GENTLE GIANT - THREE FRIENDS VERTIGO SWIRL 1st UK Press 1972 EX/EX Swirl inner

	£		156
	$		207

GENTLE GIANT - 

THREE FRIENDS

ORIGINAL UK EARLIEST 1ST PRESS FROM 1972 ON THE ORIGINAL UK SWIRL "VERTIGO 6360 070" RECORDS LABEL!
"MATT" FOLD OUT COVER WITH "VO PRICE CODE" ON BACK COVER, SEE PICS!

This vinyl has the miss print "Feel the paint" on the label instead of "Peel the paint".

MATRICES: 1Y//2 & 2Y//2  (STAMPED)!!! EARLIEST POSSIBLE!!!
COMES WITH THE ORIGINAL SWIRL INNER SLEEVE!!!
TRY TO FIND ANOTHER COMPLETE UK 1ST PRESS COPY OF THIS ULTRA RARE PROG LP FROM 1972 WITH THE  EARLIEST POSSIBLE MATRICES IN THIS TOP CONDITION !!! THIS IS JUST IMPOSSIBLE!!!

. Gentle Giant is the quintessential progressive rock band. Kicking off with Prologue, GG display their grasp of melodic riffs and a dynamic, progressive groove. It's all good with Gentle Giant, my friends. The musicianship, this is well documented, is second to none. Lyrically underrated, the band displays a soft touch on School Days, and side one ends with the heavy groove of Working All Day. Side 2 is just as rewarding. Kick back and listen to the deceptively complex groove of Peel The Paint. Wow, ... Gary Green's work is phenomenal on this track.  You can't find a more rewarding listen. And like all great bands, it just gets better with each listen. There is always something to keep it fresh. Essential Gentle Giant. Highly recommended for fans of progressive rock.

The opener Prologue starts with the best drum roll ever which leads into an inventive extended riff/theme. The song verses contains some interesting alternately voiced vocal effects and a trademark "And now for something competely different" middle section. These sections don't always work, the song "Think of me with Kindness" from Octopus is a beauty sullied by the same tendency, but in Prologue it works for me. It's as perfect an example of a marriage of whimsical organ, synth, bass, guitar and gentle drumming I've ever heard, the song fades out to the opening theme.

Next up is Schooldays, a perfect evocation of the experience of a genteel holiday spent at a British Seaside resort, think St Ives, Penzance, Aldeburgh rather than Blackpool. So nostalgic it transports me to my childhood/adolescence every time I hear it. Exquisite jazz tinged Guitar/Vibraphone interplay, and nice soft vocals eventually give way to a velvety, double-chocolate Grand-Piano section during which Kerry Minnear goes all "Slow Movement Concerto on us". Here he demonstrates that he can do melody as well as anyone. This progresses to a fast jazzy section and an ending only Giant could have conceived. If you know this song and you've heard it 1000 times already, listen again and focus on Ray Shulman's bass playing, it's out of this World!

Working All Day is announced with contrapuntal passage which has had a variable pitch-shift trick played on it by a tape machine. It's a good enough song, heavy production coupled with Derek Shulman singing as only he could, like Peter Gabriel with Balls. I don't have much else to say about it except it contains the best Organ solo I've ever heard. It's totally emotive and used to make my spine tingle every listen in my younger days, and still touches a nerve. Why did Kerry Minnear never bother much with emotive Hammond solos after this? Apart from a brief flirtation in the middle section of "Playing the Game" from "The Power and the Glory", during which the Organ sounds like an early solid-state attempt to recreate the Hammond sound to me. In my mind, the Working All Day Organ solo sounds like a full-on love affair and any subsequent solos say,"I won't get hurt like that again".

Peel The Paint shows us early Giant Rocking at their best. OK, the riff doesn't fit under the hands as well as a Zeppelin riff, but augmented by the Macho Sax and Hammond and benefiting from a heavier production than later albums, it oozes power from every pore. Derek Shulman gives a rip-roaring almost wreckless performance and the Guitar/Drum solo sounds to me like Hendrix stripped of the crappy bits. When I was younger, I used to think this solo must have been scored it's so good, now I'm of the opinion that it must have evolved from several takes in the studio, surely it couldn't be just one take. I like the big ending to this song as well, they didn't do this often and generally I'm not a big fan of big endings, but this one is just right.

The intro to Mister Class And Quality starts with a quote from the Three Friends which is the next track. If I was being picky, I'd say that the intro doesn't gel with the rest of the song but I've grown to love it, like a Cat with 3 legs and a limp. The song proper is moderately paced and foursquare with a nice Derek Shulman vocal. Midway through, you get the sense the band have a few tricks up their collective sleeves as they set the scene for a carefully chaotic instrumental section. This is proceeding very nicely when out of nowhere, even though it's been hinted at before, comes a comical synth passage which culminates when most of the rest of the band stop playing and the synth plays an ascending arpeggio ending on a long note. Don't ask me what it is it about this that is so unique, so Giant and so unexpected? It's like under-stated slapstick and so bloody funny. After this, comes a quasi-improvisational section containing some nice blues Guitar, occasionally doubled by voice, the section gets a bit blurred as if it's screaming for resolution, even though it doesn't outstay it's welcome. It's rescued by the 3rd and final verse, the last line of which sounds to me particularly plaintive, the instrumental suffix of the verse leads directly into the last song.

If Schooldays was the memory of a Holiday, Three Friends conjures The Beach complete with Seagulls, Waves, Deckchairs, people laughing and flying Kites, as well as Afternoon Cream-Tea, Ice-cream and even the bag of chips at the end of the day. With the Organ set firmly on the "Coastal Resort" Voice and the Strings sounding to me like they've been carefully voiced with the Organ part (I might be wrong), the Hymnal harmonies conjure up a moment of pure nostalgia. This is one track which even Giant can't write an end for; they have to repeat and fade-out in the yearning outro to end all yearning outros.

Vinyl: VG++ to EX.  I'm very happy to be able to present this GENTLE GIANT gem in this wonderful condition. The audio is simply sublime played on my Technics deck with Linn Sondek cartridge and through my Rotel amp and B&W speakers.  This vinyl sounds out of this world, a majestic album that showed that really went largely under the radar. Why ...? 

 Unbelievably it only has one light hairline on side B, totally inconsequential for the audio which is just stunning. NO marks, just a few paper retraction traces only visible under a very strong light! Even a new vinyl would have this. The audio has beautiful separation and there is hardly ever any background noise.  I played this through in full and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was even tempted to keep this as it will be very hard to find this again, it is indeed mega rare now in this kind of condition. Needless to say NO jumps, clicks or ticks. 

Gatefold Sleeve: EX++.  Fantastic looked after matt original gatefold sleeve with beautiful rich colours and without any  creasing.  It sits superbly flat and has a sharp crisp opening. This copy belongs in the top 10% of copies as the storage wear is just totally absent.The spine is fully legible. There  are no marks or writing. A stunning original sleeve. The winner will be very pleased indeed!! No writing,  no marks, no seam splits or tears. The inside gatefold is totally unmarked without any writing. The album still has its original inner swirl sleeve. This is an upgrade for most Vertigo/GG or prog collectors.

The swirl inner sleeve has a large side split and a tear on the inner die cut. Also age related yellowing, but hey ho, at least it is still present!

Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly!  PLEASE REMEMBER to contact me FIRST,  if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one!  I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem!  This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees  and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem.  Thanks again!!

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.

Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly!  PLEASE REMEMBER to contact me FIRST,  if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one!  I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem!  This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees  and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem.  Thanks again!!

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.

Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly!  PLEASE REMEMBER to contact me FIRST,  if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one!  I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem!  This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees  and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem.  Thanks again!!

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.