GRAHAM GOULDMAN
‘LOVE
AND WORK’
RELEASE
DATE: AUGUST 6TH 2012
LABEL:
ROSALA RECORDS
FORMAT: 1CD &
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD
CAT # ROSCD2
10cc
LEGEND GRAHAM GOULDMAN DEDICATES FIRST SOLO IN 12 YEARS TO ANDREW GOLD
On August 6th
2012, 10cc legend Graham Gouldman will release ‘Love
And Work’, his first new solo album in 12
years.
Dedicated to his former
Wax partner Andrew Gold, with whom he recorded four albums between 1984 and 1996,
‘Love And Work’ is Gouldman’s first
solo album since 2000’s ‘And Another Thing’.
‘Love
And Work’
includes the recently acclaimed single ‘Daylight’,
which was written about Gold, as Gouldman explains, “I was in the middle of a songwriting session with the song’s co-writer
and producer Chris Braide and I started talking about
my dear friend Andrew, who passed away in June 2011. The idea struck us that we
should write about him. I am so happy to have written this and have dedicated
my new album to Andrew's memory.”
Gold also appears
on the album, playing piano and Dobro on the track ‘Cryin' Time
Again’.
In a career
spanning almost five decades, Gouldman is renowned as one of the UK’s finest
songwriters. Having penned The Yardbirds 1965 hit ‘For Your Love’, Gouldman’s songwriting
career was up-and running. Gouldman would then go on to write ‘Heart Full of Soul’ and ‘Evil Hearted You’ for The Yardbirds, before writing the hits ‘Look Through Any Window’ and ‘Bus
Stop’ for The Hollies, ‘No Milk Today’
and ‘Listen People’ for Herman's
Hermits, ‘Pamela, Pamela’ for Wayne
Fontana and ‘Tallyman’ for Jeff Beck.
In between
writing more hit songs, the late ‘60s saw Graham spend time in New York writing
and recording for the Kasenetz-Katz hit factory and
invest with Eric Stewart in Strawberry Studios, Stockport.
Back in the UK,
after his spell in New York, Graham decided to get future 10cc collaborators
Eric, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme together to complete the Kasenetz-Katz
recordings. The four of them then produced and played on two Neil Sedaka albums, ‘The Tra La Days Are Over’ and ‘Solitaire’, both of which were recorded and produced at Strawberry
Studios.
In 1972, 10cc was
officially born, keeping Gouldman occupied for the next decade with world-wide
hits such as ‘Donna’, 'The Wall Street
Shuffle', 'Rubber Bullets', 'I'm Mandy,
Fly Me', ‘Art For Art's Sake', 'The Dean and I', 'Life Is A Minestrone', 'I'm
Not In Love', 'Good Morning Judge', ‘The Things We Do For Love’, and 'Dreadlock Holiday'.
Taking a break from
10cc in the early ‘80s, Graham formed Wax with American singer-songwriter Andrew
Gold, releasing four albums between 1984 and 1996 and enjoying the UK hit ‘Bridge To Your
Heart’.
Since putting
together the third incarnation of 10cc in the early 2000s with fellow band
members Rick Fenn, Paul Burgess (from the mid-70s
line-up), Mick Wilson, Mike Stevens and, occasionally, Keith Haymen, Gouldman has taken the music of 10cc around the
world.
In between
touring, Gouldman has also written songs with the likes of Gary Barlow, Tim
Rice, Paul Carrack, Chris Difford, Suggs
and the late Kirsty MacColl, as well as spending time in Nashville writing
with, among others, Country Songwriter of the Year Gary Burr. Gouldman also co-wrote
with McFly for their No 1 album ‘Wonderland’.
In addition, 2006
saw Graham and Kevin Godley reunite to write & record for the first time in
30 years under the moniker GG06.
Talking about ‘Love And Work’, Gouldman said, “When I had sequenced and listened to the
album I realised, that in the most part, I had taken my own musical trip down
memory lane accompanied by the two most important things in my life, Love and
Work.”
A track-by-track guide to ‘Love And Work’, by Graham Gouldman
“I already had the chord sequence and melody
but no lyric. I had a writing session with Ian Brown booked in at EMI's small
studio in London. I played him what I had and he very quickly came up with the
title and most of the lyrics. After I'd recorded the track I decided it was too
short and needed another verse. Ian wasn't available to meet so we finished the
new verse lyric via Skype. To me, it's a song that salutes those in the music
business who work behind the scenes; the DJs, pluggers, recording engineers,
producers and the studios.”
2. ‘Daylight’ (Braide,
Gouldman)
“A
writing session with Chris Braide produced 'Daylight'.
When I started recording 'Love and Work' I wanted to include the song but was
unhappy with the verse that we had. Chris came up with a great new melody and I
wrote the bridge section. We had been talking about my dear departed friend and
musical collaborator (Wax), Andrew Gold, who Chris was a great fan of, and we
decided to write the song about him. Chris lives in LA so we finished the song
via Skype and email. I recorded my vocal, acoustic guitar and a ukulele in
London and sent the tracks to him in LA. I was expecting him to call me to
discuss how the song production should proceed. Instead, he sent back a
complete recording with the parts I had sent him and all the harmonies and
instruments that he put on. I was completely blown away by what he'd done. The
outro that Chris sings reminded me so much of Andrew's voice that it bought me
to tears.”
3. ‘Ariella’ (Gouldman,
Wilson)
“I'd
had the opening guitar riff for ages but never found anything to go with it. I
eventually came up with a melody and started singing a girl’s name on the
chorus, but it didn't sound right. My fiancé’s name is Ariella,
a beautiful name, as is she, so I decided not only to use her name as the song
title, but also to tell the story of how we met. Mick Wilson, the song's co-writer,
provided some great harmonies.”
4. ‘Then It's Gone’ (Gouldman, Tompkins)
“I
did a writing session in Nashville with Chris Tompkins that produced 'Then It's
Gone'. I had the opening guitar riff and when I sat down with him the melody
came very quickly. He liked, what he called, the McCartney quality of it. His
lyric makes me think of a young child observing the world through its bedroom
window. It has an innocence about it. I'd recently bought a mandolin so, of
course, that had to go on the track.”
5. ‘Let Me Dream Again’ (Gouldman, Pleeth)
“Graeme
Pleeth and I wrote this song very quickly. It has a
sixties feel so we used only sixties guitars on it. Graeme has a wonderful
collection including a fab Rickenbacker 12 string, which I used.”
6. ‘Lost In The Shadows Of Love’
(Gouldman, Priestman)
“I'd
had the chords, some of the melody and the song title for ages. I played it to
Henry Priestman who immediately saw its potential.
He's a great arranger, as well as songwriter, and quickly kicked it into shape.
We worked on the lyrics together. I thought the track would work well with a
small string section. Henry recommended Peter Whitfield, who not only arranged
the strings but played all the parts himself.”
7. ‘Battlefield’ (Gouldman, Pleeth)
“Graeme
Pleeth had the verse chords and I found a previously
written chorus which included the word 'Battlefield'. They went together really
well. We initially wrote this song for a well-known British singer but he
didn't record it. We both felt it was a good song and I like the Motown feel to
the chorus.”
8. ‘Cryin' Time Again’
(Gouldman, Lupino, Priestman)
“A
song written with Henry Priestman and Angela Lupino at a writers’ week organised by EMI music publishing
at a remote hotel in Devon. At the end of each day the various songwriting
teams would play the song/s they had written to the other writers. This one got
a great reaction. Henry reminded me of it recently and I decided to have it on
the album. It includes a great little Dobro part
played by the late Andrew Gold.”
9. ‘Any Day Now’ (Gouldman, Pleeth)
“A
song about being separated from someone you love, originally written for Ricky
Martin. There's lots of acoustic and Spanish guitars on this track.”
10. ‘Puttin' My Faith
In Love’ (Gouldman, Priestman)
“Henry
Priestman and I thought this song was going to be in
the musical 'Dreamboats and Petticoats' but the story line was changed and it
no longer fitted-in. When we had recorded it with programmed drums I thought
how great it would be to have Brian Bennett of The Shadows play real drums on
it. I am so happy that he agreed to do it.”
11. ‘Black Gold’ (Gouldman)
“My
homage to the Shadows, Jet Harris and Tony Meehan and Joe Meek. Their records
had such a strong influence on me. Again Brian Bennett's drums make it extra
special. I just sent him the track and he did the rest.”
12. ‘Memory Lane’ (Gouldman)
“I
wrote this song after taking Ariella, my fiance, around Manchester to show her where I used to live
and where I went to school. We had such a lovely day. I'd recently met and
worked with Ron Sexsmith, who I am a great fan of,
and I tried to write a song in his style. I'll have to send him a copy and find
out if I succeeded.”