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!
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