30-disc studio & live box coming from Gentle Giant

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by spice9, Nov 6, 2017.

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  1. spice9

    spice9 Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Was reading MOJO or one of the other British rock magazines, can't recall which, today at Barnes & Noble and there was a short interview with Derek Shulman. He talked a little about the new Three Pieces Suite. Said Interview was up next for Steven Wilson treatment. Said Gentle Giant would never reform, but added that next year there will be a 20-CD Gentle Giant box set of all live performances. Should be interesting.

    Also said Elton John was thisclose to joining the band at one point, then met Bernie Taupin and off they went.
     
  2. JimW

    JimW In the Process of Becoming

    Location:
    Charlottesville VA
    Elton was in the Shulman Bro's previous band, but when they scored a hit, the Shulman's decided against that direction and formed GG for a more creative, progressive direction. Elton was not interested in that direction; his choosing not to join wasn't b/c of BT. And his decision worked out great for both GG and Elton!

    This is what I gathered from the liner notes of 3 Piece Suite. I'm sure there are other bigger fans of GG that could elucidate better/more.
     
  3. JimW

    JimW In the Process of Becoming

    Location:
    Charlottesville VA
    BTW- really looking forward to SW's re-mix of Interview- and that live set sounds cool, though pricing will be a consideration. (But I have to say GG's latest offerings have all been excellent values!).
     
  4. wildstar

    wildstar Senior Member

    Location:
    ontario, canada
    It must have been the pre-Gentle Giant band 'Simon Dupree & the Big Sound' that morphed into Gentle Giant (the three Shulman brothers were in both bands) that Reg nearly joined. The first Gentle Giant album came out in 1970 - and John/Taupin had been up and running as a team for a couple years by then.

    I can't get too excited by a live Gentle Giant box because:

    1 - They have lots of archive live albums usually coming from radio shows (not pre-FM) and even clones of bootlegs. Check their official site's discography listing in the live album section. Many of their "official" releases are described as "formerly released as such n such a bootleg title", and often the reviews of said official title reveal or at least very strongly imply its an exact clone of the bootleg version, rather than a sound upgrade.

    2 - It's possible that this boxset will just be a collection of all those previously released "official bootlegs" gathered together in a box (20 CDs sounds about right as far as how many they've already released.
     
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  5. JimW

    JimW In the Process of Becoming

    Location:
    Charlottesville VA
    That dims the enthusiasm for that. I hope you're wrong, but it sounds like you know what you're talking about.

    As for Reg, he was in SD&tBS.
     
  6. wildstar

    wildstar Senior Member

    Location:
    ontario, canada
    Well - its a guess - but its an educated guess, based mainly on their own website. I hope I'm wrong too.
     
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  7. What I think I recall was an interview with one of the Shulmans. EJ did a British tour as keyboardist with SD&tBS, then announced that he was going off on his own using that stage name Elton John, and they more or less laughed at him! Of course they recounted this self-mockingly...
     
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  8. jay.dee

    jay.dee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Barcelona, Spain
    I hope they are not going to just repackage the already released tapes, because most of them are of a rather poor quality.

    The decently sounding live material we have got so far through the official channels may be assembled with 9 CDs only:
    • BBC sessions (including London '73 & '78 concerts) - 4 discs,
    • "King Biscuit" NY '75,
    • Stockholm '75,
    • "Bicentennial" Hempstead '76 - 2 discs,
    • "Missing Face" Cleveland '77.
    Have I missed anything?
     
  9. no.nine

    no.nine (not his real name)

    Location:
    NYC
    Ultrasonic Studios '75 is reasonably good sounding. A chunk of it was used for the LP boot Amongst the Darkers. I thought the CD boot got an official release but maybe I'm wrong... I haven't paid close attention to the officially released boots.

    Now, one which has NOT been on CD yet is the other famous LP boot, Playing the Fool. This was recorded on 2/13/75 at an Los Angeles radio station. The broadcast also included "Cogs in Cogs", left off of the LP. Some of this appeared on the Live in Santa Monica 1975 CD, but the running speed was so noticeably slower as to render it worthless. Surely someone must have a good copy of this somewhere for release?
     
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  10. jay.dee

    jay.dee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Barcelona, Spain
    I'd be happy to see something prior to 1975 released in a good sound...
     
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  11. jkl2000

    jkl2000 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    New York
    About a year or so ago GG ran an online survey to get fan input on what they would like to see in a box set. What it will end up being, or if, is anyone's guess, but I just wanted to put that out there. I wish I could remember what kind of things they were putting up as possibilities. Well, lately these boxes seem to be materializing faster than I expect, so hopefully we won't have to wait too long!
     
  12. no.nine

    no.nine (not his real name)

    Location:
    NYC
    Oh BTW, I may as well say that the previously mentioned Ultrasonic '75 CD boot is from a different, better sounding source than the Amongst the Darkers LP was. As long as we're on the subject. Sort of. :)
     
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  13. whiskeyvengeance

    whiskeyvengeance Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Awhile back, on another forum, a guy posting on behalf of the GG camp asked fans to submit any as-yet-un-bootlegged live tapes they might have. If it's 20 CDs of uncirculated stuff, I'm in. If it's the same stuff that's been going around among fans for years, I think I'll pass.

    At the minimum they should include the entirety of that show they excerpted for the bonus track on the Alucard Octopus remaster...
     
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  14. gojikranz

    gojikranz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sacramento
    there was a big survey they put out to guage interest in a boxset. I can't recall too much though I recall they asked if we would want a missing piece puzzle included as a bonus.

    I recall before that someone was talking about releasing playing the fool as a deluxe set with all the live shows they recorded for it complete so that may be a part of this.
     
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  15. jay.dee

    jay.dee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Barcelona, Spain
    Already released as "Live at the Bicentennial, 1976".

    Live at the Bicentennial - Wikipedia

    Another recording that does not sound that bad comes from the Münster '74 gig. It was included on the Glass House's "Prologue" 2CD collection (with a few extra tracks from Philly '75). Not great, just acceptable:

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvFC4RpCFrk

    However there is certainly some better sounding stuff cruising around, just like this Brussels '74 video recording available on YouTube:

     
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2017
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  16. no.nine

    no.nine (not his real name)

    Location:
    NYC
    ...and nobody noticed my mistake about the boot title, Playing the Fool? Or are you all just being nice? ;) Of course, I meant Playing the Foole.
     
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  17. Runicen

    Runicen Forum Resident

    More Foole Me... :winkgrin:


    ...And yes, I think a Genesis reference is called for in a GG thread. :p
     
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  18. ranasakawa

    ranasakawa Forum Resident

    I brought a box set in 2013 of gentle giant outtakes and live material called Memories of Old Days

    I have to say it was mostly very disappointing
     
  19. I agree....
     
  20. gojikranz

    gojikranz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sacramento
    ya that set was largely comprised of material that was not deemed good enough to put on cd for the boxset titled scraping the barrel so you can imagine what the band thought of it...

    then the live stuff being mostly incomplete bits and pieces from other releases was unsatisfying too.
     
  21. One can tag to it "I Lost My Head" from the old live recording and make up a cool home made programme. Provided the sounds match more or less of course. (I have never heard that Hempstead, NY 1976 set.)
     
  22. Runicen

    Runicen Forum Resident

    Is it mostly hurt by covering the latter half of their career or is the material really that weak even if you really love those albums?
     
  23. Frankh

    Frankh Lucky Man

    Location:
    Schenectady NY
    They were such a Beast in the live setting...

    That even seeing this, even just reading it, considering the possibilities without even a thought about an actual purchase quickens the pulse.

    :agree:
     
  24. Geof

    Geof Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Miguel, CA USA
    Actually, the short Derek Shulman piece I believe you're referring to was in the November 2017 issue of Classic Rock, page 22, where he discusses Three Piece Suite, Elton John etc.. One correction from your post: when asked what's on the horizon, he states, "We're looking at remixing Free Hand, with a couple of out-takes;" no mention of Interview.

    Interview has never been one of my faves aside from the masterpiece, "I Lost My Head," but Free Hand is great news and is #2 on my GG Wilson remix wish-list. However,#1 would be In a Glass House, which I'm guessing might be a popular choice for others as well. As for the "20 album box set of live shows coming next year," he goes on to say, "The albums were sketches for the live gigs, which offered something completely different to the studio songs."

    As to Elton John: "He was serious about it. We told him we were going to dissolve Simon Dupree and do something new. He said he'd like to be a part of it, even though he was trying something on his own. In fact, myself and Ray went up to Watford with him, just as he met Bernie for the first time. So he wasn't begging for a job, but he was auditioning for sure."

    Finally, in response to the question will GG ever reunite, he says: "No. Trying to recreate something we did decades ago wouldn't make sense to any of us. You can't rewrite history and one thing I'd never want to be is a parody of myself,"
     
  25. Dok

    Dok Senior Member

    I've posted this awhile back but a second call out has just been released to the O-R list. Please, if anyone has or knows anything about this, contact Ian at the email below!

    Ian Crockett, who is putting together Snapper's GG boxed set,
    "Unburied Treasure," is still seeking any pictures, ticket stubs,
    posters, passes, etc. from the following gigs:

    DUSSELDORF 1971
    ESSEN 1972
    NEW ORLEANS 1972
    HOLLYWOOD BOWL 1972
    VICENZA 1973
    TORINO 1973
    MUNSTER 1974
    CLEVELAND 1975
    BASEL 1975
    CHESTER 1977

    Also high-resolution scans of any of these posters:

    File:Tpatg-poster.jpg - The Gentle Giant Home Page
    File:Liveposter-1981.jpg - The Gentle Giant Home Page

    If you have any of these items, please let Ian know at [email protected].
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Also, for those that may have missed it, I posted this in another GG thread back in August. Scroll down to read follow up posts - Gentle Giant Remasters (Part 3) They have the multis for 75% of the four shows recorded for 'Playing the Fool' and are in the process or remixing them.
     
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