Three Friends

According to the BBC's interpretation, people want the three political leaders to work together. That makes sense and it's cool that the will of the people is for the positive. Humans have had to learn to work together to build civilisations and survive.

The science of working together has always fascinated me and I made a lot of discoveries about the subject while listening to the music of Gentle Giant.In 1971 I organised a Gentle Giant gig in Widnes. 400 people came and Gentle Giant blew the roof off the place.

They had all the latest keyboards and synths and included a section of chamber music featuring cello, violin and viola. All live and played near perfectly. Arguably the most progressive band of the seventies.

Three former members of Gentle Giant still tour with my pal, bass player, Roger Carey, under the name "Three Friends". They play interesting choices from the Gentle Giant repertoire including numbers like "The Advent Of Panurge" and "Prologue" from their earlier albums. Check out youtube where there are some videos. The most complicated arrangements are executed with absolute precision. And joy. Their music still sounds as vibrant and cutting edge as it did in 1971. Perhaps, even moreso. I know that Roger Carey is in his musical element. The very first conversation I had with him in 1990 centred around Gentle Giant and now he is their bass player, as near as.

Roger Carey helped me start the Live Music Forum in 1993 by agreeing to be on the steering committee until we had an election. He was elected to the committee but was too busy touring to manage the time, at the time ! Three Friends are playing all over the World so he certainly won't have the time now.

Anyway I really hope the three political leaders can become three friends and work together to introduce a small gig exemption following the election.

And if Three Friends are playing anywhere near you, I definitely recommend that you go and see them live.

Phil Little
The Live Music Forum