Gentle Giant is my all time favourite group. They are superb, all of them... Such a rich and unique multi-instrumental guys... Watching them playing live is something...
I’d give anything to have been a fly on the wall when Gentle Giant were recording. Particularly on Acquiring the taste or in a Glass House. They’re process must have been absolutely astounding.
GG is my favorite band! I am so grateful to have followed them during my 70's college years. They are the standard of musicianship, composition, and live performance.
Can't beat them for what they were. You can be different but not better. A few of the great thing about Gentle Giant was the ensemble playing and the relatively short songs. They didn't have much of a problem with projects floating out over 20 minute songs on multiple discs. Now I love long songs as well but if they're so densely packed with info as the songs of Gentle Giant's songs it could have been a bit rich, correct? :D But damn I love those counterpoint parts and layers of sound weaved in and out of each other and those and those daredevil lines they played together as a unit (extra shout out to John Weathers - the Bonham of prog rock!) and the clear recordings and ... there is no end of how much I love their music. Damn, they were smooth! :D
My introduction to Gentle Giant came as a recommendation from my brother's friend. He told me that knowing my taste in music that Gentle Giant would be something I'd enjoy. Well, many months later, I was rifling through the delete bin at Woolworths and came across their album "Interview". I decided to take a chance and bought it. When I took it home and put the needle down in Side 1, I was instantaneously blown away. I turned into a lifelong Gentle Giant fan within five minutes. I was hooked! Over the course of the last couple of months, I've bought several Blu-ray surround sound discs and I'm still waiting on "The Missing Piece" Blu-ray disc. The surround mixes make the stereo versions sound bland by comparison. Thanks for bringing awareness of Gentle Giant to what I assume will be a younger audience.
Thanks Carl! You should have MANY more subscribers. Your smile and enthusiasm are contagious and your passion for playing comes through in every note! Keep it up brother, your gonna' have a successful channel!
The joy about finding Carl's channel is not only in the geniality on the guitar and the charisma, but also the fact we are crack addicts for the same bands LOL. Gentle Giant is one of the best things to ever exist in the history of humanity, not only music. Gary Green will always be an inspiration to me, his parts are intricate af yet super fluid, always enhancing what's been sung or played by the other members. True genius
I love Acquiring the Taste. I began when Columbia introduced Three Friends with the first album cover and then worked my way back to the imports. I believe it was 1972. I am an old man now who got to see them at the old Academy of Music in the Village when I was 17. Gentle Giant was even more incredible live being equally adept at all the instruments they played.
When people ask what my favorite band is I always say Gentle Giant. They are one of the few prog bands that are weird and do really off the wall stuff without ever making it inaccessible (at least to my ear)
Carl....finally...GG....my absolute fav prog rock gtoup......EVER......nobody has ever been even near them.....and its unlikely if we will see that happen,,,,,great video.... glad you made it....much appreceated.....cheers...
I discovered Gentle Giant when a pal of mine reccomended a band and I misunderstood what he said. I went to the used record shop and bought almost their whole catalog in one fell swoop. My first taste was Giant For A Day and the rest was as they say, history.
@@jojobizadTRASH I've always leaned toward prog rock anyway, and sometimes getting your feet wet with a more "commercial" outing helps you slide into a band. For example my first exposure to Frank Zappa was Apostrophe. I listened to GFAD then Civilian [which has some killer tracks] before "discovering" GG's more progressive earlier material in my pile.
@@rafaelallenblock that's true honestly. I mostly listened to prog bands through commercial music as well, though it took me a long time to find out they had prog music or were even a prog band to begin with. The beatles was one of them since they were widely popular, then Gensis and Yes, then King Crimson and recently Frank Zappa and gentle giant. funny enough Gentle Giant became the sole reason to why I listen to albums completely now, because all of their music is really solid.
Definitely one of the most criminally underrated bands of all time, of any genre! They’re most definitely my favourite of the ‘prog’ bands of the 70s. Shame there were no riffs from what I consider to be their golden period of Three Friends --> Free Hand
I was so lucky to see this band albeit towards the end of their career. As for their intricacy, as an example, the bass player also played a recorder, acoustic guitar, violin, drums and trumpet. Both the drummer and keyboard player played the xylophone plus the keyboardist also played the viola, acoustic guitar and flute. The end of the concert all the band members played varying drums to conclude what was for me the most mesmerizing concert i have ever attended.
Oh man. Gentle Giant have been my favourite band for the last 10 years. It’s good to see a RU-vid channel showing the guitar riffs of Gary green. So many cool blues licks infused with classical and folk music. 🤘🤘🇬🇧🇬🇧
Lucky enough, I was able to see GG once at the Montreal Centre Sportif (March 1973), had no idea who they were but was pleasantly surprised and stunned by their musical quality and skills! Thanks for posting.
Their album "Acquiring The Taste" (where most of these riffs come from) is a great place to start. GG really extended their reach on this album as it shows them at their most wide-ranging and creative. When you hear these riffs accompanied by the other instruments, and in the full context of the songs' compositions, you just might be blown away. What Gentle Giant created with this album, IMHO, stands out as an almost unique achievement in the rock music genre.
Thanks for this. I like the Alucard explanation🤗 Never thought of this. I got my first GG album 1971 and loved them since then. GG and King Crimdon are my favorite bands. I am happy to have seen GG twice in Stockholm Sweden in the mid-70s💗
I’m hearing a lot of darker influences. Like if King Crimson and Black Sabbath got together. And that third riff SCREAMS “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from Pyr Gint
I started listening to Gentle Giant back in 76/77?? The LB The Missing Piece was the first album that I was turned on to..Fell in love with them immediately. I saw them perform in Germany, I was stationed in Nuremberg Germany Feb.79-Sept.81 US Army.. Still listen and love them..
Saw them Missing Piece tour also.but they did stuff from Octopus(Knots) Freehand, Three Friends, Interview AndPower and the Glory…they were ridiculous…Accra-Ella’s, string art, then hard progressive rock
Man!!! What to say about this video?? GG is just perfect!! Its beautifull,intricate and heavy as f#ck in the same time!! I never saw anyone analysing the riffs that a love so much before! I glad you've done thas man!! Congrats from Brazil!!!!
I've known them since "Simon Dupree and the Big Sound" (still worth listening to!) and I followed them since their first record. Every release of the group was an event in my life. And I was lucky enough to experience them three times in Germany. I still love and miss them! 💖
When you picked the first song from Acquiring .., I thought 'Oh man, should've picked The house, the street... '. So glad you included that, and so many other great riffs from that album. It's my favourite one from GG , and boy do they have multiple perfect albums. Loved the video
Thanks for that Carl, you reminded me of what I never forgot - what a band Gentle Giant was, and what an underrated guitarrist Gary Green is. Best band ever!
I remember hearing them in the mid 1970s. They did not get a ton of US airplay, but I liked what I heard. Everyone else was into Genesis and Yes, so no one believed me. Just like Sparks a year later. I saw them open for Patti Smith at the Tower Theater in '76. Nobody believed me then either.
Nice work. I worshipped GG when I was a teenager and was delighted when I became acquainted with the excellent Ray Shulman after he quite liked my band The Dancing Did in the 1980’s. He is of course sadly no longer with us, but I am delighted to say that I am still in email conversation with his bereft widow Tan.
I got Turned on Freshman Year&Only knew a Handfull Who ever Heard in Maine!!Nice riff to Pick!Got it All 1 of My Many Favorite #1s!&Have Everything I've been able to Find since getting Job @Record Store!!So Completely Underated Here in US&Yet So Bloody Flamin Awesome!!1 Electric LP!&Their Still @Least a Legand to Me but England.Turned on as many as could!
Back in the 70s, I had Pantagruel's Nativity playing through a fairly hefty stereo system. My friend, who was a keen prog fan, walked in just as that killer riff started. His jaw dropped and he said "F****g hell! Who's this?"
Always liked GG and saw them live at the Shrine in L.A. back in 1976. Life happened and only recently got a craving for their music again and now own all their stuff. Can't pick a favorite album but I think yours is Acquiring The Taste! Cheers!
Fantastic stuff! I've only listened to their "Octopus" album so far, which is great, but now I'm really eager to dig into a lot more of their output now that you have demonstrated some of it so wonderfully here!
@@CarlBaldassarreMusic Just listened to their debut album straight through. WOW!!! Already blown away by the first listen, but can also tell that this one is going to reward repeated listening quite richly!!
Gentle Giant is by far the most important of all the so-called Progressive Rock bands to me. Three friends is my favourite studio album from them, but their live album Playing the Fool I like the most.
Hey Carl....I was waiting for the final amazing guitar riff from the song "In A Glass House"...my favourite riff by any band in the history of rock/prog/pop. So intricate and catchy. Gary Green is an under appreciated lead guitarist.
Fookin' finally, a RU-vid musician (sorry, a real musician on RU-vid) who gets the genius of Gentle Giant! Thank you so very much, dude! I don't really subscribe much to anyone, but you have bloody well earned it, mate. Thing about the use of "power chords" is, paradoxically enough, that less really is more. In the case of Gentle Giant, when Gary Green does occasionally blast them, in the context of a given song's intricate composition, they mean so much more and burn way, way brighter than when employed unrelentingly, start to finish, as with the vast majority of bands who rely solely upon them. Strangely enough, perhaps, Rush also understood this. Unlike GG, my very favorite band ever, no one in Rush was classically trained. I don't know how they possibly incorporated Bach's contrapuntalism into their songwriting, but they fcking well did. Now, there were other bands that had a sense of this, but other than Zappa, none of them was exactly a household name (even 50 years ago, in their heyday) a known entity outside the world of Prog. Maybe the most notable among these now very, very obscure bands was Greenslade, another truly unique outfit. Keyboardist and composer Dave Greenslade (who cut his teeth as a very young man with Dave Brubeck) met Tony Reeves, the most melodic bassist ever, when they both play with Colosseum, the most amazing pan-European jazz rock band of the 1960s. (Insert overlapping connections here with similarly unique vocalist Chris Farlowe, and by extension Atomic Rooster, whose original drummer was the Carl Palmer of ELP fame, etc, etc. British Prog was the most incestuous scene imaginable...) Anyway, Dave and Tony eventually leave Colosseum and form Greenslade, a band that not only composed somewhat in the style of GG, but also didn't really have a guitarist at all (until Martin Briley played on the last album!) Two keyboards, bass and very interesting drums provided by Andrew McCulloch, fresh from King Crimson. Dude, you would love this stuff, despite the no-guitar heresy, seriously. I'm going to try to link the song Melange from their Old Grey Whistle Stop live in the studio sessions. (Found it! Should be cued to Melange: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-U8NBCFO3GtI.html ) Very lastly, if you're going to do something with Giant again, I would be very curious as to what you think about the title track of Living in a Glass House. The band were ultimately unhappy with the album, so annoyed were they by being "rushed in the studio," but I love this record and I think that there is something very unique about it, even for Giant. That title track has these very abrupt changes in rhythm and instrumentation that still give me a thrill all these years later. Once again, thank you so much for this!
Wow I completely forgot about this band, years ago I was find one band which led to another then another etc and I remember discovering gentle giant (they were way before my time). Thanks for this I'm going to go listen to them now
Hello Carl. I am really enjoying your channel. I love the additional notes that you add with the music. It adds context to the music. I love the sound you have as well. It looks like a Les Paul going through a Marshal and the cabinet is a 2 x 12 Marshall? Could I get more details on your sound/tone. Its great. It's very authentic to the music you play. Thanks
Hey Carl, another fine vid. I feel a little put off I must say, I cut my teeth in the 70s but somehow this group never came in to my orbit or even awareness. So after your vid i checked out some of there music. Really not my cup of tea but i love your enthusiasm all the same. Peace brother. Keep up the good work. As an Ohio boy (Like me) I hope to hear some good old 70s MSB songs especially with Jonah Koslen. Some really cool guitar work and tunes.
Nice job as always Carl you know my Heyday was in the seventies LOL actually I just went out to the Akron Rubber bowl last week to check it out I was there in 1972 to see Jefferson Airplane where I had my first experience with tear gas LOL I sure was rocking back in the seventies playing at least two jobs a week and checking out every concert I possibly could oh yeah Cleveland was definitely rocking for me back then used to love to go to D fiori music it was just much much better time in music my opinion I really like watching your show is always got interesting stuff going on keep up the great work Carl where can I get your 23 schedule at😎🎼📹🎶🎸👍👍👍🍻🍕
Thanks for the walkthrough of Acquiring the Taste. I've been a fan since 1974, when a friend bought Power and the Glory. As a keyboard player, I was amazed by Kerry Minnear's sounds. Hammond and Clavinet together? Who knew? I think that in their progression (pun intended) from one album to the next, they went from being a prog band at the peak of their game to being a really, really good rock band, on Civilian. I don't think anyone else achieved this. Genesis went from prog to pop, but it's not the same. Bought your record, by the way.
I like all your vids ...but I agree with you 100% about GG. I went to a Humble Pie concert back in the 70's and they were opened by Gentle Giant. I had never heard of them before and they ended up being one of my fav live on stage bands. The music was so tight and they had such a stage energy / presence. Needless to say ...I own everything they have recorded :)
Carl, give a listen to the following: Foyers Of Fun by Tempest, Freefall by Camel and Shine On Brightly by Starcastle, I think you and or your followers may enjoy them. Garry
Hey Carl the one thing that stands out to me in your videos other than your incredible guitar playing is your tone. Can you maybe do a rundown of your rig at some point? Always admired that Les Paul of yours and the kick in a$$ sound you get out of it. Love your channel.
I love GG! I would have picked different riffs. Peel the Paint is a monster, Two Weeks in Spain intro is so lively and unique. Plain Truth. Again, I don’t think of Gentle Giant as a riff band. I love their entire compositions. Always happy to see any content related to them though, thanks.
Giant video! I love Gentle Giant's music complexity, thanks for the video. Would you please do a Yes video like this? Steve Howe is in my opinion one of the most playful guitarist and it's a joy listening to it so a break down of it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for your content and keep on rollin
Great video. I wish I could actually play an instrument and do something like this myself. Gentle Giant are a band that I 'like' but am yet to fully get into 100%. I know I'll get there in the end. Nice to see someone putting some effort into their background, candles and coloured lighting is a nice touch.
I have been a huge Gentle Giant fan for 35 years. I agree that no one before or since has achieved such greatness. I think you will have to do at least one more on them. River off Ocropus is my absolute most memorable GG riff. There might be over 1000 worth while GG riffs!
@@JeffCloutier True. One of their albums has more ideas than a lot of other bands' whole careers. Very hard to write so many melodies, let alone good ones.
Good stuff Carl. Always enjoy your videos. Is there any chance you could check out some of Marshall Tucker Band’s stuff. Their lead singer Toy Caldwell was a terrific guitarist
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