Gentle Giant is my all time favourite group. They are superb, all of them... Such a rich and unique multi-instrumental guys... Watching them playing live is something...
Check out @BrassCamel the Gentle Giant 2024! thank goodness for these rare passionate musicians playing real music! th-cam.com/video/fUiRE7Fp-MQ/w-d-xo.html give them some likes ,follows and listens if you value prog rock to move forward.
I’d give anything to have been a fly on the wall when Gentle Giant were recording. Particularly on Acquiring the taste or in a Glass House. They’re process must have been absolutely astounding.
Can't beat them for what they were. You can be different but not better. A few of the great thing about Gentle Giant was the ensemble playing and the relatively short songs. They didn't have much of a problem with projects floating out over 20 minute songs on multiple discs. Now I love long songs as well but if they're so densely packed with info as the songs of Gentle Giant's songs it could have been a bit rich, correct? :D But damn I love those counterpoint parts and layers of sound weaved in and out of each other and those and those daredevil lines they played together as a unit (extra shout out to John Weathers - the Bonham of prog rock!) and the clear recordings and ... there is no end of how much I love their music. Damn, they were smooth! :D
GG is my favorite band! I am so grateful to have followed them during my 70's college years. They are the standard of musicianship, composition, and live performance.
When people ask what my favorite band is I always say Gentle Giant. They are one of the few prog bands that are weird and do really off the wall stuff without ever making it inaccessible (at least to my ear)
My introduction to Gentle Giant came as a recommendation from my brother's friend. He told me that knowing my taste in music that Gentle Giant would be something I'd enjoy. Well, many months later, I was rifling through the delete bin at Woolworths and came across their album "Interview". I decided to take a chance and bought it. When I took it home and put the needle down in Side 1, I was instantaneously blown away. I turned into a lifelong Gentle Giant fan within five minutes. I was hooked! Over the course of the last couple of months, I've bought several Blu-ray surround sound discs and I'm still waiting on "The Missing Piece" Blu-ray disc. The surround mixes make the stereo versions sound bland by comparison. Thanks for bringing awareness of Gentle Giant to what I assume will be a younger audience.
Thanks Carl! You should have MANY more subscribers. Your smile and enthusiasm are contagious and your passion for playing comes through in every note! Keep it up brother, your gonna' have a successful channel!
I discovered Gentle Giant when a pal of mine reccomended a band and I misunderstood what he said. I went to the used record shop and bought almost their whole catalog in one fell swoop. My first taste was Giant For A Day and the rest was as they say, history.
@@jojobizadTRASH I've always leaned toward prog rock anyway, and sometimes getting your feet wet with a more "commercial" outing helps you slide into a band. For example my first exposure to Frank Zappa was Apostrophe. I listened to GFAD then Civilian [which has some killer tracks] before "discovering" GG's more progressive earlier material in my pile.
@@rafaelallenblock that's true honestly. I mostly listened to prog bands through commercial music as well, though it took me a long time to find out they had prog music or were even a prog band to begin with. The beatles was one of them since they were widely popular, then Gensis and Yes, then King Crimson and recently Frank Zappa and gentle giant. funny enough Gentle Giant became the sole reason to why I listen to albums completely now, because all of their music is really solid.
I was so lucky to see this band albeit towards the end of their career. As for their intricacy, as an example, the bass player also played a recorder, acoustic guitar, violin, drums and trumpet. Both the drummer and keyboard player played the xylophone plus the keyboardist also played the viola, acoustic guitar and flute. The end of the concert all the band members played varying drums to conclude what was for me the most mesmerizing concert i have ever attended.
Oh man. Gentle Giant have been my favourite band for the last 10 years. It’s good to see a TH-cam channel showing the guitar riffs of Gary green. So many cool blues licks infused with classical and folk music. 🤘🤘🇬🇧🇬🇧
Definitely one of the most criminally underrated bands of all time, of any genre! They’re most definitely my favourite of the ‘prog’ bands of the 70s. Shame there were no riffs from what I consider to be their golden period of Three Friends --> Free Hand
Carl....finally...GG....my absolute fav prog rock gtoup......EVER......nobody has ever been even near them.....and its unlikely if we will see that happen,,,,,great video.... glad you made it....much appreceated.....cheers...
Their album "Acquiring The Taste" (where most of these riffs come from) is a great place to start. GG really extended their reach on this album as it shows them at their most wide-ranging and creative. When you hear these riffs accompanied by the other instruments, and in the full context of the songs' compositions, you just might be blown away. What Gentle Giant created with this album, IMHO, stands out as an almost unique achievement in the rock music genre.
The joy about finding Carl's channel is not only in the geniality on the guitar and the charisma, but also the fact we are crack addicts for the same bands LOL. Gentle Giant is one of the best things to ever exist in the history of humanity, not only music. Gary Green will always be an inspiration to me, his parts are intricate af yet super fluid, always enhancing what's been sung or played by the other members. True genius
Acquiring the Taste is my favourite GG album also. The opener, Pantagruel's Nativity, is just goosebump music. Even the riff that you played makes me shiver. Thank you, Carl!
Lucky enough, I was able to see GG once at the Montreal Centre Sportif (March 1973), had no idea who they were but was pleasantly surprised and stunned by their musical quality and skills! Thanks for posting.
Thanks for this. I like the Alucard explanation🤗 Never thought of this. I got my first GG album 1971 and loved them since then. GG and King Crimdon are my favorite bands. I am happy to have seen GG twice in Stockholm Sweden in the mid-70s💗
When you picked the first song from Acquiring .., I thought 'Oh man, should've picked The house, the street... '. So glad you included that, and so many other great riffs from that album. It's my favourite one from GG , and boy do they have multiple perfect albums. Loved the video
I love Acquiring the Taste. I began when Columbia introduced Three Friends with the first album cover and then worked my way back to the imports. I believe it was 1972. I am an old man now who got to see them at the old Academy of Music in the Village when I was 17. Gentle Giant was even more incredible live being equally adept at all the instruments they played.
Thanks for that Carl, you reminded me of what I never forgot - what a band Gentle Giant was, and what an underrated guitarrist Gary Green is. Best band ever!
Fantastic stuff! I've only listened to their "Octopus" album so far, which is great, but now I'm really eager to dig into a lot more of their output now that you have demonstrated some of it so wonderfully here!
@@CarlBaldassarreMusic Just listened to their debut album straight through. WOW!!! Already blown away by the first listen, but can also tell that this one is going to reward repeated listening quite richly!!
I've known them since "Simon Dupree and the Big Sound" (still worth listening to!) and I followed them since their first record. Every release of the group was an event in my life. And I was lucky enough to experience them three times in Germany. I still love and miss them! 💖
Hey Carl the one thing that stands out to me in your videos other than your incredible guitar playing is your tone. Can you maybe do a rundown of your rig at some point? Always admired that Les Paul of yours and the kick in a$$ sound you get out of it. Love your channel.
Carl! I just found your channel and I totally/absolutely agree with what you said about 'The House The Street The Room, that song's video is excellent too. So I'll be watching your channel to get help on my guitar. I've been playing prob as long as you have but Ive always had poor discipline so I'm only half as good as I should be (bet you never heard that before). haha I'll be sure to check out your videos. Thanks.
Man!!! What to say about this video?? GG is just perfect!! Its beautifull,intricate and heavy as f#ck in the same time!! I never saw anyone analysing the riffs that a love so much before! I glad you've done thas man!! Congrats from Brazil!!!!
Hello Carl. I am really enjoying your channel. I love the additional notes that you add with the music. It adds context to the music. I love the sound you have as well. It looks like a Les Paul going through a Marshal and the cabinet is a 2 x 12 Marshall? Could I get more details on your sound/tone. Its great. It's very authentic to the music you play. Thanks
Nice work. I worshipped GG when I was a teenager and was delighted when I became acquainted with the excellent Ray Shulman after he quite liked my band The Dancing Did in the 1980’s. He is of course sadly no longer with us, but I am delighted to say that I am still in email conversation with his bereft widow Tan.
Always liked GG and saw them live at the Shrine in L.A. back in 1976. Life happened and only recently got a craving for their music again and now own all their stuff. Can't pick a favorite album but I think yours is Acquiring The Taste! Cheers!
Great video. I wish I could actually play an instrument and do something like this myself. Gentle Giant are a band that I 'like' but am yet to fully get into 100%. I know I'll get there in the end. Nice to see someone putting some effort into their background, candles and coloured lighting is a nice touch.
I started listening to Gentle Giant back in 76/77?? The LB The Missing Piece was the first album that I was turned on to..Fell in love with them immediately. I saw them perform in Germany, I was stationed in Nuremberg Germany Feb.79-Sept.81 US Army.. Still listen and love them..
Saw them Missing Piece tour also.but they did stuff from Octopus(Knots) Freehand, Three Friends, Interview AndPower and the Glory…they were ridiculous…Accra-Ella’s, string art, then hard progressive rock
I'm 55 and I don't think I've ever heard Gentle Giant before. Thus, may I SUGGEST you play some of the song with the corresponding riff so that the we, the listener, has context.
Nice job as always Carl you know my Heyday was in the seventies LOL actually I just went out to the Akron Rubber bowl last week to check it out I was there in 1972 to see Jefferson Airplane where I had my first experience with tear gas LOL I sure was rocking back in the seventies playing at least two jobs a week and checking out every concert I possibly could oh yeah Cleveland was definitely rocking for me back then used to love to go to D fiori music it was just much much better time in music my opinion I really like watching your show is always got interesting stuff going on keep up the great work Carl where can I get your 23 schedule at😎🎼📹🎶🎸👍👍👍🍻🍕
Hey Carl....I was waiting for the final amazing guitar riff from the song "In A Glass House"...my favourite riff by any band in the history of rock/prog/pop. So intricate and catchy. Gary Green is an under appreciated lead guitarist.
Fookin' finally, a TH-cam musician (sorry, a real musician on TH-cam) who gets the genius of Gentle Giant! Thank you so very much, dude! I don't really subscribe much to anyone, but you have bloody well earned it, mate. Thing about the use of "power chords" is, paradoxically enough, that less really is more. In the case of Gentle Giant, when Gary Green does occasionally blast them, in the context of a given song's intricate composition, they mean so much more and burn way, way brighter than when employed unrelentingly, start to finish, as with the vast majority of bands who rely solely upon them. Strangely enough, perhaps, Rush also understood this. Unlike GG, my very favorite band ever, no one in Rush was classically trained. I don't know how they possibly incorporated Bach's contrapuntalism into their songwriting, but they fcking well did. Now, there were other bands that had a sense of this, but other than Zappa, none of them was exactly a household name (even 50 years ago, in their heyday) a known entity outside the world of Prog. Maybe the most notable among these now very, very obscure bands was Greenslade, another truly unique outfit. Keyboardist and composer Dave Greenslade (who cut his teeth as a very young man with Dave Brubeck) met Tony Reeves, the most melodic bassist ever, when they both play with Colosseum, the most amazing pan-European jazz rock band of the 1960s. (Insert overlapping connections here with similarly unique vocalist Chris Farlowe, and by extension Atomic Rooster, whose original drummer was the Carl Palmer of ELP fame, etc, etc. British Prog was the most incestuous scene imaginable...) Anyway, Dave and Tony eventually leave Colosseum and form Greenslade, a band that not only composed somewhat in the style of GG, but also didn't really have a guitarist at all (until Martin Briley played on the last album!) Two keyboards, bass and very interesting drums provided by Andrew McCulloch, fresh from King Crimson. Dude, you would love this stuff, despite the no-guitar heresy, seriously. I'm going to try to link the song Melange from their Old Grey Whistle Stop live in the studio sessions. (Found it! Should be cued to Melange: th-cam.com/video/U8NBCFO3GtI/w-d-xo.html ) Very lastly, if you're going to do something with Giant again, I would be very curious as to what you think about the title track of Living in a Glass House. The band were ultimately unhappy with the album, so annoyed were they by being "rushed in the studio," but I love this record and I think that there is something very unique about it, even for Giant. That title track has these very abrupt changes in rhythm and instrumentation that still give me a thrill all these years later. Once again, thank you so much for this!
Giant video! I love Gentle Giant's music complexity, thanks for the video. Would you please do a Yes video like this? Steve Howe is in my opinion one of the most playful guitarist and it's a joy listening to it so a break down of it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for your content and keep on rollin
I’m hearing a lot of darker influences. Like if King Crimson and Black Sabbath got together. And that third riff SCREAMS “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from Pyr Gint
Good stuff Carl. Always enjoy your videos. Is there any chance you could check out some of Marshall Tucker Band’s stuff. Their lead singer Toy Caldwell was a terrific guitarist
Love GG, and love how they've been getting a lot of attention recently. One nitpick, you have flipped the two variations on the _The House The Street The Room_ riff. The straight notes are what they play in the first part and the rhythmic variation is the second part, not the other way around.
I have been a huge Gentle Giant fan for 35 years. I agree that no one before or since has achieved such greatness. I think you will have to do at least one more on them. River off Ocropus is my absolute most memorable GG riff. There might be over 1000 worth while GG riffs!
@@JeffCloutier True. One of their albums has more ideas than a lot of other bands' whole careers. Very hard to write so many melodies, let alone good ones.
Thanks for the walkthrough of Acquiring the Taste. I've been a fan since 1974, when a friend bought Power and the Glory. As a keyboard player, I was amazed by Kerry Minnear's sounds. Hammond and Clavinet together? Who knew? I think that in their progression (pun intended) from one album to the next, they went from being a prog band at the peak of their game to being a really, really good rock band, on Civilian. I don't think anyone else achieved this. Genesis went from prog to pop, but it's not the same. Bought your record, by the way.
Gentle Giant is by far the most important of all the so-called Progressive Rock bands to me. Three friends is my favourite studio album from them, but their live album Playing the Fool I like the most.
I remember hearing them in the mid 1970s. They did not get a ton of US airplay, but I liked what I heard. Everyone else was into Genesis and Yes, so no one believed me. Just like Sparks a year later. I saw them open for Patti Smith at the Tower Theater in '76. Nobody believed me then either.
Hey Carl, another fine vid. I feel a little put off I must say, I cut my teeth in the 70s but somehow this group never came in to my orbit or even awareness. So after your vid i checked out some of there music. Really not my cup of tea but i love your enthusiasm all the same. Peace brother. Keep up the good work. As an Ohio boy (Like me) I hope to hear some good old 70s MSB songs especially with Jonah Koslen. Some really cool guitar work and tunes.
I like all your vids ...but I agree with you 100% about GG. I went to a Humble Pie concert back in the 70's and they were opened by Gentle Giant. I had never heard of them before and they ended up being one of my fav live on stage bands. The music was so tight and they had such a stage energy / presence. Needless to say ...I own everything they have recorded :)
Wow I completely forgot about this band, years ago I was find one band which led to another then another etc and I remember discovering gentle giant (they were way before my time). Thanks for this I'm going to go listen to them now
Back in the 70s, I had Pantagruel's Nativity playing through a fairly hefty stereo system. My friend, who was a keen prog fan, walked in just as that killer riff started. His jaw dropped and he said "F****g hell! Who's this?"
![The Most Intricate Rock Band of All Time? Gentle Giant Part 2 [Progressive Rock Guitar]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/hZr8kmmjA00/mqdefault.jpg)
![The Most Intricate Rock Band of All Time? Gentle Giant Part 2 [Progressive Rock Guitar]](/img/tr.png)
![Top 10 Greatest Jethro Tull Guitar Riffs (1969-1971) [Guitar Lesson, Song Analysis, Classic Rock]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/396KYuV3UiA/mqdefault.jpg)
Yes Gary Green is a much underrated guitarist.
Gentle Giant is my all time favourite group. They are superb, all of them... Such a rich and unique multi-instrumental guys... Watching them playing live is something...
Check out @BrassCamel the Gentle Giant 2024! thank goodness for these rare passionate musicians playing real music! th-cam.com/video/fUiRE7Fp-MQ/w-d-xo.html give them some likes ,follows and listens if you value prog rock to move forward.
I’d give anything to have been a fly on the wall when Gentle Giant were recording. Particularly on Acquiring the taste or in a Glass House. They’re process must have been absolutely astounding.
I used to think about that same thing. I would have given anything to see how they work!
You can tell how good they were because everyone has different favourite albums. I think their albums after their first two are their strongest.
Acquiring the Taste 👅 is their best album. It’s prog/psyche perfection ❤
Can't beat them for what they were. You can be different but not better. A few of the great thing about Gentle Giant was the ensemble playing and the relatively short songs. They didn't have much of a problem with projects floating out over 20 minute songs on multiple discs. Now I love long songs as well but if they're so densely packed with info as the songs of Gentle Giant's songs it could have been a bit rich, correct? :D But damn I love those counterpoint parts and layers of sound weaved in and out of each other and those and those daredevil lines they played together as a unit (extra shout out to John Weathers - the Bonham of prog rock!) and the clear recordings and ... there is no end of how much I love their music. Damn, they were smooth! :D
GG is my favorite band! I am so grateful to have followed them during my 70's college years. They are the standard of musicianship, composition, and live performance.
I have LOVED GG since 1973. Saw them twice in the US. Thanks so much for the video! Rest in peace Jeff Beck 💔
Amen!
When people ask what my favorite band is I always say Gentle Giant. They are one of the few prog bands that are weird and do really off the wall stuff without ever making it inaccessible (at least to my ear)
My introduction to Gentle Giant came as a recommendation from my brother's friend. He told me that knowing my taste in music that Gentle Giant would be something I'd enjoy.
Well, many months later, I was rifling through the delete bin at Woolworths and came across their album "Interview". I decided to take a chance and bought it.
When I took it home and put the needle down in Side 1, I was instantaneously blown away. I turned into a lifelong Gentle Giant fan within five minutes. I was hooked!
Over the course of the last couple of months, I've bought several Blu-ray surround sound discs and I'm still waiting on "The Missing Piece" Blu-ray disc. The surround mixes make the stereo versions sound bland by comparison.
Thanks for bringing awareness of Gentle Giant to what I assume will be a younger audience.
Wow man Im so happy you put me on to this band. I can’t believe I’ve never heard of them. Man they are incredible
Yay! You have a lot of years of joyful listening ahead of you. Take your time!
Thanks Carl! You should have MANY more subscribers. Your smile and enthusiasm are contagious and your passion for playing comes through in every note! Keep it up brother, your gonna' have a successful channel!
Wow, thanks!
I discovered Gentle Giant when a pal of mine reccomended a band and I misunderstood what he said. I went to the used record shop and bought almost their whole catalog in one fell swoop. My first taste was Giant For A Day and the rest was as they say, history.
well done.....
That's a really interesting start, since I heard Giant for a Day isn't their popular albums. Still awesome you found them out regardless 👌
@@jojobizadTRASH I've always leaned toward prog rock anyway, and sometimes getting your feet wet with a more "commercial" outing helps you slide into a band. For example my first exposure to Frank Zappa was Apostrophe. I listened to GFAD then Civilian [which has some killer tracks] before "discovering" GG's more progressive earlier material in my pile.
@@rafaelallenblock that's true honestly. I mostly listened to prog bands through commercial music as well, though it took me a long time to find out they had prog music or were even a prog band to begin with.
The beatles was one of them since they were widely popular, then Gensis and Yes, then King Crimson and recently Frank Zappa and gentle giant.
funny enough Gentle Giant became the sole reason to why I listen to albums completely now, because all of their music is really solid.
I was so lucky to see this band albeit towards the end of their career. As for their intricacy, as an example, the bass player also played a recorder, acoustic guitar, violin, drums and trumpet. Both the drummer and keyboard player played the xylophone plus the keyboardist also played the viola, acoustic guitar and flute. The end of the concert all the band members played varying drums to conclude what was for me the most mesmerizing concert i have ever attended.
Lucky you! I never saw them live. But that never impeded my enjoyment and to revere them as the greats that they are!
Oly smolly! You’re my new favorite Carl!
so underrated, even life long fans of Genesis and other prog bands I know never even heard of Gentle Giant
Many thanks for doing this Carl. Fantastic band and Acquiring the taste is such a cool album. Wreck used to be my favourite song from the album.
I love the middle/medieval/classical thing in the middle. Maybe the most beautifull piece of music I heard in my life.
Acquiring the Taste and Octopus, their two big masterpieces in my humble opinion I'm slighlty favoring Acquiring.
Oh man. Gentle Giant have been my favourite band for the last 10 years. It’s good to see a TH-cam channel showing the guitar riffs of Gary green. So many cool blues licks infused with classical and folk music. 🤘🤘🇬🇧🇬🇧
Loved GG since I first heard them in 1970, best group ever, still love listening to them!
Definitely one of the most criminally underrated bands of all time, of any genre! They’re most definitely my favourite of the ‘prog’ bands of the 70s. Shame there were no riffs from what I consider to be their golden period of Three Friends --> Free Hand
Carl....finally...GG....my absolute fav prog rock gtoup......EVER......nobody has ever been even near them.....and its unlikely if we will see that happen,,,,,great video....
glad you made it....much appreceated.....cheers...
and also....hardly (or nobody) ever mentions them...as you did....
Couldn't agree more!
I've never heard of Gentle Giant, but I'm going to listen now!
Their album "Acquiring The Taste" (where most of these riffs come from) is a great place to start. GG really extended their reach on this album as it shows them at their most wide-ranging and creative. When you hear these riffs accompanied by the other instruments, and in the full context of the songs' compositions, you just might be blown away. What Gentle Giant created with this album, IMHO, stands out as an almost unique achievement in the rock music genre.
good plan...absolute masters ....
Freehand(Title), Octopus album,Power and the Glory album…wow!
As much as I like prog rock, I'm not familiar with Gentle Giant. You've introduced me to some music, Carl. Thanks! \m/
The joy about finding Carl's channel is not only in the geniality on the guitar and the charisma, but also the fact we are crack addicts for the same bands LOL.
Gentle Giant is one of the best things to ever exist in the history of humanity, not only music. Gary Green will always be an inspiration to me, his parts are intricate af yet super fluid, always enhancing what's been sung or played by the other members. True genius
“Three Friends” is one of the best albums of the era. “Peel the Paint” and “Mr Class & Quality?” are particularly standouts!
R.I.P. Ray Shulman. Bass and violin.
It’s so sad! I adored his artistry! He was the secret weapon of the band!
Acquiring the Taste is my favourite GG album also. The opener, Pantagruel's Nativity, is just goosebump music. Even the riff that you played makes me shiver. Thank you, Carl!
Another fantastic video and insights into what makes music great. I’ve never been exposed to Gentle Giant and now keen to explore new territory.
Jealous of you. They're my second fav band and I couldn't believe how amazing and unique the music is. It's truly amazing! Fav album is Three friends!
Lucky enough, I was able to see GG once at the Montreal Centre Sportif (March 1973), had no idea who they were but was pleasantly surprised and stunned by their musical quality and skills! Thanks for posting.
Very cool!
Thanks for this. I like the Alucard explanation🤗 Never thought of this. I got my first GG album 1971 and loved them since then. GG and King Crimdon are my favorite bands. I am happy to have seen GG twice in Stockholm Sweden in the mid-70s💗
You’re so fortunate. I never saw them live, but they really changed my musical world!
When you picked the first song from Acquiring .., I thought 'Oh man, should've picked The house, the street... '. So glad you included that, and so many other great riffs from that album. It's my favourite one from GG , and boy do they have multiple perfect albums. Loved the video
Thoroughly enjoyed this episode Carl. GG is my no.1❤Thankyou!
Have the 2 Syzygy albums from 2003/2009. Great stuff
A banda mais genial que já existiu na Terra🙌🏻🙌🏻
I love Acquiring the Taste. I began when Columbia introduced Three Friends with the first album cover and then worked my way back to the imports. I believe it was 1972. I am an old man now who got to see them at the old Academy of Music in the Village when I was 17. Gentle Giant was even more incredible live being equally adept at all the instruments they played.
I love love love love love Gentle Giant. Maybe my favorite classic prog band.
Thankyou Carl, but you’ve only just scratched the surface. This beautiful band will live forever for true lovers of progressive music.
Thanks for that Carl, you reminded me of what I never forgot - what a band Gentle Giant was, and what an underrated guitarrist Gary Green is. Best band ever!
Thanks!
Thank you so much for this. It really means a lot! Carl
Gentle Giant is an amazing and fantastic band!!!
Fantastic stuff! I've only listened to their "Octopus" album so far, which is great, but now I'm really eager to dig into a lot more of their output now that you have demonstrated some of it so wonderfully here!
You should!
@@CarlBaldassarreMusic Just listened to their debut album straight through. WOW!!! Already blown away by the first listen, but can also tell that this one is going to reward repeated listening quite richly!!
An excellent presentation and analysis of this most unique and talented band
Awesome strange stuff back in the 70's
I've known them since "Simon Dupree and the Big Sound" (still worth listening to!) and I followed them since their first record. Every release of the group was an event in my life. And I was lucky enough to experience them three times in Germany.
I still love and miss them! 💖
Hey Carl the one thing that stands out to me in your videos other than your incredible guitar playing is your tone. Can you maybe do a rundown of your rig at some point? Always admired that Les Paul of yours and the kick in a$$ sound you get out of it. Love your channel.
carl has a video of his rig he did about 10 months ago check it out.
Thank you! We’ll get a rig rundown.
Excellent!
"...nobody like them before, and nobody to follow them since...." yep, you pretty much nailed it. Old time GG fan here.
Carl! I just found your channel and I totally/absolutely agree with what you said about 'The House The Street The Room, that song's video is excellent too. So I'll be watching your channel to get help on my guitar. I've been playing prob as long as you have but Ive always had poor discipline so I'm only half as good as I should be (bet you never heard that before). haha I'll be sure to check out your videos. Thanks.
Thanks for this! I've never seen anyone cover G.G. before!
Glad you enjoyed it!
If you Google a little harder, you'll find tons out there, John. I've got a bunch on my channel. 😎👍
Man!!! What to say about this video??
GG is just perfect!! Its beautifull,intricate and heavy as f#ck in the same time!! I never saw anyone analysing the riffs that a love so much before! I glad you've done thas man!! Congrats from Brazil!!!!
Whoa!! Gentle Giant!! A very pleasant surprise and I immediately watched. Another great video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you so much for doing this. I never get bored of this incredible band's output.
Gentle Giant is great!!!
👏👏👏
Hello Carl. I am really enjoying your channel. I love the additional notes that you add with the music. It adds context to the music. I love the sound you have as well. It looks like a Les Paul going through a Marshal and the cabinet is a 2 x 12 Marshall? Could I get more details on your sound/tone. Its great. It's very authentic to the music you play. Thanks
Glad you enjoy it! I need to do a rig rundown!
Love the overview of some of the great Gentle Giant pieces
that was awesome dude ty.
More GG please!
Stay tuned!
Nice work. I worshipped GG when I was a teenager and was delighted when I became acquainted with the excellent Ray Shulman after he quite liked my band The Dancing Did in the 1980’s. He is of course sadly no longer with us, but I am delighted to say that I am still in email conversation with his bereft widow Tan.
God bless his family and us fans. He was my hero!
I agree that Gentle Giant stands out even among the greatest.
So cool!! Gentle Giant -loved this band!!
Always liked GG and saw them live at the Shrine in L.A. back in 1976. Life happened and only recently got a craving for their music again and now own all their stuff. Can't pick a favorite album but I think yours is Acquiring The Taste! Cheers!
Great video. I wish I could actually play an instrument and do something like this myself. Gentle Giant are a band that I 'like' but am yet to fully get into 100%. I know I'll get there in the end. Nice to see someone putting some effort into their background, candles and coloured lighting is a nice touch.
Thank you. Trying to take care of the details.
I started listening to Gentle Giant back in 76/77?? The LB The Missing Piece was the first album that I was turned on to..Fell in love with them immediately. I saw them perform in Germany, I was stationed in Nuremberg Germany Feb.79-Sept.81 US Army.. Still listen and love them..
Your so lucky to have seen them. I LOVE the missing piece!
Saw them Missing Piece tour also.but they did stuff from Octopus(Knots) Freehand, Three Friends, Interview AndPower and the Glory…they were ridiculous…Accra-Ella’s, string art, then hard progressive rock
I'm 55 and I don't think I've ever heard Gentle Giant before.
Thus, may I SUGGEST you play some of the song with the corresponding riff so that the we, the listener, has context.
You are excellent!
Been a fan since the early 70's. Seen them in Germany while I was stationed there with the US Army Sept.78-81. Prog rock at it,s best!!
In A Glass House and Interview are my favorite GG albums. Fantastic band.
My favorite Prog band by far.
carl, we demand more prog please :)
Gentle Giant Forever ❤️
I love creativity......I saw Giant in the early 70s at Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo NY
Excellent vid-Gentle giant is/was the greatest most epic legendary genius most criminally underrated band ever.
Agreed
Nice job as always Carl you know my Heyday was in the seventies LOL actually I just went out to the Akron Rubber bowl last week to check it out I was there in 1972 to see Jefferson Airplane where I had my first experience with tear gas LOL I sure was rocking back in the seventies playing at least two jobs a week and checking out every concert I possibly could oh yeah Cleveland was definitely rocking for me back then used to love to go to D fiori music it was just much much better time in music my opinion I really like watching your show is always got interesting stuff going on keep up the great work Carl where can I get your 23 schedule at😎🎼📹🎶🎸👍👍👍🍻🍕
Thank you!
Hey Carl....I was waiting for the final amazing guitar riff from the song "In A Glass House"...my favourite riff by any band in the history of rock/prog/pop. So intricate and catchy. Gary Green is an under appreciated lead guitarist.
AWESOM!
Thanks!
Fookin' finally, a TH-cam musician (sorry, a real musician on TH-cam) who gets the genius of Gentle Giant! Thank you so very much, dude! I don't really subscribe much to anyone, but you have bloody well earned it, mate. Thing about the use of "power chords" is, paradoxically enough, that less really is more. In the case of Gentle Giant, when Gary Green does occasionally blast them, in the context of a given song's intricate composition, they mean so much more and burn way, way brighter than when employed unrelentingly, start to finish, as with the vast majority of bands who rely solely upon them.
Strangely enough, perhaps, Rush also understood this. Unlike GG, my very favorite band ever, no one in Rush was classically trained. I don't know how they possibly incorporated Bach's contrapuntalism into their songwriting, but they fcking well did.
Now, there were other bands that had a sense of this, but other than Zappa, none of them was exactly a household name (even 50 years ago, in their heyday) a known entity outside the world of Prog. Maybe the most notable among these now very, very obscure bands was Greenslade, another truly unique outfit. Keyboardist and composer Dave Greenslade (who cut his teeth as a very young man with Dave Brubeck) met Tony Reeves, the most melodic bassist ever, when they both play with Colosseum, the most amazing pan-European jazz rock band of the 1960s. (Insert overlapping connections here with similarly unique vocalist Chris Farlowe, and by extension Atomic Rooster, whose original drummer was the Carl Palmer of ELP fame, etc, etc. British Prog was the most incestuous scene imaginable...)
Anyway, Dave and Tony eventually leave Colosseum and form Greenslade, a band that not only composed somewhat in the style of GG, but also didn't really have a guitarist at all (until Martin Briley played on the last album!) Two keyboards, bass and very interesting drums provided by Andrew McCulloch, fresh from King Crimson. Dude, you would love this stuff, despite the no-guitar heresy, seriously. I'm going to try to link the song Melange from their Old Grey Whistle Stop live in the studio sessions. (Found it! Should be cued to Melange: th-cam.com/video/U8NBCFO3GtI/w-d-xo.html )
Very lastly, if you're going to do something with Giant again, I would be very curious as to what you think about the title track of Living in a Glass House. The band were ultimately unhappy with the album, so annoyed were they by being "rushed in the studio," but I love this record and I think that there is something very unique about it, even for Giant. That title track has these very abrupt changes in rhythm and instrumentation that still give me a thrill all these years later. Once again, thank you so much for this!
Thank you so much for the comment !!
Giant video! I love Gentle Giant's music complexity, thanks for the video.
Would you please do a Yes video like this? Steve Howe is in my opinion one of the most playful guitarist and it's a joy listening to it so a break down of it would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you for your content and keep on rollin
sound chaser solo ?
Thank you!
I’m hearing a lot of darker influences. Like if King Crimson and Black Sabbath got together.
And that third riff SCREAMS “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from Pyr Gint
Great vid -= I would love to see a lesson on playing "memories of old days" - great layering of acoustic guitars on this masterpiece.
Good stuff Carl. Always enjoy your videos. Is there any chance you could check out some of Marshall Tucker Band’s stuff. Their lead singer Toy Caldwell was a terrific guitarist
I loved that band when I was in high school(mid-1970's yikes) got to see them in concert in Philly
I love this guy. Carl yer one cool cat mate. You make my day anymore haha. Keep jamming
Thanks! Will do!
Love GG, and love how they've been getting a lot of attention recently. One nitpick, you have flipped the two variations on the _The House The Street The Room_ riff. The straight notes are what they play in the first part and the rhythmic variation is the second part, not the other way around.
I got to see Gentle Giant at the Akron Civic Theater, 10th row center!
Saw them live 3 times. Rest in Peace Ray.
I have been a huge Gentle Giant fan for 35 years. I agree that no one before or since has achieved such greatness. I think you will have to do at least one more on them. River off Ocropus is my absolute most memorable GG riff. There might be over 1000 worth while GG riffs!
Erm actually Gentle Giant don't even have 1000 songs 🤓
@@user-wx2ek3uv1i but each tune has so many great riffs!
Just looked it up. 104 songs. Easily, on average, 10 great riffs pee song. Over 1000 great riffs. Lol
@@JeffCloutier True. One of their albums has more ideas than a lot of other bands' whole careers. Very hard to write so many melodies, let alone good ones.
I agree, River is sooo good. As is Boys in the Band.
Gentle Giant are great fun. My favourite is Octopus. Van Der Graaf Generator were fun, too.
Hi Carl. Another great video. and a sad day for all rock guitarists. Our hero, Jeff Beck passed away.
Yes, a terrible loss!
Thanks for the walkthrough of Acquiring the Taste. I've been a fan since 1974, when a friend bought Power and the Glory. As a keyboard player, I was amazed by Kerry Minnear's sounds. Hammond and Clavinet together? Who knew? I think that in their progression (pun intended) from one album to the next, they went from being a prog band at the peak of their game to being a really, really good rock band, on Civilian. I don't think anyone else achieved this. Genesis went from prog to pop, but it's not the same. Bought your record, by the way.
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!
Gentle Giant is by far the most important of all the so-called Progressive Rock bands to me. Three friends is my favourite studio album from them, but their live album Playing the Fool I like the most.
You have excellent taste and judgment!
@@CarlBaldassarreMusic We have. lol
Probably. PFM come mighty close. Great guitar work in that band as well - (hint) :)
I remember hearing them in the mid 1970s. They did not get a ton of US airplay, but I liked what I heard. Everyone else was into Genesis and Yes, so no one believed me.
Just like Sparks a year later. I saw them open for Patti Smith at the Tower Theater in '76. Nobody believed me then either.
Next to Giant, Yes was a pop band,
Hey Carl, another fine vid. I feel a little put off I must say, I cut my teeth in the 70s but somehow this group never came in to my orbit or even awareness. So after your vid i checked out some of there music. Really not my cup of tea but i love your enthusiasm all the same. Peace brother. Keep up the good work. As an Ohio boy (Like me) I hope to hear some good old 70s MSB songs especially with Jonah Koslen. Some really cool guitar work and tunes.
I should do that!
I like all your vids ...but I agree with you 100% about GG. I went to a Humble Pie concert back in the 70's and they were opened by Gentle Giant. I had never heard of them before and they ended up being one of my fav live on stage bands. The music was so tight and they had such a stage energy / presence. Needless to say ...I own everything they have recorded :)
Me too!
They also brought together funk, medieval, Renaissance, and a bit of jazz!
Wow I completely forgot about this band, years ago I was find one band which led to another then another etc and I remember discovering gentle giant (they were way before my time). Thanks for this I'm going to go listen to them now
Great!
Parabéns pelo material
Thank you!!
Back in the 70s, I had Pantagruel's Nativity playing through a fairly hefty stereo system. My friend, who was a keen prog fan, walked in just as that killer riff started. His jaw dropped and he said "F****g hell! Who's this?"
Exactly!
Saw them at the Palladium in NYC …one minute classical avant garde and then A rocker from Proclamation
thanks a lot for that ! their music deserve tons of videos and not especially on guitar !
Great Les Paul tone, man. Damn.