Long Story Short
that is, just me and my acoustic guitar. Well, here it is! I’ve dedicated this album to my dear friend
Grahame Whitehead, who passed away at the end of 2002. Here are some notes about the album and the
songs.
CREDITS
Songs written by CG, published by Gregsongs (MCPS-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
The album was recorded on a Roland VS-880 hard disc recorder, using Audio Technica AT 4033 and MXL
V57M microphones and Joe Meek VC3 microphone processors. Depending on the key and tuning, I used
one of three guitars: a 1965 Epiphone Texan, a mid ’70s Harmony Regal and an Oakfield “00018” that
was hand built for me in Stockport by John Stirling in 1995. See song notes for specific guitar and tunings etc.
Tunings are in open position, low string first.
SONG NOTES
This was the last song I wrote for the project. I started it in the UK last summer whilst in Suffolk for a week
to play a few shows. Pretty upbeat for me! Built around chords moving against the droning low bass note,
hopefully the effect is hypnotic.
Guitar: Oakfield 00018
Tuning: D A D G B E, capo 6
2. Over The Garden Wall
This sounds very old fashioned to me. A waltz that’s too fast and jerky to dance to with bizarre blues
licks thrown into a very major key tune! A song about first love.
Guitar: Oakfield 00018
Tuning: C# G# C# F# A# C#
3. Ghosts
I was playing at Jonkers in Llangollen a few years back, a venue now sadly defunct. I arrived early and
was sitting at the back of the room earwigging a conversation between a group of people about their
supernatural experiences. Out came the notebook…. none of their actual reminiscences appear in this song,
honest!
Guitar: Harmony Regal
Tuning: D A D F# A D, capo 3
4. Wintertime
Can’t remember how this one got started or why it took a turn for the churlish in the last verse! Hey, I just write
them. Luckily, I don’t have to live them.
Guitar: Oakfield 00018
Tuning: E A D G B E, capo 7
5. My Bitter Half
It’s a play on words, innit! My attempt at a Nashville type song. Failed miserably. Two diminished chords in the
middle eight. Last time Grahame saw me play, he requested this song.
Guitar: Epiphone Texan
Tuning: E A D G B E, capo 2
6. Paper Dolls
A snide little tune about aristocracy. Not that I know any aristos, of course. Though I did see Prince Michael of
Kent at a distance of about ten yards once. Looked just like an old bloke, really. Amazing.
Guitar: Epiphone Texan
Tuning: E A D G B E, capo 1
7. I Never Learned A Thing About You
I’ve had this song for a while and I’m particularly fond of the opening line. All pretty obvious stuff dressed
up with pop song changes. Bet Charles Dickens and Humphrey Bogart haven’t appeared in the same
couplet too often, though! The guitar on this song sounds suspiciously like a piano. Ah, variety… the spice of
life. Can’t play the damn thing on the guitar, to be honest.
8. My Other Life
Here’s a song about a lot of stuff I don’t know the first thing about. In great detail. Deceptively
cheerful sounding, this one. My life is alright. No, really….
Guitar: Epiphone Texan
Tuning: E A D G B E, capo 5
9. All My Stories
Few tricky chords in this one. Sorry about that. I know it’s not big or clever but something drives me to it.
Won’t happen again, I promise. At least not on this album. Another miserable exposition with a cheery tune
and a bit of a backbeat. Radio ready!
Guitar: Oakfield 00018
Tuning: E A D G B E, capo 5
10. Jenny
Boo sent me an advance copy of Eddi’s album of Robert Burns songs. I never knew that the Scottish
Shakespeare had penned that perennial classic, “Charlie Is My Darling”. Anyway, that’s where I nicked the
opening line for this song from. So, if you’re reading this, Rabbie…. There’s a very high note in the middle
eight that I almost reach!
Guitar: Harmony Regal
Tuning: D A D F# A D, capo 5
11. Your Love
Kind of what it says on the box, really. Rippling, rolling fingerpick, genuinely optimistic song. I borrowed the
phrase “dawn surprise” (and half of the song title) from Cream’s “Sunshine Of Your Love” which was a big
fave of my school band. Great song, great guitar. Not much in common with this effort, clearly.
Guitar: Epiphone Texan
Tuning: D A D G B E, capo 2
12. I Remember You
Not the Frank Ifield song of the same title. My yodeling days are long gone, as indeed are Frank’s. I used
to love that record. This song is a catalogue of disaster set to music. “Packets of fags” takes some
explaining to Americans, I can tell you. As for rhyming slang…. don’t even go there.
Guitar: Epiphone Texan
Tuning: E G D G B E
13. Joan Of Arkansas
Iain Matthews came up with this title. We were writing together for the Plainsong album I worked on and
for some reason we got to talking about Joan of Arc. I think I might have been banging on about OMD and
their song of that name, a right old dirge that I remembered liking in the mid ’80s. During a lull in my
tirade, Iain said “Joan Of Arkansas” out of the blue. Into the notebook went the phrase and later on I wrote the
song. An opportunity for some unrestrained guitar posturing. Stand well back….
Guitar: Epiphone Texan
Tuning: E A D G B E, capo 5
14. Goldfish Bowl
The morning after a show in Hood River, Oregon, the promoter asked me if I would play a few songs for his
daughter’s pre-school class. Like a prat, I said yes. I finished up playing this about three times. The four
year olds loved it. Says it all, really. The guitar on this is actually a banjo. There, I’ve said it. What a relief.
I also play harmonica on this song. Stevie Wonder has nothing to worry about.
15.?Cool, Cool Rain
We moved house last June. I remember waking up in the middle of the night about a month later feeling
completely disorientated. Then I heard raindrops gently pattering on the bedroom window and somehow felt
reassured. Go figure. I wrote this song first thing the following morning. I wasn’t sure whether it would work
on this album but I took it along to the mastering session anyway. Jim tacked it onto the end of the first test
CDR and it seemed to fit there, so I left it. That’s how the big decisions get made.
Guitar: Oakfield 00018
Tuning: E A D G B E, capo 6
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