We’d do about 40 minutes, clear the stage, the screen would come down and they’d show the film,” Weathers recalls. “It was a very strange setup. But after we’d seen the movie once, we didn’t need to hang around.” Jeff Lynne was in the Idle Race, Robert Plant was in the Band Of Joy, Robert Fripp in the League Of Gentlemen,” explains Derek. “We were all going through a similar thing: people started to move away from pop music.” The brothers – who soon dispensed with most of the rest of the Big Sound – had a champion in manager Gerry Bron, who put them on a weekly wage, with a road crew to build their dream. It was Bron, too, who was instrumental in their new name: “Colin Richardson, a wordsmith who worked for Gerry, titled us,” Phil recalls. “‘You play gently and you play loud: Gentle Giant.’ At first I cringed: it sounded like someone selling sweetcorn.” As 1973 dawned, and the release date loomed for Octopus in America, the single most significant shift in Gentle Giant’s decade-long history occurred – Phil Shulman, ideas man, gangmaster, left the band. Of course, it wasn’t just music – it was family too. Today, Phil is reflective: “It’s done. It’s history.” US and Canadian releases were released by Columbia and used a different cover by Charles White. Early versions of this cover were die-cut into a jar shape.

doesn't mean I have to become a fan. 3 stars for historical significance and a fun play from time to time. the first opportunity. What I heard sometimes inspired me, and at other times I was completely turned off. It just did Mortimore began adapting to the group’s funny ways: “There was a lot of sibling rivalry. Phil, the older brother, was our kind of gangmaster 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.”

GENTLE GIANT Videos (YouTube and more)

soaring at times with a triumphant brass pseudo-crescendo. A little like a slightly happier VdGG song. Class And Quality: Gentle Giant shot exclusively for Prog in Portsmouth, August 2017. L-R: Kerry Minnear, Derek Shulman, Phil Shulman, Ray Shulman.

a clue what the subliminal phrases they're singing mean so don't ask me. I'm just enjoying the ride. rest of the songs, this is a beautiful ballad that does not seem out of place at all. One of my favorite

Credits

accessible and yet still deep albums to garner such a consistent and high rating. After this album, Now I'd be interested whether the original tapes / issues may have already been of an inferior quality or what it was that explains this. a wonderful, exhilarating feeling. And hearing "Raconteur Troubadour" for the first time was similar in