Singled Out: Gentle Giant's Free Hand

04-01-2025

Gentle Giant just released "Free Hand" from their forthcoming "Playing the Fool: The Complete Live Experience" set that arrives in May, and to celebrate we asked Derek Shulman to tell us about the track. Here is the story:

This particular track was the key song from the recorded album "FREE HAND". It was probably Gentle Giant's most creative and commercially successful album. The band were playing at its peak and Gentle Giant's fan base both in North America and Europe was at an all-time high.

We had already recorded the album 'Interview' after "Freehand' and decided that recording the live show was a great way to take a breath but at the same time give our fans a taste of that they had seen on stage over the years.

The live track Freehand was recorded in Paris. We had recorded the live album in 4 different European cities. We had combined the best of the tracks from these cities to assemble Playing The Fool. Initially "Playing The Fool' was only a 2 disc double album. However, our friend and archivist Dan Bornemark suggested that we remix and present the whole concert as it was played, stage remarks and bloopers and all rather than a 'best of'.

The Complete Live Experience is exactly how you'd see and hear the band in concert. It comes as a triple vinyl album a 2 CD set and a 5.1 Buy Ray & Atmos DVD.

We decided to release the track 'Freehand' as the taster track because it gives the listener the essence of how the band felt at the time. We had grappled our way out of restrictive management and recording contracts, we were playing at our very best and the band was gelling as a streamlined unit. Lyrically Freehand effectively tells the story that the shackles that were imposed by the 'business' were finally off and Gentle Giant were free to do as we liked creatively and personally. I believe you can feel the joy and power of the band on this live track as its rocks through the set.

We love this 'new version' of the Playing The Fool' because sonically it is much cleaner and the fact that it's the full set from beginning to end is a testament to how tight we were and how much fun we had onstage.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here