KING ALFRED'S COLLEGE WINCHESTER

In 1969 three Shulman brothers and drummer Martin Smith from Simon Dupree and the Big Sound slowly evolved to Gentle Giant when they were joined by Gary Green and Kerry Minnear. According to the liner notes of this cd, their first efforts sounded more like Simon Dupree and the Giant Sound, but still it was the birth of a giant. While listening to Frank Zappa and King Crimson they were trying to make some of their own music. This led to their debut album released in 1970.

One of their first gigs was at King Alfred's Teacher Training College in Winchester in 1971. This concert is now available on cd, produced by Ray Shulman. The concert consists of almost the entire first album, except for "Nothing at all" and one from the second: "Plain truth". It is played as you know the tracks from these albums, perhaps a bit more soloing here and there. They also play two tracks that only surfaced later on compilation records: "City hermit" and "Hometown special". It's interesting that they still played these tracks live at this time, but apparently didn't consider to release them on an album. The most interesting track on this cd, for Gentle Giant fans at least, is the last track "Peel off the paint". This is something of a lost track, since it has the same lyrics as "Peel the paint", released on the third album, but with different music. Compared to the version that made it to the album, it is mainly the heavy second part of the song.

Considering it's a live recording from 1971, by a not so well known band, the sound quality is reasonable. The main attraction of this disk is of course the wonderful music of Gentle Giant, and "Peel of the paint" as a bonus. The live recordings thus far of this band, are mainly from 1974 and onwards, but not as early as this one. This cd will be a treat for giant GG fans, and probably only for this category of music lovers. So in honor of the rating system I should give this release 2 stars. This time, however, I cheat and give it 4. Who would ever thought we could be listening to the early steps of such progressive giants?

To tape collectors this concert had always been a sort of a holy grail: the earliest known Gentle Giant recording. Unfortunately the only copies were in the band's hands, so it was not circulating, much to their frustration. In 2009 then it was announced by Alucard Music that the recording was finally being released.

Of course, the band having released just one album was not very rich and could not afford a proper equipment, so this concert was taped roughly on cassette by one technician. This means the sound quality is not very good (it is actually decent, but not great standard compared to official recordings), so that's the reason I've rated it 3. I should have rated it 2 as a completionist only item, but the performance is great, the setlist contains rare songs (and also a never heard before one!) and it's one of the few recordings available with the late Martin Smith on drums. All in all I'm very glad this was released!

The rare tracks I'm talking about are "Hometown Special", "City Hermit", "Isn't it Quiet and Cold?" (which sadly cuts out due to a tape filp, but a version recorded at a BBC session is available on "Totally out of Woods") and of course the lost track "Peel off The Paint", whose lirycs were used on "Peel the Paint" from "Three Friends", but the music remained unreleased. Other than having an extended guitar solo in the middle (Gary Green goes even as far as quoting "Whole Lotta Love" at one point) the two songs bear no similarities, even if both songs are kick ass hard rockers!

Other highlights include great versions of "Plain Truth" (which will be released on the second album "Acquiring the Taste), "Giant" and "Alucard".

Unfortunately the recording has it flaws: "Isn't It Quiet and Cold?" and "Why Not?" are cut due to tape flip, "Nothing At All" was probably played between those two and was not recorded and there's a small section of "Peel off The Paint" who was accidentally taped over (20 seconds or so).

So, this is definitely a completionists only item. But as I said, being a great performance, a long seeked tape and a rare recording with Smith drumming (I love John Weathers, but Martin Smith is my favourite GG drummer) it surely deserves more than just two stars. If you are a Gentle Giant fan, you'll love this!

Released as a standalone CD and also included in the Unburied Treasure boxed set, this live set represents perhaps the earliest recording we have of the band's live act. The debut album was already out by this point; the concert took place when the band were early in the process of getting Acquiring the Taste laid down in the studio.

Thus, the set list mostly consists of material from the debut, though there's also a sneak peek at Plain Truth from Acquiring the Taste, as well as some interesting non-album tracks. Peel Off the Paint is a first draft of Peel the Paint from Three Friends, with similar lyrics but completely different music; Hometown Special and City Hermit never saw the light of day on a studio album (though studio runthroughs of both came out on the Under Construction collection). All three are lively numbers which seem to owe more musically to the psychedelic approach of the band's former incarnation Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, rather than the progressive rock approach they took as Gentle Giant, which perhaps explains why the songs were only brought out to fill out the set list in these early days and eventually either got retired or had their lyrics recycled and their music completely reworked.

In terms of sound quality, you'd never mistake this for a soundboard tape - but what seems to be an audience recording is reproduced in about as good a quality as you can expect of such. If you demand sonic purity, you'll not have a good time, but I'd say the sound quality is still good enough to get across the subtleties of Gentle Giant's music (if not in high fidelity).

Audience sound is for the most part pretty minimal - there's a rapturous applause at the end of The Queen to close off the main set, but they're very quiet for the rest of the set, which I guess demonstrates the band's ability to command the audience's full attention with their music. By and large all of the instruments can be heard separately, and beyond that the sheer strength of the band's compositions largely helps them get past the issues with the audio. As such, whilst it isn't perfect the album's still an interesting listen for anyone who wants a closer look at the band's earliest days.

Review Nº 754

According to Progarchives, "King Alfred's College Winchester" is the twentieth live album of Gentle Giant and that was released in 2009. This album represents one of the first Gentle Giant's live concerts and was performed at King Alfred's College, in Winchester, in 1971. This is a live concert performed after the release of their eponymous debut studio album "Gentle Giant" and just before they have released their second studio album "Acquiring The Taste" in 1971.

"King Alfred's College Winchester" is, in reality, an official bootleg of the band released in a very cheap way. This is a live recording of a little known band, at the time and unfortunately even today, which was played in a very small room. But, surprisingly, we are in presence of a very good live show. Off course, we can't expect of it the hi- fi quality that it deserves. Its sound quality isn't really great. We may say its quality is only being acceptable, especially in some parts of the album. Possibly, this was the main reason why these recordings took almost forty years to see the light of day.

But, notably, and what is probably the main reason to check this live album, "King Alfred's College Winchester" contains two very rare tracks "Hometown Special" and "City Hermit" and contains also a lost track "Peel Off The Paint", which became the most interesting track on this CD, especially for Gentle Giant's fans. So, this is an interesting album.

"King Alfred's College Winchester" is a live album with ten tracks. The first track "Giant" was a track originally released on their debut studio album "Gentle Giant". The second track "Hometown Special" was a track never released in any studio album of the band. It only can be heard on the later compilation albums of Gentle Giant. The third track "City Hermit" was also a track never released in any studio album of the band. As happened with "Hometown Special", it only can be heard on the later compilation albums of Gentle Giant. The fourth track "Funny Ways" was also a track originally released on "Gentle Giant". The fifth track "Plain Truth" was a track that would be originally released on their second studio album "Acquiring The Taste". The sixth track "Alucard" was also a track originally released on "Gentle Giant". The seventh track "Isn't It Quiet And Cold" was also a track originally released on "Gentle Giant". The eighth track "Why Not" was also a track originally released on "Gentle Giant". The ninth track "The Queen" was also a track originally released on "Gentle Giant". The tenth track "Peel Off The Paint" is a track that has the same lyrics as "Peel The Paint", a track that would be released on their third studio album "Three Friends". But, despite of that, this is a very different track with different music and more heavy than that future studio version that will be released on that album.

In 1971 Gentle Giant was still in a phase of upheaval. Just a moment ago they were called Simon Dupree And The Big Sound and played blues rock, R&B and above all cover versions of current chart toppers. Now, they are striving for higher things as Gentle Giant, inspired by Frank Zappa and King Crimson. This live album features live versions of songs from the band's first eponymous debut studio album and second "Acquiring The Taste", complemented by live versions of two songs that were not included on the regular studio albums but included on later anthologies. So, the band presents itself accordingly ambiguous here. "Hometown Special", "City Hermit" and "Peel Off The Paint" like "Why Not", for example, are jazz or blues rockers that may not quite go with the rest of the material, which at least, has some genuine prog classics like "Giant" and "Funny Ways". Long guitar solos, like on the unfortunately incomplete "Peel Off The Paint", were no longer Gentle Giant's things. A few words about the arrangements can also be said for this album. Because some of the songs are heavily modified and expanded, such as "Plain Truth", which is about three minutes longer than the studio version, but also mostly through solos. The sound quality for a live recording of a little known band playing one of their first shows in a small hall in 1971 is surprisingly good. But, don't expect hi-fi quality.

Conclusion: Gentle Giant is one of the best, most creative and original rock bands that ever existed in the prog rock scene. Gentle Giant is also one the bands that made some of the most complex and original music in the prog music. They are one of my favourite prog bands. "King Alfred's College Winchester" represents a very simple, rare and curious live recording from Gentle Giant, a band in the beginning of their musical career. Despite its sound hasn't great quality and being only acceptable, especially in the end of the album, this became a very important live document of Gentle Giant. So, you're not going to come here for the highest of fidelity quality, but to hear a very fascinating recording, of unknown source, of a very early Gentle Giant's gig. I must confess that I had many doubts between giving 3 or 2 stars to this live album. Musically speaking, this album shows a great live musical performance and represents a rare live recording with Martin Smith on drums. But, unfortunately, the recording has it failures and although we can consider this is a live recording from 1971 by an almost unknown band, the sound quality has some flaws in the tape recordings. So, by the criterion of Progarchives, it would be rated with 2 stars. But, I can't do that. I think it deserves 3 stars, really.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)