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''- Alan Kinsman. With thanks for their assistance to Kerry Minnear, Ray Shulman and John 'Pugwash' Weathers.'' | ''- Alan Kinsman. With thanks for their assistance to Kerry Minnear, Ray Shulman and John 'Pugwash' Weathers.'' | ||
== Press release == | |||
''This is a Civilian press release, circa 1980.'' | |||
Since the release of their first album in 1971, the members of Gentle Giant have enjoyed a continuing reputation as one of the first and best of England's "progressive" bands. They're one of the longest-lasting as well; the present line-up consists of four founding members plus drummer John Weathers, who has been in the band for seven years and as many albums. | |||
The Giant's longevity has been no easy thing to come by. The band has survived trials that would rend lesser groups asunder within months: slow acceptance in their homeland; lack of record label support in the vital early stages of their development; the pressures of international touring without adequate preparation; and the obvious difficulties that come with bringing forth music that's adventurous and "different" and with finding an audience for it. | |||
There's plenty in the other side of the balance, and that's what's kept Gentle Giant alive and continuing to adventure. An audience came to Gentle Giant relatively quickly--an international audience, bringing the band fans throughout Europe and North America. The determined spirit of the members of Gentle Giant is not to be dismissed lightly; never has there been any attempt to disband in the face of adversity. And, certainly, there's the music. With their opening out of what had been standard and accepted forms of rock and roll, the members of Gentle Giant make major contributions to the post-Sgt. Pepper listening generation. | |||
All of which is a rather grand way of putting what the group themselves tend to understate. Indeed, when home-turf critics began to dismiss Gentle Giant's early albums as overreaching in their drawings from classical, jazz and pop forms, the group provided a cheerfully disdainful reply--by lighting up a huge, flashing "Pretentious" sign behind themselves onstage during some of the more sophisticated passages. | |||
Derek and Ray Shulman, together with a third brother, Phil, began their musical careers in a number of bands playing dance music--not disco in those days, but largely rhythm and blues. The most notable early incarnation of the Shulman brothers was an organization named [[Simon Dupree and the Big Sound]] (Derek was "Simon Dupree" in the event that anybody would inquire), who recorded an album and a few singles--two of which, "Kites" and "For Whom The Bell Tolls," place in the British charts. | |||
As the Shulmans played more and more, they began to grow dissatisfied with what was essentially a limiting format. "We were getting more familiar with our instruments," explains Derek. "It was a natural enough progression, really, growing from our own increased musical awareness and from simple boredom with playing the same old things all of the time." | |||
The Shulmans took a year off before regrouping as Gentle Giant in 1970. Joining them at that time were blues and jazz guitarist Gary Green, a Royal Academy of Music graduate keyboardist Kerry Minnear, and the first of a succession of drummers that would end three years later with the permanent addition of John Weathers--an alumnus of the Graham Bond Organization and the Grease Band. Phil Shulman retired in 1972. | |||
Gentle Giant have recorded eleven albums prior to the 1980 release of [[Civilian]], a prodigious number for any group of musicians. Adding to the confusion Stateside is the fact that the second ([[Acquiring the Taste]]) was not issued in the U.S. until after the group's later success, and that two ([[Gentle Giant (album)|Gentle Giant]] and [[In A Glass House]]) remain unavailable here except as sought-after imports. The band have label-hopped from Mercury to Columbia, to Capitol, and --now--back to Columbia. Although they have toured the United States and Canada quite successfully, they took a 2 1/2 year recess from the road (and 1 1/2 years from the studio) while preparing [[Civilian]], their Columbia Records reunion. | |||
[[Civilian]] marks several changes in Gentle Giant's method of recording. Though they have produced themselves in the past, this time they've brought in Geoff Emerick, the Grammy-winning engineer of such classics as Sgt. Pepper and Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon. "We decided to stay away from the control board this time, and do what we do best--play. Being able to do that, with someone we trust running the controls, took quite a burden off our shoulders," says Derek. | |||
Gentle Giant also came to these sessions far more prepared than had been their past experience. Their year and a half away from the studio was spent relaxing (Derek Shulman lives in Los angeles; Ray in New York and London; and Gary, Kerry and John in england); and nine months of songwriting and rehearsal; culminating in three months of recording and mixing. "Ray, Kerry and I wrote together, taped what we had, listened, and taped again before going into the studio with the full band. We had the opportunity to rethink compositions, and to get them absolutely right. We didn't jump into things this time; we approached writing and recording in a much more mature way." | |||
The result is available for all to hear. "the ardent fans who have loved us should be pleased, but I think we will be making some new fans, too." | |||
"[[Civilian]] isn't a concept album as such, but it does have the thread of what we're thinking about running through it. The lyrics aren't quite as personal as they may have been in the past; they're much more--how shall I say it?--aware. But there's no heavy social content. We're not politicians, after all. We come from an urban environment, and we try to bring that into our music. When the record goes on the turntable, people will know immediately what the song's about." | |||
In support of the album, Gentle Giant are preparing for a lengthy touring schedule. Derek says that they're looking forward to it. "Back in the early days, being on the road was pretty harrowing. There's a saying among British musicians that if you can make it through your first U.S. tour, you'll be around for a long time. We did, and we have been. This time, we're going to put the album on the road and be a band again... a band of musicians, who enjoy what we're doing. We want to eat, breathe and live Gentle Giant. We're entering the decade with a really optimistic feeling." | |||
== Reviews and Ratings == | == Reviews and Ratings == | ||