Listening to Gentle Giant: Free Hand, Part 1

[@markjohnson4217]

Thank you for diving into Gentle Giant, they are being overlooked. I first assumed, like many listeners, that they were directly influenced by YES and early Genesis. But the Shulman Brothers claim that in the late sixties, before the progressive rock wave occurred, they were so tightly knit within their circle of musicians and their studying and playing together, that they had no idea what was going on 'out there' in terms of rock trends. They were so busy listening to each other that they developed their sound and style almost autonomously. It is true that their 1969 debut was already deep into the sauce while Genesis were still finding their legs and YES were essentially an epic jazz fusion Beatles on steroids. Gentle Giant, much like King Crimson just suddenly appeared fully formed!!! They have since become every musician's favorite cult band. EVERY musician knew all about them and was a fan. They were more successful in Europe of course, so in North America we can still cherish them as our 'secret treasure', Lol!!

[@guitarjonn7103]

I saw that in a Derek Shulman interview, as well. The other similarity I think they had with Robert Fripp was commercial success was much less a priority than what was interesting and stimulating to their ears, which made them both very unique. Curious what Fripp thought of them now, I have to check it out.

[@DeadnWoon]

@@guitarjonn7103 It's actually very strange for me to find out that KC members have not said a word about GG and GG's music. JT's Ian Anderson is known to have said a few words, Yes is, ELP, Genesis and KC aren't.

[@wendellwiggins3776]

RIP RAY SHULMAN 🙁 I played bass in the 70's and saw him with GIANT LIVE 74 & 76, close to the stage at smaller venues and he was often the main focus of my attention, admiration and LOVE when performing. I loved his style and incredible fun stage presence and diverse amazing talent!!!!!! RAY WAS 2nd to Chris Squire as bass player but Ray WAS the key writer & composer with Kerry on most of GG GREATEST MUSIC! This is TRULY SAD for me to hear. I TRULY SAW HIM as one of the BEST in PROG even though based on Social Prog Media he was TOO often overlooked and underappreciated as a MAJOR TALENT in MUSIC!! MUCH LOVE for the GIFT he brought to us in his LIFE!!!!! tears tears

[@ithaliem]

Side two has one of their most beautiful and dramatic song His Last Voyage. Great lyrics too.

[@Tahquitz]

Ray Shulman’s bass playing is of the charts!

[@GentleGiantOfficial]

Thanks for the love! Keep up the great work!

[@JimNewstead]

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!!

[@jupiterlegrand4817]

If I could go back in time and relive one concert, it would be GG. No band...ever...were as great as they were live. Some of the best and most complex prog music ever done. Man I love GG.

[@timbarnes3728]

This is a great entry point to the band’s style I think, some of this stuff is mind boggling but still so funky and their sense of rhythm is just so good

[@paulself8698]

One of the best and most intelligent bands ever.

[@cybore213]

Ahh, takes me back to high school years. I got this album as a Christmas gift in '75 and listened to it quite a lot. My friends had most of their other albums, so I had heard and liked their music before Free Hand as well. We listened to mostly prog so we knew them well, but they definitely are an acquired taste.

[@flowersnyams]

Gentle Giant, King Crimson, Van Der Graaf Generator. Three bands at the pinnacle of Progressive music.

[@alwayscasesensitive]

3 of my all time fave bands!

[@xlerb_again_to_music7908]

BRILLIANT! WONDERFUL! Astonishing! ....Jim, Jim we've waited so long... Must have heard Free Hand 30 times. The SW version is brighter, clearer, more transparent. Plus slightly more forward drums. But GG are Genius. Can't get over how good Free Hand is, and how you really can't trust instinct as to what will happen next. I really, really greatly enjoyed this! As, methinks, did you. Side 2, next! Also I think this is qualifies as prog... :) and Zappa liked it.

[@johnhanaly2943]

Gentle Giant music is the only music that gives me goose bumps every time.

[@robst247]

Fantastic idiosyncratic album from my all-time favourite band. It sounds just as fresh to me now as it did the first time I ever heard it, nearly half a century ago. Brilliant, original, innovative compositions. Virtuoso musicianship. Each band member was a multi-instrumentalist. Fascinating rhythmical, melodic and harmonic patterns, shifts, developments and reprises. Wonderfully unique combinations of timbres. Witty references to disparate musical periods and genres. Incredibly tight ensemble playing. Crystal-clear recording and production. Amazingly, they played these complex and intricately woven songs just as well live as in the studio. On stage, they practically juggled instruments mid-song and between songs. Unfortunately, I saw them only once, on the 'Interview' tour at Warwick University on 6 May 1976, with an audience of only about 250 people sitting on Persian carpets! The band lost money on that and many other gigs. But it was the most jaw-dropping and entertaining evening of live music I have EVER experienced. It's great to see the younger generation, represented by Jim, enjoying and appreciating GG.

[@matweb8195]

I picked this album up for about 10 years before finally just buying the bloody thing a few years back. There was always something else I wanted to buy instead! Haven't really heard the Wilson remix, so this has been a pleasant listen. Cheers. (This album reminds me of The Tàin by the Horslips)

[@2wayplebney]

One of my favourite GG albums. I love the part in Free Hand where there are alternately soothing and maddening parts. It's wonderful car music. And wonderful , timeless stuff.

[@erichaubner20]

Love your commentary and appreciation for GG music and their abilities as musicians. I’ve been a fan of the band since the age of 15 in the mid 70s when the band was criminally underrated and it makes my heart sing to see a renewed interest in Gentle Giant, better late than never I suppose.

[@mikeschmelzer9733]

My favorite GG album.Saw them live in 79-80 supporting this album. Groundbreaking prog. One of a kind for sure! Once you acquire the taste, there is no going back.lol

[@hilocus]

Great choice Jim. Still my favorite album from GG. The Steven Wilson remix brings some improvements but the original was already excellent.

[@IllumeEltanin]

huh. This is new to me, and I know it came out in '75, long before 90125 by Yes. But, the opening vocal on Just The Same instantly made me think of Hearts by Yes. Completely different feel. But the opening vocal put me right there.

[@lesblatnyak5947]

GG opened for Yes and if you watch them you'll notice a cousin like relationship between the bands.

[@TheProgCorner]

My favorite GG album!!! So good!!!

[@jethrotool4828]

Hell yeah, love this band more than words can describe. Can’t wait for you to listen to their earlier stuff

[@Bawookles]

Hope you listen to more Gentle Giant! If you are into Prog, they are simply one of the best ever. I love Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, etc., but Gentle Giant was sort of the apex of complexity in terms of arrangement of all the Prog groups.

[@rogerhennie8939]

One of many great GG albums. You should check out The Power and the Glory and Octopus next.

[@MisterWondrous]

Excited and thoroughly entertained. Also looking, listening, forward to the other side, whereon sits Talybont, my favorite.

[@bauertime]

Yes, Gentle Giant, and then the rest.

[@markdrechsler5660]

Possibly my favorite GG album. They will grow on you if you give them a chance. I’ve probably known this album for 40 years, and it still sounds fresh. That to me is always a sign. For those of you just discovering this remarkable band, enjoy. Their first eight albums are all worth a listen. “Free Hand” was their seventh studio release.

[@PeterPanick]

After "Interview" their 8th album I confess I've lost interest. Saw them in their very last tour back in 1980 and more recently their reincarnation as Three Friends i.e. Gary Green's band. My signed photo of me standing between Gary Green and Malcom Mortimore is the best souvenir of this amazing band.

[@DavePigott2000]

I saw then live on the Free Hand tour - amazing gig. Only outstripped by seeing King Crimson 3 years ago.

[@maceddie666]

Not that big at the time, except among those who knew them. I wish I had seen them live.They made many good albums. I'm happy that you got around to them - your life is richer now lol.

[@sidecardog5244]

I owned The Power and the Glory and Octopus as a teenager. I loved it but is was not too popular at least in the US. None of my friends “got it”…so you know, peer pressure…. Edit: Neal Morse of Spock’s Beard was heavily influenced by GG. See Gibberish for a rip off….er…homage to the masters of quirky, er, unique glorious Prog.

[@nathanaelcole8466]

Oh yeah! Gentle Giant. My favorite 70's prog band, they are so so good.

[@lesblatnyak5947]

Very cool Jim. love GG saw them 4 times. They were far better live, really magnificent musicians.

[@2407paul]

He Jim, Three Friends by GG should be a target, its ssooo absolutly magic. Fi Schooldays is really unbelievable, go for it!

[@twelvemonkeys8786]

Cant wait for side two 👍

[@klausheckendorf649]

I was into Led Zeppelin und stuff like that and also jazz-rock which became popular at that time when I first heard a song by a strange band called Gentle Giant - and it was "Just the same". Some sort of jazz-rock with lyrics. Before that I didn´t know what to think of them - I only had seen photos in rock magazines of people dressed up like Robin Hood and seemingly playing silly instruments. The music of the song therefore came totally unexpected to me and I was absolutely hooked - it was so groovy and at the same time so unique. The conclusion of the years following their music was : music could go anywhere - there´s no limits as long as there is a group of musicians being capable of that creativity. That is what made Gentle Giant my band and yes, until now.

[@palantir135]

I know this album already; it’s great. I’m a fan of Gentle Giant. I love their complicated music, the great harmonies; they could do it more easily but no, let’s make it very difficult. My favorite album so far is Three Friends; Schooldays, is epic.

[@Alix777.]

Schooldays is my favorite GG song ! I like Three friends a lot...The thing that I somehow dislike in this band is the singer...he's good but I think his voice take "too much place" sometimes. And I'm not a fan of his tone neither. On Three friends, it's different...

[@relayerdan]

Free Hand is not my favorite Gentle Giant album but it's a killer album, timeless classic

[@kevinlee7257]

Love this album - coming from south Hampshire in the UK, they were a local band for me. Never as big as Yes/Genesis and the other big boys of prog but arguably the most inventive of all. Never saw them live but there's a great BBC Sight & Sound special on KZbin, including Free Hand, On Reflection and Just The Same from this album. Nobody else in rock switches their instruments around like this band.

[@edgeofnow]

Gentle Giant was a huge influence on Ian Anderso of Jethro Tull!

[@wicky4473]

I remember the band name, but not really familiar with their work. Loving it!

[@grahamhowes6904]

Geniuses at the peak of musicianship - so amazing live. Steven Wilson needs to revivify the LIVE PLAYING THE FOOL -actually their best album. Then there’s also Gryphon playing some of this kind of music. But GG tip it further into cross musical styles.

[@murdockreviews]

I think this (maybe together with "Power and Glory" and "Three Friends") is the perfect Gentle Giant album where they found the right balance in their music: it's absolutely unique and complex without becoming totally inaccessible. Early math-rock, almost. Quirk-prog 😉

[@PeterPanick]

Barock

[@tswade13]

GG is just fantastic. Check out an Italian band, AREA. Contemporaries of GG and with equal virtuosity and possibly even stranger, compositionally. Freehand was my first listen to GG and opened up whole new worlds for me.

[@slamduncan4794]

Man, I don't know what to say except that this is just fun! What a band!

[@twelvemonkeys8786]

This is so good. Thanks Jim.. Cardiacs definitely influenced by these guys... Try Opeth, A Fair Judgement 👍

[@threestringsomg]

Confession....just watched the Doug version of this album listen along ( the swilson remix digital version btw....which sounded incredible) and loved it ....then looking at connecting videos underneath realised I'd only watched half of part 1 with you Jim🤭....despite seeing it b4 Doug's today....lol anyway hope you don't speak over the final drum roll (Doug was veeeery tipsy so he's forgiven 😁)

[@JimNewstead]

Maybe I was very tipsy too 🥴

[@sylvanm4216]

Popularity-wise, Gentle Giant was a bit of an oddity in that they seem to have been completely ignored in their native UK. In the US, they were a big touring attraction at the time, comparable in popularity to a band like Genesis. Except, of course, Genesis went on to become mega-stars in the post-prog world, while Gentle Giant faded away.

[@randygray8921]

I only listen to GG in complete album sittings. My personal favorite is Three Friends.. lol

[@threestringsomg]

There is a definite difference in sound quality....though that open inevitably earthy sound of vinyl makes up for the overall slightly lighter/thinner sound compared to the SW remaster....unless it is the remaster and just sounds different on vinyl anyway of course☺️

[@JimNewstead]

It is the SW Remix… not sure why it sounds different 🤷‍♂️

[@alnitak208]

Question : _what genre, what kind is Gentle Giant's music ? Groovy ? Polyphonic ? Funky ? Madrigal ? Rock ? Experimental ? Answer : _Yes. ^^

[@Frankincensedjb123]

Not a Gentle Giant fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I found this interesting.

[@sallerterrer1285]

I would love to see your reaction when you listen to this masterpiece: Gentle Giant - Three Friends (Official Audio) kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYiae5qiaM2hY6s

[@Rowenband]

On reflection is such a strange piece, and they did it completely differently on stage ! I hear no major difference in this mix… a bit clearer sound especially for the drums.

[@pasit1738]

Very, very Yes-ish and Gentle Giant must have been a big influence for the Spock's Beard, too. I just watched a documentary series on Norvegian black metal, so... my mind is set for something else. But Gentle Giant doesn't seem that much up to my alley anyway.

[@JimNewstead]

Haha! Definitely not in the right mood for this then!!!!

[@Alix777.]

Overlooked album...but I think it's a well balanced one, with shorter/less complex songs (well sort of ^ ^), but no less talent. I have the vinyl too !

[@JJ8KK]

I have to admit that I have a rather _limited_ appreciation for Gentle Giant. They were the most extremely experimental prog band that I developed any kind of a taste for. I've often listened to the entirety of *The Power & The Glory* for it has enough steady semi-melodic passages that are worth waiting for after enduring _yet another_ of their "structured chaos" passages. When I've sampled some of their other albums, I haven't heard much that I wanted to immerse myself in. Polyrhythms have their place, but when they start to sound like a chaotic mishmash, I lose interest...

[@MaraxisArcanist]

Definitely not for me, but I'm glad you're happy with it! 😁

[@JimNewstead]

Fair enough! I couldn't listen to this very often, but it's interesting enough and fun that I want to listen to it again.

[@johnhanaly2943]

Disco was polluting the environment so extensively that people missed the Giant completely. Poor souls!

[@lenpey]

You "loved it!" ? That's not what you said at the time!

[@JimNewstead]

First time, not so much, but I’ve been back and listened multiple times since that first listen in 2018!

[@Altres]

Aw cool, I actually don't know this album at all.

[@Altres]

Steve Howe really rates them.

[@Altres]

It's like Yes if they'd gone post-punk for Tormato instead of Intergallactic Battle-pig. .

[@Altres]

The vocal stuff is Zappaesque, but also the King Singers. Like if The Plastic People of the Universe covered British Medieval castrato rock.

[@Altres]

Nice use of the word "unique".

[@Altres]

Summer In the City by the Lovin Spoonfill on some lsd supplied by a 3rd year chemistry student