Acquiring the Taste
The experimental second album and the last with the original drummer, Martin Smith.
Gentle Giant, 1971
- Released
- 16 July 1971
- Studio
- Advision Studios and AIR Studios, London
- Label
- Vertigo
- Producer
- Tony Visconti
Acquiring the Taste came out on Vertigo in the UK on 16 July 1971 and in the US that August. It was recorded at Advision Studios with the engineers Martin Rushent, Big A and Garybaldi, and at AIR Studios with Bill Price. Guests included Paul Cosh on trumpet and organ, Tony Visconti on recorders and percussion, and Chris Thomas as Moog programmer.
The record was far more experimental and dissonant than the debut and was shaped mainly by Kerry Minnear's classical training. Derek Shulman admitted years later that they recorded it without any idea of what it would be like before they got into the studio. The gatefold sleeve shows a giant tongue that, once opened, turns out to be licking a peach. On current CD and vinyl issues the title track begins with a defect, and the 1996 compilation Edge of Twilight carries a corrected version.
Track listing
- Pantagruel's Nativity
- Edge of Twilight
- The House, the Street, the Room
- Acquiring the Taste
- Wreck
- The Moon Is Down
- Black Cat
- Plain Truth
Personnel
- Gary Green electric guitars, mandolin, bass guitar
- Kerry Minnear Minimoog, piano, Hammond organ, Mellotron, harpsichord, cello, vibraphone, vocals
- Derek Shulman alto saxophone, vocals
- Phil Shulman clarinet, trumpet, saxophones, vocals
- Ray Shulman bass, violins, viola, guitars, vocals
- Martin Smith drums
- Tony Visconti producer, recorders, percussion
- Chris Thomas Moog programmer
- Paul Cosh trumpet, organ
More from Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant (1970), Octopus (1972), Three Friends (1972), In a Glass House (1973), The Power and the Glory (1974), Free Hand (1975), Interview (1976), The Missing Piece (1977), Giant for a Day! (1978), Civilian (1980)
Sources
- Acquiring the Taste, Wikipedia
- Gentle Giant, Wikipedia