Saw these guys in the mid 1970's. The only band I ever saw where they rotated instruments after each song. The guitarist would play bass, then keyboards, then drums. Crazy talent. Such an under-rated band in an era where Kiss was top of the charts.
Gentle Giant might be my favorite Prog Band from that era, they are criminally underrated, it just baffles me. Gary Green’s playing is so rich and soulful.
Ahh Gentile Giant...like an aged single malt scotch...not for everybody, but once you're brave enough to "acquire the taste", you're hooked...thanks for the post!
You should listen (if you haven't already) to Echidna's Arf of You. Written about the same time as this song. Listen to Echidna's on Roxy and Elsewhere. It was recorded the same year as this concert. See the huge difference in quality?
We're the same age then!! I trust you've seen bands like Stickmen, Nick Masons Saucerful of Secrets (/ and Haken) in recent years? I'm playing some serious bass guitar now and it's allll prog inspired with a lean towards a metal intensity. Most prog bands like GG i firmly believe would be metal bands if they were a 2000's act - I look at bands like Rush and the snakes and arrows album; they were so closely rubbing shoulders with the progressive metal bands that neil peart was literally doing double kick patterns. GG makes me feel the same with their intensity 😊
Totally agree. Hardly anyone in North America ever knew these guys, yet their musicianship and creativity was easily equal to Crimson, Yes, Genesis, EL&P, etc. There management really messed up, never gave them a good chance over here.
The more I listen to Gentle Giant, the more I appreciate what a brilliant Drummer John Weathers is. Along with the rest of the band, he is right up there with the best.
Bravo on that part about having fun I've never seen members of the band smile More or playing live in these guys Especially Gary Green and Ray schulman
Yeah, I don't know how they found him, but he was playing in a Chicago Blues-style band. I wonder what they saw in him, or what he saw in them. I would've loved to be there at the audition!
@@leelaine01 He responded to an ad in "Melody Maker", but had second thoughts when he saw "Simon Dupree and the Big Sound" (a pop group) on the bass drum! There is an archived interview if you check his Wiki.
this just blew my head apart. i am still in disbelief that i only recently got into this band. i'm 48 and i've been a fan of all the titans of prog for years. so much of what i got into early-on was based on word of mouth, late night DJs on weird independent radio stations, and conversations with record store owners - but no one ever mentioned nor introduced me to this band! and i am in disbelief about that as well. gentle giant is right up there with all the greats, and clearly underrated, underappreciated, undermarketed, etc, etc. something is very wrong with this picture. i don't understand why none of those late night DJs or record store guys ever said or played or talked about any of it. i wasn't in a small market, either, as i grew up in the chicago area. plenty of eclectic radio on the lower end of the dial in those days. and, plenty of eclectic funky record stores all over. so how did i finally get into this band? youtube algorithm brought me to "in a glass house" (full album). i was in another room and had to come in to see what i was hearing, it was so good. so now i am addicted to this band! they would be one of my all-time favorites had i gotten into them back when i got into genesis, yes, rush, tull, kc, zappa, etc.. now they are a new favorite. better late than never!
The most unique band I ever heard, and they played these 13/11 time signature gems like they're frolicking on the beach! By this point they had these babies down to a science....😊
I have been amazed since I first heard them back when they came on the scene. Over the years, my admiration never flags. They are powerfully progressive alright!
What a phantastic performance! At least as good as the original studio recording! This band is unique! No words to praise them enough. My favorite track from my favorite album. I'm really happy to be born at the right time to grow up with bands like GG. I feel so sorry for the young people today because the most of them will never know what real good music sounds like.
You are absolutely a gazillion percent correct-My favorite bass player and multi instrumentalist in the greatest band of all time who is the most criminally underated player ever
Not only did he write some of THE most intelligent electric bass guitar lines of all time, the dude composed most of the parts to their songs! He and Kerry Minnear were the glue of GG.
I cannot imagine how embarassing it must have been to have Gentle Giant on as a supporting act with any band. They would upstage about anyone, except perhaps the Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, Rick Laird and of course, the great Billy Cobham on drums. Mahavishnu could at times be very, very loud. I saw them when they opened for Jeff Beck and dang, they were LOUD! Gentle Giant had great dynamics, great counterpoint, switched instruments which they all played at an expert level. They really grooved even when they were playing unusual solos. The keyboard player was phenomenal, as was the drummer. Great vocal quality and definitely a band with great songs and vocal ability. These guys must have all gone to the Berkley School of Music or something! The flutes, the bass work and great guitar work are impressive also.
@@douglasmccomb2029 First time I saw them they were third on the bill, playing before Stray (who were very good too at what they did) and the top billed Groundhogs, who were who Davie and I had gone to see... we were blown away (Octopus was just on release) and we've been lifelong fans ever since.
a musician's musician band ; a once in a lifetime occurence , for shure, and soooo unrecognized , luckily less these days ;took a long time waking up to this exceptional phenomenon of music creation.Weathers is a badass drum hero.
I can't get over the quality of the sound recording for this video, it is exceptional. Never mind the the virtuosity of the players, the quirkiness of the composition, the multiple time signatures, and the blending of Funk, Folk and Rock into a prog masterpiece. This track and 'Two Weeks In Spain' turned me onto GG. The late great Ray Shulman and the monstrously talented John Weathers make up one of my favourite rhythm sections of all time. Only whish I could have seen them live and also chatted to Ray before he sadly passed recently.
A very underappreciated prog band by the masses. You always hear talk of ELP, Yes, Genesis, etc., but these guys are an incredible band with a style and sound nobody can copy properly, with the versatility of the instruments they play. I have been listening to them since the 70s. They aren't the type of band you listen to everyday, but when you are in the mood, you really appreciate their talent.
I was very young but already a fan when this record came out. Now, after more than 40 years, I listen to it again and understand where Steps Ahead and Mike Stern grabbed the idea of playing dissonant harmonies over funky grooves. Gentle Giant were light years ahead.
Gary Green is the most Underrated Guitar Player....Incredible Precision, Feel amd A Penchant for throwing a Blues solo anywjhere He could, then following it with sequences Bob Fripp woyld have been proud to play.
The music these guys squeezed out may endure and grow forever. I believe they are up there with the greats. Sadly, we are stuck with noise like gaga and beyonce.
I absolutely love this band. Having 24 and listening to this with my dad is the best experience ever. They do deserve more credit for such creative and amazing music
Saw them several times in small venues, right up front..never ceased to be amazed that they did their stuff live so incredibly. Constant changing of instruments ....all excellent on whatever they were playing. You could see how much they enjoyed what they were doing. Ray et al making hysterical faces. So exciting. Your heart was in your throat at the complexity. Cheeks literally hurt by the end of the concert because you spent so much time smiling. Even watching this now I get that swelling feeling in my chest...pure musical Joy. No one could touch them..... Man I miss those days. Thanks guys.
***** I heard Peeling the Paint for the first time when I was a teenager and that heavy ass riff....just got me. I'm 33 now, but at the time I was like "hey dad here is the sort of prog you should've been listening to when you were young, Pink Floyd is lame, this is heavy and yaddayadda" in typical teenager fashion. "Oh yeah?" My father gets up, walks over to his vinyls, pulls out the entire Gentle Giant collection from the rack, throws it on my lap and walks away smug as hell. "Have fun" :O
Obviously a lot of talented members in that group and it would have been easy for them to write music which catered for the masses yet they stayed true to themselves. I'd really like to thank them for that.
This was/is quite a fantastic band, whose music is very complex, and not always easily accesible, and was sadly overshadowed by other progressive bands at the time, but I am glad that they are being recognized again, with constant releases of their albums.
I don't know any music theory. Don't know how to play any instrument. Don't know what a escale is. But this seems complicated as fuck. These are musicians.
It’s very complicated but it’s also not just complicated for complicated sake. It’s very groovy and it’s not show offy. It’s good stuff. Gentle giant is a great band. O and pick up an instrument you don’t need to know music theory to be a great musician.
Saw them in 1975 - astonishing concert and one that really did change my life - no exageration! Ray Shulman has got to be one of the most underrated bass players of all time.
This music is SO complicated.. it's just unbelievable.. As funky as it is, no American funk or soul band could EVER play this: just too far out of their reach musically... Gentle Giant was an incredible phenomenon.
larry urbon ...The Brecker Brothers, maybe...but I agree it's way more orchestrated than anything TOP or Funkadelic/Parliment would perform. Don't think that makes it "better", though :-) It's funky, but it's lack of silence in the orchestration keeps it from being (or ever becoming) a "funk groove". AWB's "Cut the Cake", Parliment's "Knee Deep", Zapp's "More Bounce to the Ounce"...they all have mad levels of syncopation like this...but they also have that space/silence that allows you to "get your head bob on"! Lol
Umphreys McGee are the only ones with half a chance to duplicate something similar. But this Gentle Giant is the standard by which I measure musicianship.
The fact that Kerry starts the main figuration on the pinky of the left hand (at that speed AND at the strength it has to be played to make all the notes heard properly) just goes to show how great was his technique. And....he's dancing around!! I have to start that part on the ring finger of the left hand and it still gives me agita. You're the best, Kerry!
He was also an incredible xylophone player Saw then in concert New York City several times and could not believe how fast he was playing! Still boggles my mind to this day!
This was an outrageously underrated band... They were phenomenal musicians and composers. I completely love the contrapuntal vocals and especially the drummer's drumming!!!
Tremendous stuff from one of the great prog bands. Great musicians all and one of my favourite tracks. They should have got far more recognition but maybe they were just too complex for the average ear. It's difficult to describe how good Gary Green is on guitar, Ray Shulman on bass and Kerry Minnear on keyboards.
Their pool of talent is undeniable. But they were a little 'prog' to be commercially viable. There stuff is amazing, but they don't appeal to a wide audience, never did.
@@FranHn1982 Hey francisco-a gazillion means more than any total numeric number possible-an infinite amount-cheers and hail to power and to glorys way-GG the greatest most criminally underated band ever
@@1359401 then I agree with you a GAZILLION % jaja.., but even if it is one of the most underrated bands in musical history, there are many who treasure their magnificent legacy! and honestly I even like that it is an unpopular band, as they themselves said about their purpose: "to expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of becoming extremely unpopular." Cheers my friend, thanks for your answer and long live GG!!!
R.I.P. Ray! Gentle Giant são eternos. Ray Schulman será sempre lembrado. SEMPRE!!! Uma das melhores bandas que ouvi e sempre nos meus gostos deste 70´s.
Saw them open for Yes on their Relayer tour, which was Giant's Interview tour. I have still not recovered. Got to hang with Mr. Green quite a bit when he showed up at Progday 2006. What a great guy.
One of my favourite bands - saw them live in Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens. Thank goodness we have these great videos and recordings (yes they COULD do it live).
Real musicians playing awesome totally original super well crafted tunes-what a concept!! GENTLE GIANT is only for people who like real music.Where have all the real bands gone?
I had youtube on autoplay, and thought it had the album version. But WTF, they do this LIVE. What an incredible bunch of musicians they are / were. I never get enough of listening to this music-redefining band of men. I had the incredible luck of being introduced to their music by the age of 9 or 10, by my elder brothers. When they came home on Friday, I ran up the stairs up with them to hear the new album that they'd bought. Imagine the imprint that Gentle Giant (and Genesis, Yes, ELP, Klaatu, and many others of the era) made on me!
david gilmour and gary green kings of prog guitar...they both managed to instill emotion in their intricate leads, solos, fills, rhythms, textures, and chords.
If you are a bass player, learn Ray Schulmans parts. If you can, you will be an exceptional player. For example, the riff at 1:54 is basically impossible. He is one of the most astounding bass players ever. They were all incredible, I never tire of their music.
These guys are some of the most talented musicians.. they each can play many instruments and sing..! Wild syncopation...!! I new this babe that said they warmed up for Marshal Tucker in upstate NY (1975) and they wore elf costumes..??? Did Anybody see this? I Love the Oakland A's jersey..!!
This performance is kick ass I love Weathers, and Derek Shulman sure does have some killer moves, and he bounces around like a rabbit.I cant get enough of these guys they are just so damn awesome everytime I watch this I have to get up and groove around the office.My co-workers think I am crazy-they just havent been Giantized yet!!
