''Playing the Fool - The Official Live'' is a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant which was released in 1977. The album contains versions of songs from all of the band's studio albums to that point except for '' Acquiring the Taste'' (although a section from the title track of that album is featured in "Excerpts from Octopus"). The original UK LP came with a 12-page booklet that has not been reproduced in any of the CD editions.

Track listing

35th anniversary re-release edition

The track listing and times differ depending on the specific release.

Personnel

;Gentle Giant * Gary Green – electric and acoustic 6- and

12-string A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

guitars, backing vocals,

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

and soprano recorders, percussion * Kerry Minnear –

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

, backing vocals,

clavinet The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

, cello,

vibes Vibes may refer to: * Vibes (percussion) or vibraphone, a musical instrument * Vibes (company) a mobile marketing company * The aura or energy given off by someone Media * ''Vibes'' (film), a 1988 comedy * ''Vibes'' (video game), a 2010 video ...

tenor recorder The tenor recorder is a member of the recorder family. It has the same form as a soprano (or descant) recorder and an alto (or treble) recorder, but it produces a lower sound than either; a still lower sound is produced by the bass recorder and ...

, percussion * Derek Shulman –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

soprano recorder The soprano recorder in c2, also known as the descant, is the third-smallest instrument of the modern recorder family and is usually played as the highest voice in four-part ensembles (SATB = soprano, alto, tenor, bass). Since its finger spa ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, percussion * Ray Shulman – bass, backing vocals, violin, acoustic guitar, soprano recorder, trumpet, percussion * John Weathers –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, backing vocals, vibes, tambourine, percussion

Charts

References

*The Rough Guide to Rock (2nd ed.). Rough Guides Ltd. 1999. p. 424. *https://www.allmusic.com/album/playing-the-fool-the-official-live-mw0000201185 {{DEFAULTSORT:Playing The Fool Gentle Giant albums 1977 live albums Live progressive rock albums Chrysalis Records live albums Capitol Records live albums