Giant Steps

Author:Derek Shulman

The former Gentle Giant vocalist and indeed founding member, and latterly record company executive, takes us through the journey of his life in this autobiography, co-authored with music journalist and author Jon Wiederhorn. He leads us from his childhood days through to life on the road with Simon Dupree & The Big Sound and on to the formation of Gentle Giant, a band whose complex intricate music still holds its own today despite being recorded in the heyday of prog over fifty years ago. He has some interesting recollections of the recording of their albums and the inner politics of the band, although they eventually seemed to call it a day on amicable enough terms. Managing the band gave him a good insight into the workings of the record industry, so after its dissolution it was quite an easy and natural transition to move over to the other side of the fence to begin work as an A&R man. Spotting and snapping up an unsigned young band called Bon Jovi got him off to a flying start in his new career, and he was soon climbing the ranks, along the way signing up artists such as Dream Theater and Pantera, and working with the likes of AC/DC and Bad Company. If I had a criticism to make it’s that, having lived in the US for many years now, the book is, understandably I suppose, written in sort of an ‘American English’, which I found rather irritating at times, but nevertheless he’s a good storyteller and overall it’s an enjoyable and entertaining read, especially of course for Gentle Giant fans.

Length of Read:Medium

Might appeal to people who enjoyed…

Well worth looking out for if you’re a fan of The Giant or are interested in those heady days when prog was in its pomp.

One thing you’ve learned

I found the first two thirds of the book, dealing with his career playing in bands, rather more interesting than the tales of a record company executive that dominate the final third.

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