Gentle Giant - Three Friends, Vertigo Spiral g/fold 1st

	£		85
	$		112

Gentle Giant - Three Friends

ORIGINAL COPY. FIRST UK PRESSING. Released 1972.  Stereo. Vertigo Records, catalogue number; 6360 070, Matrix numbers; 6360 070 1/2 Y //2 420.

SUPERB CONDITION ORIGINAL UK FIRST WITH SWIRL LABEL, VERY HARD TO FIND. One owner from new. He even went to the gig and the ticket is stuck to the inner sleeve!

This record is deleted and not available new on vinyl.

Currently selling for £35 on eil.com, and $48-132 on GEMM.

The last copies sold on eBay went for £40-108.

99p start.

Overall Sleeve Condition : EXCELLENT (NEAR MINT).

Gatefold Front cover: Superb bar tiny rub to top left corner. Unrubbed and unfaded.

Gatefold inner cover: Mint.

Edges: No rubs, no scuffs, no seam splits.

Corners:  Very light rubs.

Opening Slit: No scuffs, no rubs, no tears.

This cover has been kept in stunning condition by the previous owner.

Vinyl Condition, Visual:  MINT.

Superb, looks as new, does not look worn or seem to have had any play, kept in a polylined inner sleeve.

Vinyl Condition, Audible:  MINT.

Plays superbly. Well preserved and cared for, no decrease from the original sound quality. Kept in stunning condition by the previous owner. No skips, no jumps, no sign of any play, no wear.

Label Condition :  MINT.

Spiral Vertigo label.

Tracklist:

Kerry Minnear, keyboards, vibraphone, percussion, Moog, vocals; Ray Shulman, basses, violin, 12-string guitar, vocals; Gary Green, guitars, percussion; Derek Shulman, vocals; Malcolm Mortimore, drums; Philip Shulman, saxes, vocals; Calvin Shulman, boy's voice

exhaustive reviews.... http://www.progreviews.com/reviews/display.php?rev=gg-tf

Gentle Giant's third album (and their first self-produced effort, Tony Visconti having run the sessions on the two previous records) was another advance, this time in the direction of a harder rock sound — everything sounds turned up here, especially the guitars, the bass, and the electronic keyboards. Three Friends hardly sacrificed any of the group's progressive intentions, however, and there are some softer moments here, such as the playful, sprightly first half of "Schooldays"; the harmonies and arrangements still had a distinctly medieval feel, and the melodies, though a little harder to discern here (which made them even more appealing when they did become obvious), were quite engaging. This is supposed to be a concept album, about the relationship between three friends across a lifetime, and the original notes and lyrics have been reprinted, but none of that is necessary in order to enjoy the songs here.

Formed at the dawn of the progressive rock era in 1969, Gentle Giant seemed poised for a time in the mid-'70s to break out of its cult-band status, but somehow never made the jump. Somewhat closer in spirit to Yes and King Crimson than to Emerson, Lake & Palmer or the Nice, their unique sound melded hard rock and classical music, with an almost medieval approach to singing.

Gentle Giant was born out of the ruins of Simon Dupree & the Big Sound, an R&B-based outfit led by brothers Derek, Ray, and Phil Shulman. After switching to psychedelia in 1967 and scoring their only major hit that year with "Kites," as Gentle Giant the group abandoned both the R&B and psychedelic orientations of the previous band; Derek sang and played guitar and bass, Ray sang and played bass and violin, and Phil handled the saxophone, augmented by Kerry Minnear on keyboards, and Gary Green on guitar. Their original lineup also featured Martin Smith on drums, but they went through several percussionists in the first three years of their existence.

In 1970, Gentle Giant signed to the Vertigo label, and their self-titled first album — a shockingly daring work mixing hard rock and full electric playing with classical elements — came out later that year. Their second effort, 1971's Acquiring the Taste, was slightly more accessible and their third, Three Friends, featuring Malcolm Mortimore on drums, was their first record to get released in the U.S. (on Columbia). Their fourth album, 1973's Octopus, looked poised for a breakthrough; it seemed as though they had found the mix of hard rock and classical sounds that the critics and the public could accept, and they finally had a permanent drummer in the person of John Weathers, an ex-member of the Graham Bond Organisation.

In 1974, however, Gentle Giant began coming apart. Phil Shulman decided to give up music after the Octopus tour, and became a teacher. Then the group recorded the album In a Glass House, their hardest-rocking record yet, which Columbia's U.S. arm rejected as too uncommercial. The two-year gap in their American release schedule hurt their momentum, and they weren't heard from again until the Capitol release of The Power and the Glory in 1975.

Gentle Giant released Free Hand, their most commercial album, in 1976, but then followed it up with the jarringly experimental Interview. After the 1978 double-album Playing the Fool, the group went through a seeming change of heart and issued a series of albums aimed at mainstream audiences, even approaching disco, but by the end of the 1970s their popularity was in free-fall. Minnear, who had been playing an ever-more central role since the mid-'70s, had already left the group when Gentle Giant called it quits in 1980. Ray Shulman later became a producer and had considerable success in England working with bands like the Sundays and the Sugarcubes, while Derek Shulman became a New York-based record company executive.

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UK Record Collector Grading System:

MINT: The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in the sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition.

EXCELLENT (US version of this term: Near Mint): The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in the sound quality. The cover and packaging might have slight wear and/or creasing.

VERY GOOD (US version of this term: VG++): The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover, or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

GOOD (US version of this term: VG): The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits etc.