digital downloads was begun in 2009/2010. In a 2009 interview Derek Shulman also indicated that plans were in the works to put out an animated film based on "The Power and The Glory" (this has yet to come to frutition). In 2011 the original mastertapes for "Three Friends" and "Octopus" were located and Alucard reissued each album with a bonus live performance of material from each respective album. Each album was remastered by Ray Shulman and Francis Kervorkian (both of whom worked on the 2009 remasters).
Musical style
Gentle Giant's music was mostly composed by Kerry MinnearKerry Minnear
Kerry Minnear is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist who played in the innovative progressive rock band Gentle Giant during the 1970s....
and Ray Shulman
Ray Shulman
Raymond Shulman is a British musician, and the youngest of three brothers in progressive rock band, Gentle Giant.Born in Portsmouth, Shulman's father was a trumpet player in a jazz band, and that was the first instrument he learned to play...
, with additional musical ideas contributed by Derek Shulman (who was also known to contribute entire songs). Lyrics were written by Phil Shulman
Phil Shulman
Phil Shulman , was a member of the progressive rock group Gentle Giant from 1970 to 1972 and performed on their albums Gentle Giant, Acquiring the Taste, Three Friends and Octopus....
and Derek Shulman up until Phil's departure following the release of Octopus – all subsequent lyrics were written by Derek Shulman. By the standards of progressive rock, Gentle Giant’s music is generally considered to be particularly complex and demanding. It shares several aspects with that of other progressive rock bands, including:
- multi-part vocal harmonies
- complex lyricsLyricsLyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
- organisation into concept albumConcept albumIn music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
form (on occasion) - frequent changes in tempoTempoIn musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
- frequent use of syncopationSyncopationIn music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...
and non-standard time signatures, including polymeters (two or more time signatures played simultaneously) - use of complex melodies, frequently contrasting harmoniesHarmonyIn music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
with dissonanceConsonance and dissonanceIn music, a consonance is a harmony, chord, or interval considered stable, as opposed to a dissonance , which is considered to be unstable... - extensive use of instrumental and vocal counterpointCounterpointIn music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
- use of musical structures typically associated with classical music (for example, madrigalMadrigal (music)A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
form on "Knots", fugalFugueIn music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
exposition in "On Reflection" and the consistent use of stated, exchanged and recapitulated musical themes exchanged between instruments) - use of classical and medieval instrumentation not generally associated with rock music
However, it has been noted that in spite of the comparatively complex initial sound, Gentle Giant’s music is in fact fairly traditional in terms of harmony and features relatively few complex chords. In common with most 1970s progressive rock, Gentle Giant compositions are closer to early 20th century neoclassicism than to contemporary classical music. (Some Gentle Giant songs, such as "Black Cat", "Proclamation" and "So Sincere", do utilise more complicated modernist harmonics.) In general, the band relied on sudden and unexpected compositional twists and turns to stimulate their audience, including:
- polyphonyPolyphonyIn music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
- hocketHocketIn music, hocket is the rhythmic linear technique using the alternation of notes, pitches, or chords. In medieval practice of hocket, a single melody is shared between two voices such that alternately one voice sounds while the other rests.In European music, hocket was used primarily in vocal...
ing - unusual chord progressions
- breaking up and tonally re-voicing patterns of initially simple chords (with the chords subtly altering from repetition to repetition)
- accelerating and decelerating duration of musical themes
- rapid and frequent key changes (sometimes within a single bar)
- division of vocal lines between different singers (including staggered rhythms)
- clever handling of transitions between sections (such as a hard-rock guitar riff being immediately substituted by a medieval choral)
Personnel
Members of classic lineup listed in bold.- Derek ShulmanDerek ShulmanDerek Shulman is a British musician and singer, multi-instrumentalist, and record executive...
- lead vocals, saxophone, recorder, keyboards, bass, drums, percussion, "Shulberry" (3-string custom electric ukuleleUkuleleThe ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
) (1970-1980) - Ray ShulmanRay ShulmanRaymond Shulman is a British musician, and the youngest of three brothers in progressive rock band, Gentle Giant.Born in Portsmouth, Shulman's father was a trumpet player in a jazz band, and that was the first instrument he learned to play...
- bass, trumpet, violin, vocals, viola, drums, percussion, recorder, guitar (1970-1980) - Kerry MinnearKerry MinnearKerry Minnear is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist who played in the innovative progressive rock band Gentle Giant during the 1970s....
- keyboards, lead vocals (on recordings only), cello, vibraphone, xylophone, recorder, guitar, bass, drums (1970-1980) - Gary GreenGary GreenGary Green is a British musician. During the 1970s, he was the guitarist for the progressive rock band Gentle Giant. Green was with the band from the debut album Gentle Giant all the way to the last album Civilian. Green's style was different from most of his peers, being a more "blues" based...
- guitar, mandolin, vocals, recorder, bass, drums, xylophone (1970-1980) - Phil ShulmanPhil ShulmanPhil Shulman , was a member of the progressive rock group Gentle Giant from 1970 to 1972 and performed on their albums Gentle Giant, Acquiring the Taste, Three Friends and Octopus....
- lead vocals, saxophone, trumpet, clarinet, recorder, percussion (1970–72) - Martin SmithMartin Smith (musician)Martin Smith , was a drummer for Gentle Giant and Simon Dupree and the Big Sound. He played on the first two Gentle Giant albums, Gentle Giant and Acquiring the Taste, before being replaced by Malcolm Mortimore...
- drums, percussion (1970–1971) - Malcolm MortimoreMalcolm MortimoreMalcolm Paul Mortimore , is a drummer who has played with Gentle Giant, Spike Heatley, Tom Jones, Troy Tate, Ian Dury, G.T. Moore, Mick and Chris Jagger, Frankie Miller, Oliver Jones, and Barney Kessel.-External links:*...
- drums, percussion (1971–1972) - John "Pugwash" WeathersJohn WeathersJohn Patrick 'Pugwash' Weathers is a drummer, best known for playing with the innovative progressive rock band Gentle Giant.-Early life:...
- drums, percussion, vibraphone, xylophone, vocals, guitar (1972-1980)
Studio albums
- Gentle GiantGentle Giant (album)Gentle Giant was the first album of British progressive rock band Gentle Giant, released in 1970.-Side One:# "Giant" – 6:22...
(1970) - Acquiring the TasteAcquiring the TasteAcquiring the Taste was the second album of English progressive rock band Gentle Giant, released in 1971.This was a departure from the blues and soul styles found on their self titled debut. It was more experimental, more discordant, and with more varied instrumentation...
(1971) - Three FriendsThree FriendsThree Friends is a concept album by the British progressive rock band Gentle Giant. The group's third album was also their first American release to chart, peaking at #197 on the Billboard 200...
(1972) (#197 US) - Octopus (1972) (#170 US)
- In a Glass HouseIn a Glass HouseIn a Glass House is an album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant, released in 1973.One of Gentle Giant's most popular albums, it was available in North America only as a rare import – both LP and CD – until 2004 when a digitally remastered CD was released. This was because their US label...
(1973) - The Power and the Glory (1974) (#78 US)
- Free HandFree HandFree Hand is an album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant that was released in 1975. It also marked their first album under their new label, Chrysalis Records in the U.K. This album is noted for its high production values, and a less harsh and dissonant, more musical feel than their...
(1975) (#48 US) - InterviewInterview (album)Interview is a concept album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant which was released in 1976. This is a unique concept in the canon of Gentle Giant work in that it is conceived as a radio interview. Three of the tracks integrate brief "interview" sections which were staged in the studio...
(1976) (#137 US) - The Missing Piece (1977) (#81 US)
- Giant for a DayGiant for a DayGiant for a Day is an album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant which was released in 1978. The band's facility for counterpoint and medieval-themed arrangements had largely been abandoned by this stage in their career. Commercial success eluded them, while their original fan base began...
(1978) - Civilian (1980) (#203 US)
Live recordings
- Playing the FoolPlaying the FoolThe Official Live - Playing the Fool is a live album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant which was released in 1977. It demonstrates the band's complex musicianship and talent as well as showcasing versions of songs which are often greatly modified from the original album versions.-LP 1,...
(1977) Recorded (au naturel) on European tour September to October 1976 (#89 US) - In Concert (1994) Recorded at the Hippodrome, Golders Green, London, on January 5, 1978
- Out of the Woods: The BBC Sessions (1996, rereleased in 2000 under the name Totally Out of the Woods with additional tracks)
- The Last Steps (1996, rereleased in 2003) Recorded at the Roxy Theater in Los Angeles, June 16, 1980
- Out of the Fire: The BBC Concerts (1998)
- King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents (1998) Recorded at the Academy of Music in New York City, January 18, 1975
- Live Rome 1974 (2000) Recorded at the PalaEur in Rome, Italy, November 26, 1974
- In'terview in Concert (2000) Recorded at Hempstead, New York, March 7, 1976
- In a Palesport House (2001) Recorded at Palazzo dello Sport, Roma, Italy, January 3, 1973
- Artistically Cryme (2002) Recorded at Olympen, Lund, Sweden, September 19, 1976
- Endless Life (2002) Recorded at Music Hall, White Plains NY, October 3, 1975 & Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA, October 28, 1975
- The Missing Face (2002) Recorded at the Ballroom, Cleveland, OH, November 1977
- Prologue (2003) Recorded at the Munsterlandhalle, Munster, Germany, April 5, 1974 & the Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 10, 1975
- Playing the Cleveland (2004) Recorded at the Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, January 27, 1975 & Academy of Music, New York, November 5, 1975
- Live in New York 1975 (2005) Recorded at Music Hall, White Plains NY, October 3, 1975
- Live in Santa Monica 1975 (2005)
- Live in Stockholm '75 (2009) Recorded at Club Karen (Karhuset), Stockholm University, November 12, 1975
Compilations
- Giant Steps - The First Five Years (1975)
- Pretentious - For The Sake Of It (1977)
- Champions Of Rock (1996)
- Edge of Twilight (1996)
- Under ConstructionUnder Construction (Gentle Giant album)Under Construction was the first of two box sets of the English progressive rock band Gentle Giant, released in 1997.This was to collect together all the unreleased material, demos, outtakes and the odd live recordings that were available to the band....
(1997) - Scraping the BarrelScraping the BarrelScraping the Barrel was the second of two box sets of the English progressive rock band Gentle Giant, released in 2004. This was to collect together all the unreleased material, demos, outtakes and the odd live recordings that were available to the band....
(2004)
Bootlegs
- Playing The Foole (Bootleg) (recorded in 1974)
For long time this remained the only existing bootleg
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
of Gentle Giant. The first further bootlegs will appear not earlier than in the Compact Disc era. No other Gentle Giant bootleg have been seen on vinyl. This LP was already enough famous at the time, till the point that the band decided to adopt the title for the official double live Playing the Fool
Playing the Fool
The Official Live - Playing the Fool is a live album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant which was released in 1977. It demonstrates the band's complex musicianship and talent as well as showcasing versions of songs which are often greatly modified from the original album versions.-LP 1,...
(omitting the final "e") that saw the light two years later.
This bootleg, despite what is written on the sleeve, is not live, and was not recorded during any "American tour".
Filmography
- Giant on the Box (DVD, 2004)
- Giant on the Box - Deluxe Edition (DVD + CD, 2005)
- GG at the GG - Sight and Sound in Concert (DVD + CD, 2006)
External links
- Official web site by Daniel J. BarrettDaniel J. BarrettDaniel J. Barrett is a writer, software engineer, and musician. He is best known for his technology books, his work with progressive rock band Gentle Giant, and the imaginary computer game BLAZEMONGER.-Writing:...