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Clive Gregson is a founder member of Any Trouble, a quartet from Manchester who signed to Stiff Records in 1980 and subsequently to EMI America in 1982. They made five highly regarded albums before calling it a day at the end of 1984.
Around that time, Clive heard Christine Collister singing at a folk club. Coincidentally, Richard Thompson had just offered Clive a place in his touring band and Clive suggested to Richard that he might also consider using Christine for additional backup vocals. Just prior to leaving on his first US tour with Richard, Clive released his first solo album "Strange Persuasions" (1985), which also featured Christine singing backup.
Gregson & Collister began performing as a duo on the club circuit, and in order to have something to sell at shows, they created "Home and Away" (1986), a mostly live album that went on to sell over 75,000 copies. This was followed by their first studio album "Mischief" in 1987, "A Change in the Weather" in 1989 ( “A tremendous record, without one mediocre or ineffectual track” - says the All Music Guide) and "Love is a Strange Hotel", an album of cover versions of some of Clive and Christine's favourite songs, in 1990. However the stress of constant touring and working together without mainstream success finally took its toll on the pair and they decided to go their separate ways in 1992 after one parting shot, "The Last Word", and one final tour.
In 1993, Clive relocated to the USA, where he still lives. Most of his time has been spent in Nashville, TN. He resumed his solo career and has released six solo albums: "Carousel Of Noise" (1994), "People & Places" (1995), "I Love This Town" (1996), "Happy Hour" (1999), "Comfort & Joy" (2001) and "Long Story Short" (2004).
Clive continues to tour as a solo artist in addition to working as a sideman or musical director for other artists. He has toured and recorded with Eddi Reader, Boo Hewerdine, Plainsong, Nanci Griffith and Dennis Locorriere, to name but a few. He has appeared as a session player on many projects, produced albums for a plethora of artists and continues to write songs on a daily basis. His favourite album is "Pink Moon" by Nick Drake, he supports Manchester United Football Club, still listens to vinyl records regularly and endorses no products at all. He plays quite a few instruments pretty well and has even been known to wear an accordion in public.
Some interesting facts...
Nanci Griffith’s recording of Clive’s "I Love This Town" was ‘A’ Listed at Radio 2 in 2005, and received more than 5,000 spins in the US.
Mary Chapin Carpenter named Clive as one of her favourite songwriters and recorded "We’re Not Over Yet".
Clive Gregson’s songs have been recorded by Nanci Griffith, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kim Carnes, Claire Martin, Fairport Convention, Smokie and many other artists.
Clive is one of the "1000 Great Guitarists" – according to Guitar Player magazine.
Any Trouble reunited in 2007 to make a CD of new material entitled "Life In Reverse". The album was produced by their original producer John Wood, released on their original label Stiff Records and a promo clip for the single "That Sound" was shot by Nigel Dick. The band played a show at the Jazz Cafe in London to celebrate the release. Grown men cried....
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