Positively Patsy Part 19

August, September and October we had the music school. This time we had ten very talented late teens that knew all about ‘Amazon’ and Greg’s work and were very attentive from the word go. These were all from foster homes and had shown their talents through high school bands.

We had five boys and five girls and it was a bit of a job keeping all of those hormones under control so we worked them hard. All of the boys and two of the girls played guitar and the other three girls played keyboards so we rotated the guitarists about with turns on lead, rhythm and bass, with one of Gregs bass guitars coming out of the store room as they had not brought one themselves. The three teachers had guitar and keyboard between them but one played drums as well so we had a discussion and it was decided that the best way to fully learn performance was to learn to perform.

They chose six songs that they wanted to be proficient at and we worked on those with the aforesaid rotations so anyone ended up doing anything in the band. We got the keyboard players rotating on the piano as well. We rotated on a daily basis so they all had lots to learn. When everyone was happy we opened up the recording studio and each rotation got to record the six tracks. This took quite a while as we had seven guitarists alternating on lead, rhythm and bass so there were plenty of combinations. One of the lads really took to bass playing and got quite inventive so, as a finale, we recorded a jam session with the bass; two rhythms and four lead. Greg and I had shown them the rudiments of polite jamming and also a bit of jamming duels so, when we let them off the leash, it got pretty frantic. As usual, we sent our recordings off to Simon who sent back twelve of each rotation and the jam session on CD. We were very satisfied with our input and the teachers were very happy as well. It proved a success as, within two years, every member of the class was playing in a professional band, with a couple of them having records in the charts, of course being distributed by Simon.

Once again we were approaching Christmas and; out of the blue, the choir master of the Cotswold Choristers contacted us to see if we could take part in a Christmas concert. He had spoken to the choir master from Nashville at a festival during the year and had been given a copy of the CD we had made. They were going to sing in a nearby concert hall over three nights as the choir had achieved quite a good reputation over the year. He told us that it would be with musical backing and Joanne offered to play piano for them. He then said that a couple of the works needed a classical guitarist and, to my surprise, Greg volunteered. He said that, as a young man, he had learned how to play classical and just needed the practise. I queried this as he had said that when he walked off of that stage in London it was to be the end of his public performances. He said “Patsy, that was what I felt then but now I feel as if I have been given a new life without the pressure of being a star. With you girls here, you are just so grounded and just love life. It is a way I can do something I love without someone taking ten percent.”

We offered our ballroom for practise and that was eagerly accepted so, a few days later, a coach rolled up at the house with a bunch of excited choral singers and the choir master. We took them to the ballroom and they told us that they had listened to the CD and wanted to sing ‘Serendipity’ with me on acoustic guitar and Joanne on piano. They had the bulk of the set practised so we just needed to practise the songs where we joined in. So, firstly, they played a couple of tracks that had the classical guitar and Greg listened to the first playing and played along with the second. He had a Martin acoustic from his collection and it sounded good. The choir master got the choir in their position for the songs and Greg sat on a stool to one side. He was to play an opening piece before each song so this is what happened. It really sounded nice.

They went through the two songs another couple of times and then it was Joanne and I accompanying them on ‘Serendipity’. The first time through was as good as it gets but the choir master made us do it another couple of times to prove the point. I asked him if we could go through the set from start to finish to see if there was anywhere the four of us could fit in. He produced four song books and stood Greg in the bass section while Joanne, Peggy and I were towards the mezzo area. As they worked through the set we slowly picked up the tunes and tempos and when it came to our instrumental parts we walked to our positions and played our instruments. They had selected the songs to have ‘Serendipity’ as the last piece. We had a break with drinks and cake and chatted about the recital. It was to be a ticketed event with some seats already allocated to the disadvantaged, with different organisations on each of the three evenings so was right up our alley.

After the break we did the whole set again. The classical guitar pieces were near the end so Greg just went over to his stool and swapped his songbook for his guitar. My bit was right after so I walked over to my stool and swapped my songbook for my trusty Fender. When we had gone through the set the choir master asked if they could come back in a couple of days’ time and do a full dress rehearsal. I asked him what the dress was and he told me it was the usual costume for choirs, black fine knit jumper and slacks for the men and black long skirts or dresses for the girls. We could do that. Before he left I gave him a CD and told him that it was an original of mine that had not yet made it to commercial release and that I thought it may make an interesting addition to the set. It was a song in the same vein as ‘Serendipity’ called ‘Lucky’ that explored just how lucky we are to be here and alive.

Two days later, when they pulled up, he told me that they had played the song on the coach CD player and the choir was adamant that they wanted to sing it. They had taken the trouble to transcribe the words to add to all the books. When we assembled in the music room we looked good and we took our places and went through the set without any problems. I had played ‘Lucky’ to Joanne and Greg so we were ready to roll when we practised it. It worked well but could be better. I suggested a slight change in the voices and wanted it slowed a bit and when we did it next time it sounded very atmospheric. The choir master said that it would be perfect to finish on and asked me if they could claim it as a Commission Premiere so that he could acknowledge me from the podium. I agreed.

He asked us how we wanted to be listed in the programme and Greg asked if he could be named as Sir Gregory Goggins, while Peggy and I should have our OBE on the end of our names. As we had the set down, we went to the studio and made a recording of the full set. When the weekend of the performances came around, we arrived at the Concert Hall on the Friday to be told that all three performances were sell –outs. I gave the choir master a box with two hundred copies of the full set on CD, with a proper cover, that Simon had produced for me. He was flabbergasted and said that it was wonderful and would be sold after the event with a limited number each night. I told him that I had another fifty for the choir so he could sell the lot.

Come show time we assembled on the stage to some applause and did our thing. It all went well and when we finished ‘Lucky’ the choir master stood with his hands up to create a period of silence and when he put his hands down and turned to bow the applause was deafening. We took a group bow and then the four of us were picked out to do our bows, finally he announced that the last number was the World Premiere of a new work by Patricia Meyers and someone gave me a bouquet of flowers. It was all very dignified. The Saturday and Sunday performances were as successful and we were all very happy with the whole experience. It would be interesting to see what the papers say during the week, if they say anything.

Part 20

The papers during the week were interesting, in that they could not decide whether to praise the choir or wonder how they got some local rock stars to perform with them. Greg was listed as a gifted guitarist, no matter what he played, and my two songs at the end were considered a shining new direction for choral works, if a bit ‘poppy’. The reviews were generally very good and we were not surprised when the choir master called to ask if he could come and see us the next day. When he turned up we took him into the drawing room and sat him down with a hot drink. He thanked us for our involvement and said that he had never seen so many column inches devoted to a choral recital before. We assured him it was a lot of media over reaction but he asserted that we were real improvements to the normal recital.

Then he got to the nub of his visit. It seemed that an entrepreneur from London had been in the area and, drawn by seeing Greg and the girls; came to the show on the Saturday evening and bought a CD. He had contacted the choir to ask if they could perform at one of his theatres in London, over a two week period with a matinee Saturday and Sunday. He had offered a handsome payment but only on the condition that the four additional members were present. This was to be in the middle two weeks in January. I had the feeling that it was a very blatant and opportunistic offer to fill what would have been an empty theatre. I wondered if someone had pulled out of a show or if a show had tanked before it was due there. Anyway, the money would be very good for the choir to have for a two week season and quite realistic if we could half fill the theatre every performance.

I asked the choir master if they had accommodation near the theatre and he said that he had not got that far. Greg asked which theatre it was and when he was told he made a phone call. He chatted with one of his old band mates and told him what we were after and grabbed a notebook to write down an address. He thanked the guy and turned to us to say “OK, we have a house only ten minutes’ walk from the theatre for the two weeks needed plus a couple of days either side. It will only cost us twenty tickets for my mate.” The choir master asked if it would fit all of us and Greg told him that the house was an old hotel and had twenty double bedrooms so was not a trouble if the members of the choir could share rooms. He then said that we would stay in a hotel he knew of in the next street so we would not intrude.

There we were, then, booked for an unpaid gig in London and looking forward to it. I asked how the CD’s sold and was told they had all sold out so got on the phone to Simon and asked him if he could ship another two thousand copies to me for the first week of January. I asked him to hold for a moment and asked the choir master if he would agree to have that CD released for general sales and he readily agreed. Getting back to Simon I asked him if he wanted to distribute it and when he said yes I asked him to send the standard artists contract for signing.

We had a small party for Christmas with our neighbours and village folk and then made ourselves ready for the stint in London. We did not have any schools booked until another music one for March, April and May; a three-day team training for June and July, so we were feeling a bit easier about life. Greg asked me if Jake and the band were doing anything at the moment and I told him that they had done a blues album that was selling well but would check with them to see what their plans were. I made the call to Jake and was told that they had nothing planned for the year and Greg asked me to invite them to the house after our shows. I told Jake that the band was invited to the house and told him that we would not be here until after our two weeks in London, and he said that they would come over to take in our show and then come to the house.

I was a bit thoughtful and when Peggy asked me what was on my mind I said that it was now two and a bit years since the world tour and it seemed to have flown by. She told me that I had been busy with the charity and the schools and still had found the time for fashion shoots, a fashion show and putting out the ‘Angels of Joy’ CD as well as another ‘Amazon’ one. Then there was the choir in the US and the one here. Saying it like that I had filled up the time and I didn’t mention my ‘final conversion’ as she didn’t know about that side of my history.

We had recorded the choir with ‘Lucky’ as the last song and I thought it may be nice to see what else I could write in a choral format. This includes multiple harmonies and lines sung above other lines. It was quite an interesting project and I was nearly there with another song along the same path as ‘Lucky’, which I called ‘When I wake up’.

We went into London with the choir in the coach a couple of days early and they were all very excited at being on stage in London. When we arrived and got them settled into the house the rest of us went to the hotel. Next day we all walked to the theatre to see what we had let ourselves in for. It was actually quite a nice place and just off the main theatre street. The box office was open and when we asked we were told that sales were good, especially for the first few nights. The dressing rooms were clean and the stage was well angled. The venue would seat about two thousand. One of the girls said that she had never sung in such a large venue and I told her that it was just more people who had come to hear her and the size meant nothing if the punters were happy. She asked me what the biggest venue I had sung in and I told her that it was an easy one; Tokyo was far and away the biggest venue at a hundred and twenty five thousand. Greg was listening in and told her that he remembered that gig well because the ‘Amazon’ girls were dressed as Lolita’s and were looking really hot.

We did a dress rehearsal on the Friday night as the first show was the matinee Saturday. The crowd for that were appreciative but the one on the Saturday evening gave us a standing ovation. The reviews in the Sunday papers were good so the box office reported a marked increase in sales over the next few days. The Sunday matinee was better than Saturday and the Sunday night was good. I asked the choir if they would come to the theatre on the Monday afternoon and played them my recording of ‘When I wake up’ and asked them if they would like to add it to their repertoire. They were enthusiastic so we tried it out. I had already had the lyrics printed up for them and over a couple of tries we got it pretty good. The choir master wanted us to add it to the set for the last weekend so we had time to run through it some more before then.

The week flew by and we arrived at the second Saturday matinee which went very well. On the Saturday evening we were on the stage and I noticed some familiar faces in the audience. Simon and Sarah were there, along with Annette and Maxine. The performance went well again as the choir were far more relaxed in the set. We got a standing ovation again and were in the dressing room when the four from the US knocked on the door. I introduced the choir master to Simon. Annette and Maxine were introduced to the girls of the choir and I could see them evaluating the girls critically. Of course, being Cotswold girls they all had flawless skin and were all similar build and height so I could guess that an offer to a shoot would be in the future.

Simon and Sarah cornered Greg to ask him if he wanted to record a classical guitar album but he told them he had other plans but would keep them informed. The final weekend saw Jake and the band in the audience on the Saturday night; and they were very taken with the whole thing as it was a genre that they had never explored. We told them that we would be back at the house on Monday afternoon and would see them there. After the Sunday show we told the choir to come out to the house on Wednesday to record ‘Lucky’ and ‘When I wake up’.

Marianne G 2020