- published: 13 Feb 2013
- views: 288169
Gracious was a British progressive rock band which existed from 1967 to 1971, and released two albums, Gracious! (1970, Vertigo/Capitol) and This Is... (1972, Philips).
Singer Paul 'Sandy' Davis and guitarist Alan Cowderoy formed a band, the Disciples, while at school in Esher, Surrey. Davis was the drummer and vocalist, and Cowderoy played lead; two other school friends played bass and rhythm (Keith Ireland). In 1968, Martin Kitcat and Mark Laird joined on Hohner electric piano and bass respectively. Davis was still drumming as well as singing, but Robert Lipson, who played in a rival Esher band, agreed to join, allowing Davis to take the front of stage.
The band's early sound was influenced by Cream and the British blues movement, and one of their first professional recordings was a cover of a John Mayall song. They supported The Who on a tour in 1968, by which time they had moved away from their blues roots and developed a more "pop" flavoured identity, landing a deal to record an album under the direction of producer Norrie Paramor. Actual production duties were assigned to Tim Rice, who then worked for Paramor. Sessions at a Denmark Street studio produced ten tracks, an eclectic mix of Vanilla Fudge-influenced covers and Moody Blues-meets-The Beatles styled originals penned by Davis and Kitcat. Two tracks were released on the Polydor single "Beautiful" b/w "Oh What A Lovely Rain", but nothing else from the sessions was heard until 1994 when four more songs appeared on the Renaissance Buried Treasures compilation. They changed their name to Gracious, coined by their first manager David Booth. The exclamation mark was added when the first album's sleeve was prepared. Their third gig under the new name saw them sharing the bill with King Crimson, on 11 July 1969 at Beckenham's Mistrale Club. Lipson would comment later, "that changed our lives. Martin got a Mellotron and we were off!"
I'll play you at your own game
To make sure that there's clear blue water here
I can see that your eyes are all mine
I see you in me
You make it easier
You make it easier
Why don't you be gracious?
Why don't you understand?
I wish I could spit on the world
And never make it back to Earth
The good and the bad rubbed shoulders
And talk about the plans of living
Joining the colours up on all sides
To make it easy
You make it easier
You make it easier
Why don't you be gracious?
Why don't you understand?
I wish I could spit on the world
And never make it back TO EARTH
You make it easier for us
You make it easier for us
You make it easier for us
You make it easier
Why don't you be gracious?
Why don't you understand?
I wish I could spit on the world
And never make it back to