ORIG 1970 SWIRL VERTIGO GENTLE GIANT 1st Prog Psych TOP

$

158

  RARE 1970 UK ORIGINAL                         

VERTIGO SWIRL                          

                   GENTLE GIANT

\                          UK - SWIRL VERTIGO - 6360 020

Original 1970 first pressing vinyl in gatefold cover ... YES, it is the original SWIRL label VERTIGO pressing....of thevery first GENTLE GIANT album, though the cover was used for a US pressing (Three Friends) the first Gentle Giant album was not released in the USA and remains highly collectible....

Formed on the late 60's by the Shulmman brothers, GENTLE GIANT is known as the paradigmatic progressive rock band. With an uncomparable musicianship, they went as far as no one ever did into unexplored grounds in the progressive music, navigating over dissonant 20th-century classical chamber music, medieval vocal music, and jazzy edges.

Gentle Giant's eponymous first album (also called Tall Tales) remains a classic debut. The three Shulman brothers (of Glaswegian origin) were the backbone of a 60's pop outfit before being completely disgusted from the music busness , stopping a successful venture by breaking up and they took the drummer with them before finding Minnear and Green on keys and guitar respectively. The great thing about this album is maybe the most immediate and sincere album, maybe also the one recorded with the most urgency. On the downside, when GG complicates things a bit, it appears like they do for no particular reason except maybe to complicate for the sake of it (more on this/my opinion in the third paragraph) but later when they will do this, it will be better concealed.

This debut holds almost every element that will make their following albums classic prog albums. Here in this album their ideas sound FRESH, inventive and groundbreaking, some adjectives that I would not use to present you their sixth or seventh album (Power and Freehand) where they almost sound stale and less inspired.

Right from the fairly aggressive-sounding guitars of Giant to the Rigby-esque Quiet And Cold to the definitive Alucard , the first vinyl side sweats out their exuberance, their enthusiasm as if they wanted to avenge themselves from the years of forced hit-playing with Simon Dupree And The Big Sound by taking out their frustration on the studio magnetic tapes by torturing them to exhaustion. Then comes the pièce de resistance in the form of the 9 min Everything Is All (pardon the fun pun) with its absolutely orgasmic intro and developing into a wild track embodying one of the rare drum solo I find not boring - maybe because it is interrupted for a while by a jazzy Liszt-sounding KB. However the rest of the albums pales in comparison with this superb start, a bit like a rookie sprinting right from the start of the 1500 meter race , they seem to run out of steam. The needless Hendrix winks at electrifying their national anthem, being totally useless

- Gary Green / lead guitar, 12 string guitar
- Kerry Minnear / keyboard, some bass, cello, lead vocals, backing vocals, some tuned percussion
- Derek Shulman / lead vocals, backing vocals, some bass
- Phil Shulman / winds, recorder, lead vocals, backing vocals
- Ray Shulman / most bass, violin, some guitar, percussion, backing vocals
- Martin Smith / drums, percussion

1. Giant (6:22)
2. Funny Ways (4:21)
3. Alucard (6:00)
4. Isn't It Quiet And Cold? (3:51)
5. Nothing At All (9:08)
6. Why Not (5:31)
7. The Queen (1:40)

CONDITION: The Cover: fraugile delicate British gatefold in TOP shape except for a well repaired sticker pull tear that is hard to see (check photo at mid top left) and otherwise is EXcellent to M- on the rest of the front & back cover and inside gatefold ...no split seams, no bends, no writing ...Overall call it VG+ as with the one condition aspect, but otherwise highly nice...

The Vinyl: all glossy clean over both sides, "EX" (excellent) having no more than some light inner sleeve paper type scuffs (not audible),  and plays minty clean TOP level ...both the SWIRL Vertigo labels are CLEAN....

      A cool addition to anyone's music library!

SEE: SELLERS OTher items for similar cool sounds for "head" people...

EFFICIENT/CAREFUL GRADING

All imperfections are noted both cover & record