CREDITS
Singing and playing by CG
Songs written by CG, published by Gregsongs (PRS)
Recorded & Mixed by CG at Gregsonics, Nashville, TN
Produced by Clive Gregson
Mastered by Jim DeMain at Yes Master, Nashville, TN
Design & Illustration: Griffin Norman @ BOX
Noises Off: Nancy, Kerry and Dylan
SONG NOTES
1. Frances O' Connor
The story behind this song is one I've told onstage quite often. My memory is that I wrote the name
"Frances O' Connor" down after seeing it in a book I was reading ages ago. I thought I could use it in a
song and quite a while later, I did. I simply built the song and the story around the name. Then somebody
pointed out to me that there is an actress called Frances O' Connor. She stars in a recent film adaptation
of Mansfield Park which is quite good. She's welcome to have the song if she wants it! It's a 6/8 rave-up
featuring mandolin, accordion and electric guitar solos. I think the instrumental section at the end is
actually longer than the song!
2. Antidote
A very positive song for me. Pretty straightforward, too. I've played this onstage a lot over the last couple
of years. I recorded a version of it with Boo and Eddi when they were in Nashville a couple of years back.
There was talk of a Trio album floating about at that point but it never came off. I thought the song was
too good to leave on the shelf, so I recut it. The "quacking" noise is a clavinet sample played through a
wah-wah. Very silly.
3. Fingerless Gloves
Another refugee from the Trio sessions. A song about a busker. Based on a true story - I just changed all
the facts. This has been a really popular song with audiences for a while. I used the dreaded
combination of accordion and banjo on the recording. How will I ever hold my head up in public again?
Guitar tuning is open D, capo 3, I think. It's been a while!
4. I'm There For You
I wrote this at PSGW last year. PSGW is a music camp near Seattle where I teach a songwriting course
once a year. I try to get my students to write a new song every day and I try to do the same myself. This
one came about very quickly. I had the basic acoustic guitar figure which is built around a D drone, capo
7. The words are basically my attempt to re-write James Taylor's "You've Got A Friend". The phrase "I'm
There For You" came out of something that Boo said to me in the car on the way to a gig last year. Mind
you, he was talking about Eddi, not me!
5. It's You I Want To Hold
I wrote this in a very posh hotel in Dublin. I was there to play with Nanci Griffith on the "Other Voices, Too"
tour. We had finished rehearsing for the day so I went back to my room, turned on the TV and tried to call
home. I struggled with the hotel phone system for ages and wasn't able to get a line. While I was getting
really frustrated, I happened to notice what was on the TV. It was a documentary about homeless people
in London. It struck me that it was rather ironic that I was getting all bent out of shape because the phone
didn't work in my luxury room whilst looking at these sad images. This is basically a song about being
selfish.
6. If I Was Your Lover
I think this is my favourite track on the album. It came together really quickly. Simple little drum machine
pattern and a very sparse arrangement make this seem very atmospheric to me. The flute noise is a
Mellotron sample. I don't really hit the high vocal note in the middle eight. Having played the song live a
few times, I realised that I had recorded it in the wrong key. However, I liked the feel of the recorded
version so much that I decided not to mess with it. Sometimes that's just how it goes.
7. Catholic Girl
Pretty self explanatory, I think! Probably not going to make The Vatican playlist. Oh, well...
8. White Suit Of Notes
A song for and about musicians, with Hank Williams and The Drifting Cowboys as a reference point.
There's a great book about Hank by Chet Flippo (Your Cheating Heart) which paints a vivid picture of the
life as a traveling musician. It's by no means fun and glamour. Although I live in Nashville, I'm not really
part of the country music scene. However, the people I know that work in that world tell me that in many
ways things are much the same as they were back then. Every Thursday afternoon the musicians climb
aboard buses and vans and head out to cover many hundreds of miles to play their weekend shows. The
music has changed, of course. Most of it doesn't sound like country music anymore. More banjo on this
track because it seemed appropriate.
9. Riding On A Bus
There's a track on "The Beatles Live At The BBC" album with this title. It's not a song but an interview
with Brian Matthew where Paul talks about missing "riding on a bus". I nicked the title. I realised that it's
been years since I traveled on a bus. I used to enjoy sitting on the top deck and messing about with my
mates on the way to school. "Acting the goat ..." as my grandmother used to say. The top deck of a bus
was also a popular "courting" location as I recall. The electric guitar on this is my eighty quid Chinese
Telecaster which makes a lovely noise.
10. Pretty Peggy-O
Cecil Sharp meets Buddy Holly! I had forgotten that the name Peg is a shortened version of Margaret
until I heard my pal Grahame refer to his wife Margaret as Peg one day. That was the germ of the song.
It's a pretty simple story song. Boy meets girl, gives her some old chat, things progress and he proposes
marriage all inside two minutes! Another instrumental exchange at the end - this time it's dueling
acoustic guitars, one played with a bottleneck.
11. String Of Pearls
Not sure where I got this title from. Eddi told me that there's a Glen Miller tune with this title but I don't
know it and I had already written mine. This is basically a song about having a relationship with
somebody who's not all there. (This has never happened to me but it has certainly been the case for my
current and former wife and all my ex - girlfriends!) I played this for the very first time at Llangollen last
year and a lady in the second row started crying.
12. Comfort & Joy
I thought I would leave you with a typical Gregson wrist slasher. This song has references to "Mattie
Groves", "God Rest You Merry Gentlemen" and "In The Bleak Midwinter". It's a Christmas song that
focuses on how lonely that time of year can be for some people. I have a pal in Minneapolis who sends
out a tape of wacky Christmas songs every year and he has been badgering me for a contribution for
ages. I wrote this with that request in mind. The basic guitar part is in standard tuning, Capo 7. I was
trying to get the interplay between the guitar and piano to sound like bells. The big strummy noise is an
autoharp. Don't know what's "auto" about it. I still had to hold down the chord bar and pluck the strings!
Singing and playing by CG
Songs written by CG, published by Gregsongs (PRS)
Recorded & Mixed by CG at Gregsonics, Nashville, TN
Produced by Clive Gregson
Mastered by Jim DeMain at Yes Master, Nashville, TN
Design & Illustration: Griffin Norman @ BOX
Noises Off: Nancy, Kerry and Dylan
SONG NOTES
1. Frances O' Connor
The story behind this song is one I've told onstage quite often. My memory is that I wrote the name
"Frances O' Connor" down after seeing it in a book I was reading ages ago. I thought I could use it in a
song and quite a while later, I did. I simply built the song and the story around the name. Then somebody
pointed out to me that there is an actress called Frances O' Connor. She stars in a recent film adaptation
of Mansfield Park which is quite good. She's welcome to have the song if she wants it! It's a 6/8 rave-up
featuring mandolin, accordion and electric guitar solos. I think the instrumental section at the end is
actually longer than the song!
2. Antidote
A very positive song for me. Pretty straightforward, too. I've played this onstage a lot over the last couple
of years. I recorded a version of it with Boo and Eddi when they were in Nashville a couple of years back.
There was talk of a Trio album floating about at that point but it never came off. I thought the song was
too good to leave on the shelf, so I recut it. The "quacking" noise is a clavinet sample played through a
wah-wah. Very silly.
3. Fingerless Gloves
Another refugee from the Trio sessions. A song about a busker. Based on a true story - I just changed all
the facts. This has been a really popular song with audiences for a while. I used the dreaded
combination of accordion and banjo on the recording. How will I ever hold my head up in public again?
Guitar tuning is open D, capo 3, I think. It's been a while!
4. I'm There For You
I wrote this at PSGW last year. PSGW is a music camp near Seattle where I teach a songwriting course
once a year. I try to get my students to write a new song every day and I try to do the same myself. This
one came about very quickly. I had the basic acoustic guitar figure which is built around a D drone, capo
7. The words are basically my attempt to re-write James Taylor's "You've Got A Friend". The phrase "I'm
There For You" came out of something that Boo said to me in the car on the way to a gig last year. Mind
you, he was talking about Eddi, not me!
5. It's You I Want To Hold
I wrote this in a very posh hotel in Dublin. I was there to play with Nanci Griffith on the "Other Voices, Too"
tour. We had finished rehearsing for the day so I went back to my room, turned on the TV and tried to call
home. I struggled with the hotel phone system for ages and wasn't able to get a line. While I was getting
really frustrated, I happened to notice what was on the TV. It was a documentary about homeless people
in London. It struck me that it was rather ironic that I was getting all bent out of shape because the phone
didn't work in my luxury room whilst looking at these sad images. This is basically a song about being
selfish.
6. If I Was Your Lover
I think this is my favourite track on the album. It came together really quickly. Simple little drum machine
pattern and a very sparse arrangement make this seem very atmospheric to me. The flute noise is a
Mellotron sample. I don't really hit the high vocal note in the middle eight. Having played the song live a
few times, I realised that I had recorded it in the wrong key. However, I liked the feel of the recorded
version so much that I decided not to mess with it. Sometimes that's just how it goes.
7. Catholic Girl
Pretty self explanatory, I think! Probably not going to make The Vatican playlist. Oh, well...
8. White Suit Of Notes
A song for and about musicians, with Hank Williams and The Drifting Cowboys as a reference point.
There's a great book about Hank by Chet Flippo (Your Cheating Heart) which paints a vivid picture of the
life as a traveling musician. It's by no means fun and glamour. Although I live in Nashville, I'm not really
part of the country music scene. However, the people I know that work in that world tell me that in many
ways things are much the same as they were back then. Every Thursday afternoon the musicians climb
aboard buses and vans and head out to cover many hundreds of miles to play their weekend shows. The
music has changed, of course. Most of it doesn't sound like country music anymore. More banjo on this
track because it seemed appropriate.
9. Riding On A Bus
There's a track on "The Beatles Live At The BBC" album with this title. It's not a song but an interview
with Brian Matthew where Paul talks about missing "riding on a bus". I nicked the title. I realised that it's
been years since I traveled on a bus. I used to enjoy sitting on the top deck and messing about with my
mates on the way to school. "Acting the goat ..." as my grandmother used to say. The top deck of a bus
was also a popular "courting" location as I recall. The electric guitar on this is my eighty quid Chinese
Telecaster which makes a lovely noise.
10. Pretty Peggy-O
Cecil Sharp meets Buddy Holly! I had forgotten that the name Peg is a shortened version of Margaret
until I heard my pal Grahame refer to his wife Margaret as Peg one day. That was the germ of the song.
It's a pretty simple story song. Boy meets girl, gives her some old chat, things progress and he proposes
marriage all inside two minutes! Another instrumental exchange at the end - this time it's dueling
acoustic guitars, one played with a bottleneck.
11. String Of Pearls
Not sure where I got this title from. Eddi told me that there's a Glen Miller tune with this title but I don't
know it and I had already written mine. This is basically a song about having a relationship with
somebody who's not all there. (This has never happened to me but it has certainly been the case for my
current and former wife and all my ex - girlfriends!) I played this for the very first time at Llangollen last
year and a lady in the second row started crying.
12. Comfort & Joy
I thought I would leave you with a typical Gregson wrist slasher. This song has references to "Mattie
Groves", "God Rest You Merry Gentlemen" and "In The Bleak Midwinter". It's a Christmas song that
focuses on how lonely that time of year can be for some people. I have a pal in Minneapolis who sends
out a tape of wacky Christmas songs every year and he has been badgering me for a contribution for
ages. I wrote this with that request in mind. The basic guitar part is in standard tuning, Capo 7. I was
trying to get the interplay between the guitar and piano to sound like bells. The big strummy noise is an
autoharp. Don't know what's "auto" about it. I still had to hold down the chord bar and pluck the strings!
COMFORT AND JOY
