Clive James Gregson (born 4 January 1955, Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, England) is an English singer/songwriter, musician and record producer. He has toured in bands, provided backup for well-known musicians, and written songs that have been covered by Kim Carnes, Norma Waterson and Nanci Griffith. He is featured in Hugh Gregory's 2002 book 1,000 Great Guitarists.
Background
Clive Gregson was born and raised in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. His earliest musical influence was The Beatles in the early 1960s. It was around this time that he received his first guitar as a present from his parents, using the proceeds from the sale of his older brother's unwanted drum kit.
Gregson played in a band at school but played his first professional gig with Any Trouble, the band he formed in Crewe, England with college friends around 1975.
Going professional after Any Trouble signed a recording contract, Gregson has continued as a working musician. Gregson and Manx singer, Christine Collister, together formed folk-rock duo Gregson & Collister, and produced a number of CD albums. After the band's demise, Gregson went on to perform solo.
In 1993, Gregson relocated from the UK to Nashville, United States. In 2003, his career suffered a hiatus of several months after he broke his arm and shoulder in a fall from a ladder. He made a full recovery and continues to record and tour extensively in countries including the UK and Japan from his new base in Houston, Texas.
Gregson cites a wide range of musical influences and tastes and has stated that his all-time favourite record is Nick Drake's Pink Moon.
Career
Any Trouble
Clive Gregson's professional music career started as he took the role of lead-singer of Any Trouble, the band he had co-founded in the mid 1970s, as well the role of songwriter and rhythm guitarist after co-founder Tom Jackson left. Having recorded and released Gregson's composition Yesterday's Love as an indie single in 1979 Any Trouble began to receive airplay courtesy of BBC Radio 1 DJs John Peel, Andy Peebles and others in the UK. This led to interest from major record labels including WEA, Chrysalis, EMI and Stiff. They selected Stiff "because they were our kind of people".
Any Trouble released three albums on Stiff, including a live album, initially for promotion only, and a further two on EMI America; all were well-received critically, and were accompanied by singles and extensive touring. Despite featuring regularly on radio playlists Any Trouble's popularity wasn't reflected in record sales, and they disbanded in 1984. They re-formed briefly in 2007 to record a new album Life in Reverse, released again through the re-constituted Stiff Records in the UK, playing a headline gig to support it at the Jazz Cafe, London, England.
In November 2013, the band re-formed for a one-off gig at the 229 Club, London, England, in support of the release of the three-CD set The Complete Stiff Recordings 1980–1981
In 2014, they recorded Present Tense, playing a short tour in December 2014, which included Band on the Wall, Manchester, England on 2 December 2014. plus dates in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Birmingham, England, the 229 Club, London, England, and the Purple Weekend Festival, in León, Spain.
Richard Thompson Band
While working with Any Trouble, Gregson was introduced to Richard Thompson at the wedding of John Wood, who had produced Any Trouble's debut album and worked on a number of records with Thompson. The meeting led to Gregson's singing backing vocals on the Richard and Linda Thompson album Shoot Out the Lights. This was to be the start of a long association with Richard Thompson during which they recorded and toured together extensively. Gregson introduced Christine Collister to Thompson, resulting in her also joining the Richard Thompson Band.
Gregson & Collister
In 1984, shortly after the release of Any Trouble's fifth album Wrong End of the Race, Gregson saw vocalist Christine Collister perform at Poynton Folk Club, Cheshire, England. After the demise of Any Trouble, Gregson recorded a solo album (Strange Persuasions) and invited Collister to sing on it. Shortly after this, Richard Thompson asked Gregson to sing on his album Across a Crowded Room; at Gregson's suggestion, Collister was enlisted for vocal duties, leading to her joining the Richard Thompson Band.