GENTLE GIANT - 1st, SELF TITLED - UK FIRST PRESSING

	£		133
	$		176

GENTLE GIANT – SELF TITLED

ORIGINAL UK 1st PRESSING – VERTIGO SWIRL

RARE AND HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE UK LP, FIRST ORIGINAL PRESSING  E/X+  E/X

“I have decided to sell my record collection which has been accumulated over many years”

I am not a trader or record shop. I am music fan who has collected vinyl records over many years and over the coming days/weeks I will be offering rare, and much sought after vinyl records including Prog Rock, Blues, Folk, etc from collectible labels such as Pink Island, Blue Horizon, Deram/Decca, Atlantic plum, Vertigo swirl etc etc..

Artist:  Gentle Giant

Title:   Gentle Giant

Catalogue No:  6360 020

Release Year:  1970

Country of origin:  UK LP - original Vertigo Swirl first pressing/issue.

This LP is in EXCELLENT CONDITION+ and is genuinely a reluctant sale.

There are absolutely no obvious visible scuffs, no sticking or jumps. Both sides of the vinyl and sleeve visually clean.

This LP is a stunning example of this wonderful Gentle Giant LP on the original UK pressed Vertigo Swirl. If you’re looking at this typical English fusion of hard rock and classical music LP featuring Derek, Ray and Phil Shulman, Garry Green, Kerry Minnear and Martin Smith et al, then it’s likely you are already aware of how collectible this LP is, especially in this condition! This LP is becoming increasingly collectible. Usually it turns up with some flaw or other which depreciates their value, e.g. fragile cover etc – however, this one is in Excellent+ condition!

Discerning and serious collectors, and particularly Gentle Giant fanatics, know that to have this LP on this original Vertigo Swirl label in their collection is a ‘must’, and an indispensable addition their catalogue – This rare and original Vertigo Swirl first pressing of Gentle Giant’s eponymous and innovative LP is greatly sought after!

Record Grading

Before I offer for sale I play grade to check my LP’s and I have just played both sides on an upmarket deck.

The LP plays excellent+, with just some very minimal background (static??) sound underneath the instrumentation on just a couple of the quieter songs. On the louder songs there is no sound distortion whatsoever.

As always, I am being genuine and highly critical, but honest in my evaluation of the LP; You’d be thinking I’m doing myself an injustice with my description but I treat others the way I wish to be treated myself so I am describing it to the best of my ability. (I have not attempted to thoroughly clean the record in case of damage to the LP)… (EX+)

There are no ‘jumps’ or sticking whatsoever and the audio quality is truly amazing.

The winning bidder will not be disappointed!

LP Cover

Unlaminated gatefold sleeve

No rips, tears, unwanted ink, blemishes...etc. The LP cover is in excellent condition and still retains bright colours and a solid structure. This is somewhat amazing due to the fragile production of the cover. The gothic ‘olde’ English text inside the gatefold sleeve is perfect! There is minimum feathering to the edges. (EX)

Labels

Both Vertigo Swirl labels free of unwanted ink and are bright and clean. Both labels are free of blemishes, rips or tears - truly stunning labels. Both labels are visually spotless! (Ex+)

Please take into consideration that I am not a photographer or a professional salesman. What you can be certain of are the descriptions of all the LP’s I shall be offering for sale, and that they are all critically evaluated.

I will do my best with any further images you require and, if you have any questions about the LP please email me.

Contact is to be made within 3 days of winning bid and payment to be made within one week of winning bid.

Postage and packing within the UK = £3.50

International worldwide postage = £7.00

(If the winning bidder requires further postage security on the LP please email for price – see details below)

Thanks and Good Luck!

*I am a private seller gradually disposing of my vinyl collection.  Please note that whilst it is rare for items to be lost or damaged in the post, I am unable to accept responsibility for any loss or damage by the postal services. Whilst I am happy to provide assistance, advice, and proof of postage, all such claims remain the responsibility of the buyer. All items sold for more than £39 will be subject to an extra charge for 'signed for' posting (This is not usually very expensive) if the purchaser requires package to be covered for compensation to cover the unlikely loss/damage in the post an extra charge will be necessary. If compensation cover is required buyers should contact me so that the full cost can be invoiced for insurance purposes.*

Review

Astonishingly daring debut album, not as focused or overpowering as King Crimson's first, but still crashing down barriers and steamrolling expectations. The mix of medieval harmonies and electric rock got stronger on subsequent albums, but the music here is still pretty jarring. Kerry Minnear was probably the only prog rock keyboard player of the era who allowed his synthesizers to sound like themselves and not mimic orchestras; Gary Green's guitars are alternately loud and brittle or soft and lyrical, and always surprising; and the presence of saxes and trumpets (courtesy of Phil Shulman) was unusual in any rock band of the era — all of which explains how Gentle Giant managed to attract a cult following but hadn't a prayer of moving up from that level of recognition. “Funny Ways” was the softest prog rock song this side of Crimson's "I Talk to the Wind," but a lot of the rest is pretty intense in volume and tempo changes. "Nothing at All" by itself is worth the price of purchase.

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.