Gentle Giant. . Whatever happened (merged several similar threads)

At least one of them doesn't need to worry about money problems anymore.

 

I was at that show. During GG's set, Derek thanked Feelgood for their opening set and the audience booed. He responded with something like, "Oh, come on. Back at home, WE open for THEM".

 

Fun stuff, I went to the one in (near) Toronto in 2001 !
Was so much fun jamming with John Weathers and Gary Green !

 

Gary looks and sounds fantastic! Great to see he finally pulled through after his ticker problem. Thanks for posting these!

 

Did any of you buy the vinyl version of
"Three Piece Suite" ? I can`t figure out if my copy is a bad pressing or if there is tape damage/noise from the tape sources. For those with the cd version, is there tape hiss on your copy ?

 

I guess they weren’t so gentle nor giant.

 

It's still my belief that GG were the best musicians ever to play in a rock band.

 

Bill Cormier...I also have an unlistenable pressing of this remix. The background noise is so loud that it's deafening!! I am sorely disappointed by the vinyl pressing of this. Why does crap like this happen and get through QC to the marketplace. UGH!

 

YES!! abysmally so. Why?? Anyone else experience this?

 

I saw gentle giant supporting the Hendrix film Jimi Plays Berkeley in Wales in 1971. The band played first then they showed the film.

 

He also does DVD/Blu-ray authoring for various bands as well.

 

Since when would tape hiss be considered tape damage?

 

Saw them at the Old Waldorf (RIP) in San Francisco--a club. They played their ass off. It was supposed to be their last show (and they announced it as such during the concert) but they did an additional show in L.A. because the L.A. show had sold out and there was an additional demand. Great show and seeing them up close was a blast. We were ten feet from Gary, Ray, Derek with Kerry and John a little further back and to the side as I recall.

 

...which Gary Green once said was the most humiliating gig they ever played! Opening for an inert object... Lol!

 

perhaps only beaten by opening for Black Sabbath (and the infamous cherry bomb incident.)

 

That public or part thereof sure acted like idiots to do things like that.

However, Gentle Giant DID have a weird setlist to open for Black Sabbath with... "Funny Ways"... "Nothing At All"... Might as well throw in "Isn't It Quiet And Cold?"!

 

Some quotes from the article in Prog.

"I love 'Acquiring the Taste', I love the atmosphere of it. It feels so ethereal; it's a magic noise." Gary Green

"Ray was the peacemaker. Phil and I were at each other's throats all the damn time!" Derek Shulman

"There was a lot of sibling rivalry. Phil, the older brother, was our kind of gang master in a way. Derek was the singer and had a lot to say for himself. Ray was gentle: the youngest, nearest to my age. There was obviously a dynamic between the three of them that I just did not understand." Malcolm Mortimore

"We were plonked together with Sabbath a fair bit. It was an odd combination, but I think it did us more good then harm in the long run in terms of exposure." Kerry Minnear

"We were never being serious musos - 'Look at our virtuosity' - it was always a question of, 'We'll entertain you, so you'll enjoy it.'" Ray Shulman

"In the end, of all the albums we released, the cutest songs are on Octopus." Phil Shulman


'Cutest songs' indeed!

 

this is not tape hiss

 

Ah, it's on the vinyl pressing then?

 

Playing the Game is my favorite Gentle Giant song. Very Whimsical tune.

 

It's the one that first got my attention fully. Such an odd opening that only gradually unfolds and begins to make sense... And then you get a beat you can tap your foot to. Lovely.

 

Man......my musical buddy warned me:"I will let you hear Steven Wilson, he is great but he'll cost you a lot!"
And yes I listened.......

So now: here I read in my Progmag about this band, I read in the book Delirium Years 1991-1993 (yes.....it is costing!) that mr. Wilson sampled the drumsolo, i check spotify and see he remixed the band, I had to listen.

Man.........I love it! For now it's Spotify but i think it won't be long till those 5.1 mixes will be delivered.

Just had to get it out of my system.

Regards, Cas

 

I got a digital version of the Gentle Giant article in the magazine Prog issue 83 January 2018.

It is very enlightening - I have been a fan for forty years and did not know one quarter of the stuff in the article.

A damn fine band - been revisiting the classic albums, the Wilson remixes, the archive releases. I came on board in 1977 with the Chrysalis albums, not hearing the original four albums until many years later.

All are good, I think I now prefer the Vertigo years (early albums). But every album has its treasures, even the last two.

 

Welcome aboard the good ship GG! Or the SS Pantagruel as they would probably christen her were they to have ever been able to afford one...

I enjoyed that Gentle Giant article in the magazine Prog January 2018 edition. Reading the article while listening to the Playing The Fool and Three Friends albums was some of the most pleasure I have had from recorded music for some time.

They really should do some sort of live GG reunion. I would be there in a flash.

 

Can't wait for the "In a Glass House" SW treatment (if it happens at all) it's my favourite GG album