Gentle Giant
From Freepedia
Gentle Giant was a British band considered to be one of the quintessential progressive rock bands of the 1970s.
Contents |
History
Gentle Giant was formed by the three Shulman brothers in 1970 after they dissolved their pop band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound in 1969. The brothers joined with Gary Green, Kerry Minnear, and a succession of drummers to produce a series of twelve albums throughout the 1970s.
Their earlier albums tended to be more eclectic and experimental in form. By 1974, as they started to gather an American following, they chose to simplify their songs to gain a wider audience. Both The Power and the Glory and Free Hand reached the Top 50 in the US.
By 1977, as the fashion trends in the music market shifted towards Punk and New Wave, the band chose to simplify their music even more to become commercial. In 1979, the band relocated to America to record their twelfth album, Civilian, after which the group disbanded.
There has been a renewed interest in Gentle Giant since 1990 with new fan clubs, new releases of live concerts from the 1970s, several tribute albums in the 1990s, and a failed attempt in 1997 by fans to convince the members to perform a reunion concert.
Several recent progressive rock bands were influenced by the music of Gentle Giant, including Spock's Beard and Echolyn.
In 2005, to celebrate the band's 35th anniversary, a series of digitally remastered and specially packaged CDs of many of their albums was released, also featuring many unreleased tracks. Many of these albums were previously almost impossible to purchase in North America. The re-released albums include: In A Glass House, Free Hand, The Power And The Glory, Interview, Giant For A Day, The Missing Piece, and Playing The Fool.
Musical description
Gentle Giant's music had many aspects in common with other progressive rock bands of the time:
- Rapid, frequently changing tempo
- Complex melodies, frequently contrasting harmonies with disharmonies
- Non-standard time signatures
- Unconventional use of classical and medieval instruments
- Multi-part vocal harmonies
- Complex lyrics
- Concept albums
One Gentle Giant album listed a total of 46 instruments in the musician credits.
Personnel
- Derek Shulman
- Phil Shulman (1970-1972)
- Ray Shulman
- Gary Green
- Kerry Minnear
- Martin Smith (drummer) (drums 1970 – 1971)
- Malcolm Mortimore (drums 1971 – 1972)
- John Weathers (drums 1972 – 1980)
Discography
- Gentle Giant (1970)
- Acquiring the Taste (1971)
- Three Friends (1972)
- Octopus (1972)
- In A Glass House (1973)
- The Power And The Glory (1974)
- Free Hand (1975)
- Interview (1976)
- Playing The Fool (1977, live)
- The Missing Piece (1977)
- Giant For A Day (1978)
- Civilian (1980)
See also
- Progressive rock
- Roger Dean - features an image of the cover of Octopus
