One Vowel Away From The Truth

Once we’d seen in the New Year my thoughts immediately turned to making a new record. This would be the third Groovy Uncle album project after “Play Something We Know!” and Suzi Chunk’s “Girl From The Neck Down”. Both had been very well received (particularly the latter) though they are very different from each other and this got me thinking it might be interesting to make the new album a mix of the two – a bona fide Unc’n'Chunk record. I already had the songs written and knew which were Suzi’s and which were mine plus a couple to duet and once again I wanted to include one or two instruments and musicians I hadn’t worked with before. On the track “Consider It Done” for example, jazz musician Roan Kearsey-Lawson did some beautiful vibe playing which became the icing on the (already lovely) cake and he did it in one take! It took much longer to dismantle and reassemble the instrument than it did to mic it up and record but was well worth the effort. Roan also brought along a set of late 19th century tubular bells which added a nice touch to “Human Scaffold”.

A few months ago I demoed a song called “When I Saw Love” (which can be heard on Suzi’s Soundcloud site) and thought it needed handling in a Beatles-esque, “For No-One” style. Jon Barker does some fine harpsichord type keyboard work on it but I knew I had to find a French horn player. Via the magic of Facebook I was put in touch with Neil Mitchell, a classical orchestral player who was more than happy to be involved as this was to be his first solo on a recording. We worked together on the arrangement and his playing is majestic. It gives the song a melancholic yet uplifting quality which no other instrument could have achieved. Joining us once again is John Littlefair providing the horn section on “Must Have” and “It’s Not Like Me”. Always a pleasure to work with Mr L and I love his playing on these tracks. 
A number of songs this time feature the trumpet playing of John Whitaker (he of Stuart Turner and the Flat Earth Society among others) and I think his contributions really lift songs such as “Neptune Girl”, “Me And My Fair Weather Friend” and “Human Scaffold”. I’m particularly pleased former Singing Loins mandolin player Rob Shepherd agreed to work out a part for “November”. I’ve always been a big fan of the Loins and I like what he does here as it takes the GU sound to another place entirely. Peter White joins us again for some nifty keyboard work on “The Money Shot”.

Of course Bruce Brand, Nick Rice, Mole, Marty Ratcliffe Suzi Chunk and myself contributed a fair amount to the project too but more about that and other stuff later. The album is called “One Vowel Away From The Truth”  and we’ll be mixing it next month (July). Thanks to all involved.

 

A Thank You

After all the tremendous response to the album “Girl From The Neck Down” I thought it about time I composed an open letter to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported us over the past 12 months and beyond and to all involved in the project. Everyone involved was totally committed to the project from start to finish and there is no way I could have done it without you. My apologies in advance for any glaring ommissions. So, in no particular order….

 

Suzi Chunk, Bruce Brand, Marty Ratcliffe, Mole Lambert, Nick Rice, Allan Crockford, Ben Jones, Jon Barker, Phil Brown, Peter White, John Littlefair, Paul Moss, Ian Snowball, Jon Abnett, Peter Salmon, Paddy Faulkner, Lois Tozer, Jane Prangnell, Arthole Retrographics, Graham Seamark, Graham Sage, Mike Murray, Bill Kelly, Mark Radcliffe, Stuart Maconie, Lizzie Hoskin, SiriusXM, Stevie Van Zandt, Andrew Loog Oldham, Drew Carey, Kid Leo, Mighty Manfred, Genya Ravan, Jenna Antonacci, “Shindig!” magazine, Medway Eyes, Fizzer’s Radio Show, WOW Medway, Medway Broadside, Jennie and Colin Baillie, David Bash, Phil Moore, “Record Collector” magazine, Terry Lane @ Buzzin’ Media, Hard Rock Memorabilia, Rosemary Edwards, Jason Charles Rogers, Phil Dillon, James Crowther, Kev Wright @ The Sound Of Confusion, Andy Morten, State Records.

 

To everyone who has bought, downloaded, voted, championed and generally said nice things WE THANK YOU! Have a wonderful, happy, positive 2013. We intend to bring you much more in the coming year!  

Glenn 

 

 

 

Got My Eyes On The Prize

Somebody once asked me if I had to record a cover version with Suzi what would I choose. “Love Is A Losing Game” was my immediate response. Suzi is a big fan of Amy Winehouse and I’m sure she’d do a fine job. This got me thinking. I needed a track which would end the album-a “goodbye song” that would leave the listener wanting more. I sat down with my guitar and began playing around with the chords to “Love Is A Losing Game” just to get into that kind of mood and ended up writing “Got My Eyes On The Prize” around similar chords. I recorded a demo complete with backing vocal harmonies and sent it to Suzi. She loved it, worked out the phrasing and came up with some suggestions for the arrangement. It has become one of the best loved tracks on the album.

Got my eyes on the prize and it’s you

Got my eyes on the prize and it’s you

 

How do I begin to say how I feel

Now we have to kiss goodbye?

Staring at the road ahead is unreal

I’ll be low while you get high

 

How do I pretend that I’ll be alright

Knowing that I never will 

Make this living end my only respite

From the loneliness I feel 

 

Since you went away and caught your freedom flight

And I’ve been left alone at night

All I got to do is say

 

I’ll die before I find another you

I’ll die before I find another you

I’ll die before I find another you

But in the meantime….

 

Got my eyes on the prize and it’s you

Got my eyes on the prize and it’s you

 

When do all the good times come back again?

I just cant believe they’re dead

Looking out for signs, the where and the when

Blame it on the things I said

 

Tell me that you don’t have any regrets

Tell me that you’re not unsure

Tell me you don’t find it hard to forget

I’m not the one you’re living for

 

Since you went away and caught your freedom flight

And I’ve been left alone at night

All I got to do is say

 

I’ll die before I find another you

I’ll die before I find another you

I’ll die before I find another you

But in the meantime…. 

Words and music by Glenn Prangnell (Copyright Control 2012)

From the album “Girl From The Neck Down” by Suzi Chunk

 

Big Screen

The song that triggered the concept of the Suzi Chunk album “Girl From The Neck Down” was one that seemed to come out of nowhere. “Big Screen” matches a melancholy tune with downcast lyrics that evoke a bleak night out in Everytown where boys will be boys and girls “reserve their right to sup”. Every bar in Everytown has a big screen that spikes the alcohol with high definition tragedy, schadenfreude and football to a relentless 120 bpm. All are having fun on the dark side of the rainbow. Well, I hope they are…

                                                        Big Screen

 

Tomorrow may not be the day

You’ll hear me say let’s fly away

But I hope it is

 

A better life is far behind

These narrow streets and cobbled minds

Well I hope it is

 

Why does this self defense seem like attack?

How many paces forward take me back- again?

 

I’ve been looking at the Big Screen all my life

While they’re looking at the Big Screen every night

I’ve been looking at the Big Screen all my life

I’ve been looking at the Big Screen.

 

Tomorrow night the boys go out

To large it up and lark about

Like they always do

 

The girls reserve their right to sup

Like men they pale then throw it up

Cos they wanted to

 

Many’s the time I’ve watched this play unfold

Many’s the time I’ve thought they should be told- again

 

I’ve been looking at the Big Screen all my life

While they’re looking at the Big Screen every night  

I’ve been looking at the Big Screen all my life

I’ve been looking at the Big Screen.

 

Words and music by Glenn Prangnell (Copyright Control 2012)

From the album “Girl From The Neck Down” by Suzi Chunk

  

Play Something We Know!

If the concept behind the Suzi Chunk album “Girl From The Neck Down” was “to make the kind of record they don’t make anymore”, then the first Groovy Uncle LP certainly had its own agenda. It’s noticeable these days how obsessed with nostalgia people have become, particularly with regard to music- tribute bands, karaoke, X-Factor cover versions, ill advised reunions- and just about anyone who has ever written and performed their own original compositions will at some point have heard the the tiresome, drunken cry from the back of the room - “Play something we know!” I’ve always found this request both irritating and baffling. Why would anyone NOT want to hear something new? Surely there are only a limited number of times a man (or woman) can tolerate yet another rendition of “Mustang Sally” or “Wonderful Tonight” before the urge becomes too great and he (or she) gauges his (or her) own eyeballs out?

I’ve often thought that one of the key factors behind the massive popularity of Mancunian magpies Oasis rests in Noel Gallagher’s ability to write brand new tunes their audience already knows. Make ‘em big, bold, strident,catchy but most of all familiar-something we can all identify with and sing along. So when it came to putting together a debut album for Groovy Uncle (the first on the State Records label) I knew what I wanted to achieve and didn’t have to think too long about the title – “Play Something We Know!”.                                                                                    

The opening track is a song I’d written back in the 90′s and had already recorded a demo of it with the band I was in at the time, Johnny and The Bandits (who later morphed into Goodchilde). The track was never released and remained on a cassette tape gathering dust but I’d always been rather fond of the song and knew it would sit nicely on PSWK. Inspired by the Tony Hatch song “Call Me” (with a nod to  “Never Ever” by The Action), “Count On Me” is a straight ahead, reassuring feel good song that sets the tone for the rest of the album. The line-up for this track: Ben Jones, Paul Moss, Mole, Glenn Prangnell.

Girl From The Neck Down-Part 3

In 1967 George Harrison attended a lecture on Transcendental Meditation given by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the Hilton Hotel, London. Backstage the two met for the first time and with a typical display of ice breaking irreverence, the Beatle asked the giggling guru: “Got Any Mantras?” 

That always sounded like a song title to me…

The original version appeared on the Groovy Uncle album “Play Something We Know!” where it poked gentle fun at would- be hippies: “you wanna be a flower child/the smell of that incense drives you wild”. I thought Suzi could do a wicked, funkier version of the song. I was right.

“I Can’t Stop The Rain” is an appropriately titled track for what has been a very soggy 2012. A relentless downpour on the soul served up in a late night, bar room jazz stylee with a distinctly Dusty vibe. Fine piano from Peter White on this one.

Another song borne out of troubled, convoluted times “It’s Not Your Heartbreak” was a conscious effort to write for Suzi a black soul influenced balled along the lines of Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. Well, that was my starting point and that influence is most prominent in the line “I wish for a day/you could feel the same way/as I do” when the backing vocal harmonies kick in. The original take included a horn section but my well intentioned arrangement made it sound too cheery so we took it out and replaced it with a guitar part courtesy of Bruce Brand which gives the song just the right amount of melancholy.

To top off the album I decided we needed a “goodbye”song- a lump-in-the-throat ballad full of yearning written with the sole intent of breaking hearts. Yeah, one of those. The backing track was recorded at the end of a long session when we were beginning to wind down and this gave it a nice, laid back feel which is exactly what I wanted. A week or so later Suzi and I layered some lush vocal harmonies together after she’d completed the lead vocal. If I’d had access to a grand piano and orchestra I’d have used them on this track. This’ll more than do for me though. It’s a lovely finale.

The making of this album has been a complete labour of love for me. I had never written songs for someone else before and it’s been a most enjoyable challenge.  Hearing Suzi   interpreting my words and music has made me listen to my own songs in a different way. I’d like to thank everyone involved in the making of this record for their hard work and support not least Marty and Mole at State Records. Most of all I’d like to thank Suzi Chunk for giving me a much needed metaphorical kick up the arse!

“Girl From The Neck Down”-Suzi Chunk out September 2012 on State Records (THSLP 003)  She’ll learn ya!

Girl From The Neck Down-Part 2

The opening track on the album harks back to a song I wrote in 1986 for my first band, The Offbeats. “For The Millionth Time” was probably the best of a dozen songs we recorded at the now defunct Woolly Studios on the Isle of Sheppey and was earmarked for inclusion on our second album “I’ll Do To You What I Did To Rommel”(a line delivered by Derek Guyler in the 1971 film “Please Sir!”in case you’re wondering). The album was never released or even completed but the track did see the light of day via a German vinyl compilation album and an alternate mix reared it’s reverb-soaked head on a red flexi-disc, free with every copy of “In The Crowd” mod fanzine! Both are collectables now, so I am reliably informed. “For The Millionth Time” was intended as a blue eyed soul type stomper but I always felt the original was too fast and it lacked a horn section so when it came to recording the Suzi Chunk version I made sure it was closer to my original idea. This new version has a much more soulful mood to it. 

“I Can’t Stand Mirrors (And I’m Scared Of Heights)” was a song I wrote to accompany a little animated film I made a few years ago for a laugh. It was a straight ahead 12-bar rock’n'roll tune which I ended up singing on the demo in cod Elvis style. When the fun was over I locked the demo away and almost forgot about it until I was looking for exactly that type of song for Suzi’s album. On the new version John Littlefair once again provides a great horn section and the track does what it says on the tin.

“Wish Away The Moon” almost didn’t make it on to the album. In fact I wasn’t going to play it to Suzi at all. The song was heavily inspired by Harry Nilsson and I  liked it a lot but after listening back to my own demo I didn’t think it would be Suzi’s thing. Too soft and fragile perhaps. In the end I persuaded myself to send it to her. A few days passed without a response and I thought my instincts had been correct. Then I received a 3 word e-mail: “That is beautiful!” When it came to recording I wanted to evoke a certain amount of vulnerability-a touch of Nick Drake or Vashti Bunyan. Barely there. So the line-up is simply Mole on double bass, me on acoustic guitars and Suzi on vocals. The fragility in her voice on this track is…. something else. If your bottom lip doesn’t tremble just a little bit then you are, frankly, not human.

The final track on side one (it feels good to still be able to say that in this digital age) is the title song “Girl From The Neck Down”. Returning home from the Purple Weekend Festival in Leon, Spain last December (after Groovy Uncle had played a rare and most enjoyable gig) Suzi said something which prompted me to say “You sound like a girl”. She responded with “That’s because I am a girl! But only from the neck down”. I didn’t say anything at the time but I knew I wanted to use that phrase. A few weeks later I called to ask what she thought of “Girl From The Neck Down” as an album title. She loved it. “OK we’ve got the title so I’ll see if I can come up with the song“, I said. The rest of the day was spent writing what turned out to be a quirky,country- tinged number with a bit of a nod to Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood. A couple of people have already said it’s a favourite. It’s a catchy little number and I’m pleased with it considering it’s the only track on the album that could arguably be described as filler.

See ya on the flip side!