Memory:Chuck Bauer
It is probably the highlight of my musical life to have seen GG two times live. I was working at Denny's music in Portland Oregon when they came through in the late spring or summer of 1973. I'd heard about this incredible progressive English band, and had picked up, I believe, Three Friends and Octopus at that point...Here's the strangest part--they were booked into the Paramount Theatre with Sha-Na-Na, but in true Oregon style the folks were openminded enough to recognize true genius when GG started playing!! The packed house went nuts and I'm sure the promoters were scratching their heads. For this cellist and bassist (I was playing for Cam Newton, a Portland guitarist with several records now to his credit) seeing Kerry and Ray rocking that hard on cello and bass made GG the finest concert I'd ever seen (or ever would see) until...
Three years later, in November, 1975, Free Hand had just hit the stores and I was in London and GG was playing all by themselves at a downtown theatre--a dream come true. My girlfriend and I raced onto the tube and joined the happy throng...By that time I knew most of the words to most of the songs (or thought I did) and the place rocked like no place has ever rocked. With each song the sheer joy of the crowd mushroomed and when the sequential lights encircling their stage amps went off the place erupted, of course. GG was and is a truly unique electric ensemble (calling them a 'band' seems silly--Hootie and the Blowfish are a 'band'). They used all the familiar electric and non-electric instruments and sounds to create a completely different kind of music...Being at one of their shows gave you the feeling you were witnessing or even participating in something timeless and thrilling. Since then, I've thought many times that GG were ahead of their time in so many ways--they surely would be universally in demand if films or videos existed of the shows I saw! Judging from the comments from others--that goes for any show they ever did. Thank you, Mssrs Shulman, Minnear, Green and Weathers.