Gentle Giant was a, now known as, Progressive rock band from the 70s in England. They started off as a backing band for Simon Dupree & the Big Sound. When they realized that this was not the direction they wanted to tread, they dropped that scene and started experimenting with different styles of music, ranging from rock, blues, midevil, and free formed jazz. They original line-up consisted of the 3 original Shulman bros., Derek, Ray & Phil, Kerry Minear, Gary Green and their first drummer, Martin Smith. After recording their first two albums, "Gentle Giant" & "Acquiring the Taste", Martin departed ways with the band and was quickly replaced with Malcolm Mortimore. Their next album, "Three Friends", proved to be a huge "progress" from thier first albums, but again, after these two albums, Malcolm parted from the group. They then found permanent drummer/percussionist John Weathers, who made an explosive enterance on their next album. "Octopus", which is a pun for "Octo Opus" or "Eight Piece Opus". But yet, more departures were soon to arise. Phil Shulman decided to giv up the music scene and return to his original career as a teacher.They then began writing more complex concept albums in the mid 70s. One of which was their 1974 effort, "In a Glass House". Froom then on, Gentle Giant would produce albums that the public would come to appreciate a bit more than their earlier efforts. 75's "The Power and the Glory" would be their the last album that Gentle Giant would make for the record label, Columbia, and move to the fledgling record company, One-Way Records. Under their new record label, they recorded thier critically acclaimed 76 release, "Free Hand". From there, it seemed that success was at in their grasp. 76's "In'terview", a concept album about a band that is being interviewed about how it feels to be a band & consisting of phony interviews and new material, it was another notch in their belt of success. 77's "The Missing Piece" was not as well reviewed as it's two predeccesors. They then released their only Live cut, "Playing the Fool", which recieved well reviews but still not as good as it's predecessors. From their, Gentle Giant began slipping downhill. Their final two efforts, 78's "Giant for a Day!", considered to be Giant's worst album ever, and 80's "Civilian" were a portrayal to the public that Gentle Giant was ready to call it quits. They disbanded in 1980 and are still disbanded to this day. A handful of compilations and bootlegs were released throughout the years to keep Gentle Giant sales up and the band had recently reunited in the early 90s for a small tour across some of Europe. Today, singer Derek Shulman is a record compony executive for a label in New York, Ray Shulman has become a record producer in England, John still performs for other small folk bands in Europe, and Kerry owns the rights to all of Gentle Giant's music, and Gary tours with different blues bands around Europe. So here's to you Gentle Giant, for a decade of musical integrity and genius!
