Love & Work

‘Love And Work’ includes the 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’.

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.”

1. ‘The Halls of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ (Gouldman, Brown)
“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.”