Giants of Music – Songwriter Chris Gantry
By Alan Shipston for Country Music News International Magazine
The story of writing with hit songwriter Chris Gantry for more than 37 years and the secrets to songwriting I learned along the way.
I met Chris Gantry in September of 1988. We were introduced by a record producer who thought we might make a good fit for songwriting. In truth, the producer probably surmised that Chris might be a great mentor for me.
Our maiden voyage took place at American Eagle Studios on 21st Avenue in Nashville, Tennessee. Chris came bounding into the studio with a big smile and hand extended. After quick introductions, Chris announced, “I want to write a song about a river.” Taken by surprise, I had hoped for a cordial back and forth of extracting a seed of an idea. But Chris had the river on his mind that day and there was no changing his mind.
From his soft side case, he extracted a beautiful Lowden acoustic guitar and placed the strap across his shoulders. I don’t think he sat down once during the roughly two-hour writing session, dancing his way around the studio. He looked my way and said, “Do you have an idea for a river song?” With my back against the wall, I recounted a story from my youth of a family gathering on a local river that was embedded in my memory. Chris began stalking the room, guitar banging out chords and words tumbling from his mouth. Like a tiger, he attacked the song, relentlessly.
I spit out the continuing story, occasionally suggesting a different word or chord in the arrangement. The stream of lyrics began to pour forth and there was no stopping the song. It appeared to have a life all its own, like a strand of smoke circling through the current of air. What was a simple family affair, deep in the rural countryside, had now been transformed to a huge social outing on the banks of the Mississippi River with food, laughter, musical instruments and the underlying theme of togetherness. In two short hours, Dancing By The River was born.
It was our first song written together and would get cut several times, appearing first on the Turtle Wings album by country favorite, Valerie Smith. Was this luck, or some kind of divine intervention? I’d seen other wonderful circumstances turn into success in Nashville, so why not this? From first song to first cut.
If you ask Chris how to write a song, he’ll happily tell you that he doesn’t know and that songs pass through you like the ether of a mysterious muse looking for a home. The truth is, when you have written as long as Chris has, you are permanently ready to materialize new ideas into works of art by sheer wisdom and experience. Just as a painter knows which brush will create the perfect stroke, the writer innately understands he is driven by perception and familiarity.
Chris Gantry began life in Queens, New York. The son of a concert pianist who studied under Ignace Paderewski, Chris was destined for a life in music. His career began as a singer songwriter at age fourteen with a recording contract for Paramount Records. By 1963 he had moved to Nashville to continue as a songwriter, playwright and poet. Affectionately nicknamed, The Poet of Nashville, Gantry soon would be signed to Monument and ABC Dot records where he would record five solo albums.
One of his songs, Dreams of the Everyday Housewife, found its way to Glen Campbell who turned it into a hit song earning Chris multiple awards, including the Millionaire’s Award and the Nashville Songwriter’s Award. Of the thousands of songs he has written, there are numerous collaborations with Kris Kristofferson, Mel Tillis, Shel Silverstein, Eddie Rabbit and so many others.
His songs have been recorded by Reba McEntire, kd lang, Johnny Cash, Robert Goulet, Johnny Lee, Wayne Newton, Billy Walker, Garry Puckett, Rhett Akins and a long list of other performers. Chris won the Tennessee William’s Playwriting Contest with a collection of one act plays entitled Teeth and Nails. He has written a book of short stories entitled Father Duck Tales plus several novels, including Gypsy Dreamers In The Alley and The Outlaw Bible. Chris appeared on the Johnny Cash television show as well as the Ralph Emory show in Nashville. He actively tours around the US and has recorded at least a dozen album projects on various labels.
I was born in England and emigrated to Canada at a young age. At eleven, I was struck by the magic of the Beatles dominating the airwaves and knew the guitar was the answer I’d been looking for. After years of performing in rock bands across Canada, a short tour with Nelson Riddle conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, I landed a gig with a country artist who was signed to Columbia Records. The new recording we would embark on would be cut in New York City for a pop flavor and Nashville for the country feel. From the moment I stepped into the Shockhouse recording studio on the corner of 19th and Grand in Music City, I felt transformed into a world of complete musical comfort.
The album hit the charts and allowed me to explore other recording opportunities. Soon I was producing songwriter great Joe South backed by members of the Atlanta Rhythm Section. This led to producing a one hour TV show on Randy Travis at the height of his career. It was at this moment that Chris and I began writing together.
I’ve had the good fortune of writing with many hit song writers including Kent Blazy, Larry Knechtel, Jerry Gillespie, Gabriel Katona, Ray Flacke, Ricci Mareno and others. Each of these writers taught me something new and invaluable, but it was Chris Gantry who revealed the art and craftsmanship of songwriting. With over 60 songs written between us, I’m hoping to explore how songwriters hone their craft and find inspiration.
Chapter 2 Inspiration
Thoughts and inspiration are fleeting. Like a fresh blanket of snow on warm pavement, they melt before your very eyes. Unless you write or record the idea, it’s gone as quick as it came. Except for the Big Idea. That one word or phrase that sets your mind racing towards musical majesty. The spark that sends a jolt through your system and kick starts the creative juice. Inspiration is like invention – it comes in flash, a kernel of an idea that grows within the mind and becomes meaningful and worthy of exploring.
But how do these ideas arrive? For every songwriter, there is a different answer, but the one quality that is the same might be your antennae. If you, as a person, are in a heightened state of song awareness and your psyche is open to receiving ideas, they will come to you. If you are a receptor for fragments of songs, they will show up at the oddest of times. Stories abound of writers who awoke from a dream with Yesterday or Satisfaction running through their minds. Dolly Parton wrote Jolene and I Will Always Love You in the same day. Eric Johnson wrote Cliffs of Dover in 5 or 10 minutes. Career defining songs that just happened because the antennae was up.
There is no guarantee to songwriting. This is a job like no other. You can learn tips and tricks, but it still won’t make you a great songwriter if you don’t have imagination, hope and truthfulness in your tool belt. You can learn from a master songwriter, but it doesn’t mean that knowledge is going to magically pass into you and make you a great songwriter. This is not Like learning to be an accountant or how to pour cement in a driveway. Extracting ideas from the air that come to you in a fleeting moment and then turning it into a piece that resonates deeply with the general public is supremely difficult.
Others use methods passed on by creatives from all walks of life. There are those who like to write in the same place, same chair, same desk each instance they put pen to paper. Maybe the familiarity of it relaxes the inner soul making it easier for ideas to formulate. Maybe the writer prefers not to venture out into the world of other songwriters where the outcome may not be as predictable. Some writers choose to work at the same time every day, giving themselves a time limit to complete a song. Writers rooms at publishing companies are famous for placing writers in cramped cubicles to churn out the next hit. It may work for some writers, but I find putting a time constraint on the creative process only places fences around the work, never allowing it to flow.
That being said, I’ll recount a story that has resonated with me for years. Many years ago, Chris was signed to Warner Chappell and invited me to Warner Brothers in Nashville to write with him. We had a writers room for three hours and began work on a song called Love Addiction. These rooms typically have a couch, several chairs and a table with an upright piano against one of the wall. They have a cell like quality to them and are not the most inspiring places to write in. We were maybe two hours into the song when a knock came at the door. Since Chris was already pacing the room, guitar in hand, he answered the door. Paul Williams stood there with a big smile and told Chris that he had always wanted to meet him and with his limited time schedule, was hoping to write while he was at Warner for the day. I think anyone else would have stopped the session, invited Paul in and been happy to write a song with the author of Grammy winner Evergreen, Rainbow Connection, We’ve Only Just Begun and so many other great compositions. Chris politely said that he couldn’t meet right then since he was already working with another writer. That frozen moment in time meant I was an acknowledged writer. An inspiring moment that strengthened my conviction as a writer and stayed with me forever. It also reinforced my respect for Chris and his principles.
Chapter 3 Honesty
In his book, The Outlaw Bible, Chris states, “As songwriters, the burden if any, is bearing the responsibility of explaining the unexplainable. There are no shortcuts on this noble path to be prophet, comforter, councilor, pastor, seer, and visionary, always using yourself as the model for human frailty and infallibility, always pointing the finger inwardly.” He goes on to say “It’s all about adding a bit of elegance to the world. Why should we not do whatever it is we do and have it not be elegant, If it’s honest it will be elegant. Dishonest stuff reeks of shabby insincerity. We want to shine like the top of a Christmas tree, the figures on the wedding cake, fireflies and heat lightening.”
So how do we go about creating that elegant masterpiece?
Every time Chris and I wrote a song together, he would impart a morsel of knowledge that only comes from an artist who has walked the lyrical path. Gantry recalled, “Hank Williams had the great ability to take his sorrows, heartbreak, and devastation that he was experiencing and turn it into art. Reliving his pain by singing it back to himself was Hank being his own psychiatrist in that he opened up to himself like one would open up to a therapist, recanting his problems in the songs he wrote. More than likely it helped him to feel better about himself and his situation especially when he sang them to adoring crowds of people. Honest songs help the listener to open up to things about themselves that have long receded into their own private caves of forced forgetfulness serving as a source of lost inspiration and a shot of hope in moments of desperation and despair. Being a singer songwriter made Hank’s life bearable, so bearable that he produced an enormous body of work. He was committed to his art and managed to produce it right to the end.”
Chapter 4 Truth
Byron said in Don Juan – Tis strange but true, for truth is always strange. Stranger than fiction
Truth never lies, so you don’t have to alter it or adjust it to suit your purpose. So, be true to yourself. Give yourself the full benefit that the listener will sense the truth in your song without question.
It seems honesty is the best policy. The old country saying describing songs as three chords and the truth, resonates like an old Hank tune. It is far easier to tell a truthful story than to make up an imaginary set of characters that have no connection to your inner soul. The truth is hard to swallow at times and with poetic license, we can bend the story we are creating to fit the mood of the song without revealing the grit that lies behind. This is the craft that the songwriter uses to weave a story so heartfelt, yet undamaging to the past from where it sprang.
Gantry has a perspective on writing truthfully. “For a Song to drive a stake of life changing realization into the heart of the listener, the song should resemble an elegant necklace, every jewel and placement of the jewels on the strand should point to and deify the essence of the pendant.” The centerpiece of your song, or pendant, should be a truthful statement that shines so bright it is unmistakable to the listener. He goes on to further state, “The path to the magic most times is short stopped by the mind that inquires of itself, “Is this commercial.” We all want our music to be recognized and acclaimed by the public, however, the problem of retarded artistic development occurs when the mind begins to edit the intuitive process.” By staying true to yourself, intuition is free to roam through your lyrics, creating an accurate image that breathes the life and soul into your song.
Chapter 5 Production
Production involves the physical work of writing the song, capturing it in time and space, immortalizing the first version ever heard. Lyrics and melody make up the key elements of the song writing copyright and this is where you will spend time agonizing over the minutiae of your song. The lyrics may come first in the form of a hook, a general idea or just a broad feeling for a subject that is worthy of writing. In the words of John Lennon, just write it all down, even if it doesn’t make sense at the time. Capture the moment before it is gone.
There is a difference between a lyricist and a wordsmith in that the wordsmith might only create the hook, title or the memorable part of the song, whereas the lyricist completes the task of writing all the verses, choruses, bridges, etc. This amalgamation often leads to co-writing, where each party might have a specific skill that compliments the other.
Long after your words are forgotten or buried in a mix, the melody is the feature that we all come away whistling, humming, bouncing through our minds. Instrumental versions of popular songs are proof that the melody plays a huge role in the effectiveness of a successful song. As much as Gantry was known for his lyrical skills, I also felt his strong suit was writing beautiful melodies that inhabit your mind.
Another character in the trade is a tunesmith or top line writer. The role of this person is to write the melody or a crucial portion of the melody to push the song into the arena where it can be heard and eventually cut.
Co-writing is a highly unique version of songwriting that relies on two or more writers to find the kernel of the song and develop it into a finished composition. Just like two painters would interpret and draw differently from each other, the songwriter develops a style of accommodating the other writer. If you are a lyricist, it makes sense to find a composer who specializes in marrying music to words. But when both writers parallel each other, there can be a race to the glorious end of the song, or at worse, you get stuck on the first line and never finish the piece. It’s important to find co-writers who are in sync with your perspective so that at the very least, you can move the song in the same direction.
When Gantry arrived in Nashville during its songwriting heyday, there were plenty of co-writers available to bounce ideas around. “You can’t even begin to imagine what it was like to be a young songwriter being thrown into a pack of writers like Billy Swan, Linda Hargrove, Donnie Fritts, Eddie Rabbit, Kris Kristofferson, Mickey Newbury, Vince Mathews, Tony Joe White, Shel Silverstein, Lee Clayton, Bucky Wilkin, Mack Vickery, Tom T. Hall, John Hartford, Spooner Oldham, John Hurley, Ronnie Wilkins, Tom Ghent and Lana Chapel. Being around these young, deadly serious, super-excited and in-love-with-the-process songwriters was like being in the throne room of God listening to all the high energy lingo pouring out of the mouths of angels, seraphim, and archangels; it was pure Shakespeare 101.
There are some esoteric positions on songwriting and Chris has always stood by the adage of, get out of your own way. Don’t stand in the way of the song, move aside and let the song become what it will become. This happens when you are seasoned enough to know that a great song is in your hands and to just let it write itself, as it were. It’s almost akin to rolling a strike in bowling, without really having that repetitive skill under your belt. Or hitting a homerun, when you barely made contact with the ball. Sometimes letting your body takeover and allowing things to happen naturally brings a result that is mystifyingly wonderful.
During the songwriting process, the song will evolve and become what you allow it to become. To insure a better success rate, it helps to keep a few ideas moving forward with the writing process. Gantry would spill these tips and secrets out over many years of writing together and I still abide by them today.
Hooks should be memorable and strong. If your main feature is not resonating, come at it from a different angle, but find the strongest hook that you can. Your opening line must pull the listener into the song so that they want to continue listening. It can be as simple as Simon’s, “Hello darkness, my old friend,” or complex and wordy as the opening line to Gentle On Your Mind, which invites the listener in like a warm summer breeze.
If you imagine your song to be 16-20 lines long, try to think of each line as a scene from a movie. Each scene supports the next and tells the story so well that the listener gets an instant image in their mind that keeps them fully engaged until the end of the song and then hopefully wanting to hear it again.
Every line in your composition must stand on its own. If it can’t, then you should remove and rewrite. You should be able to read any line in the song and have it make sense as a complete statement.
Adding a surprise to your composition that takes the listener to a new and unexpected place is always worth the effort. This could be an unusual chord voicing or chord selection that is outside the diatonic key you are in. Possibly an instrument or sound that startles the senses to pay closer attention and give your song a new and exciting element. Unexpected key changes can have the same effect. When Gantry and I were working on a production, he would often say, “Think like George Martin. What would he do in this section.” Thinking outside the norm of standard and safe music production often yields astonishing results and could even set a trend.
In country songwriting, as with other forms, a conversational approach is a good place to start. Write like you are talking to an old friend, having a casual conversation, using the language of the day. Lyrics that are convoluted, can be difficult to sing and hard to understand.
In some cases, it’s better to show, than tell. The action found in the line that shows what is going on, is far more interesting than just telling what is occurring. It is more difficult to express these lines, but worth it. Chris wrote this Americana classic called Back To Louise that illustrates the need for action.
I might be runnin’ from the law, ducking bullets in the shadows
Of an alley like a TV show at night
Hiding in a warehouse at the end of Lower Broadway
Yellin’ at the cops, I won’t give up without a fight
Well they’re closing in around me in the wee hours of the morning
I try my only last attempt at freedom
And in that final moment when I feel the handcuffs squeeze
My mind goes flying back to Louise
Chapter 6 Performance/Recording
The song must be played for someone, somewhere to test its veracity. Whether it’s a publisher, friend or song writers night audience, your song must be heard and judged.
If you are performing the song live, always place it in the spotlight, never downplay or degrade your work in any way. Your audience, as fickle as they may be, will be the deciding factor, so give your song every opportunity to win. Just like there is truth in your lyrics, use that same principle in the performance. Leave it all out there and your audience will forgive mistakes and miscues. A real and honest vibrant musical presentation always outstrips a mundane accurate execution.
Chris performed Allegheny on the Johnny Cash TV Show and shortly after, Johnny himself cut the song. He had watched Gantry present the song and decided it would make a good record for him and June Carter Cash. Of course, getting a song placed is never quite this easy, but you never know who is listening to your songs or what decision making power they have.
For the song to be pitched in the music industry, it must also be recorded. This can be as simple as a guitar/ vocal demo or as elaborate as a 48 track production. Usually the song will point you in the right direction as to how much production will be needed to capture the right feel of the song. If in doubt, solicit the help or advice of friends who are known to have great ears and a sense for what a song needs to be successful.
Rhythm is the most important part of the song. You must get people to move when they listen to your composition, whether it’s tapping their foot in time to your tune or up on their feet dancing away, make your track move. The driving part of the song can come from an acoustic guitar that propels the music forward or it can be a complete band pulsing with an infectious groove. The rhythm section (bass and drums) quite often hold the responsibility of pushing the beat forward, creating urgency and excitement. It is well worth spending the extra time setting your rhythm in motion.
Paul Simon’s Cecelia is a great example of simple, inexpensive handmade percussion that positions the feel of the song. Recorded on a portable Nagra open reel recorder with the record head set in a slap back mode, the parts were played on guitar cases, a piano bench and slapping on legs by 4 or 5 musicians just sitting around having fun. That rhythm set up the cycle that everything else would sit on. So easy, yet so effective and memorable.
The bedtracks are the foundation that the song itself rests on. A typical composition might have drums, bass, guitar and piano as the bedtracks that all other instruments will sit upon. These tracks must be played accurately, in time with measured pressure on each note and beat. The dynamics of the arrangement will dictate the ebb and flow, but the loudness of each part must be complimentary to each other. Each player should be transparent and not stand out so that eventually solos and vocals can shine.
I remember working with Chris Leuzinger in the studio some years ago. He had many hit records under his belt and would go on to play on every Garth Brooks record. While recording his track, Chris intently stared at the neck of his guitar, never looking away as he played note perfect parts with great feel. He was listening in the headphones to the other session players, but at no time did his eyes wander from the fingerboard. This technique translates in to recording beautiful tracks that are played mistake free.
In the world of recorded music, the vocal is king. The lyric and melody is performed by the singer and every nuance of the performance must be the loudest part of the mix. If you are straining to hear the words, then the vocal is not loud enough. This can be adjusted electronically by the use of compressors and limiters to get the vocal to rise above all other tracks.
Mix like it’s a record. Since you don’t ever really know what the end result is going to bring, you might as well treat the final mixdown as though you are making a record for release. The art of balancing your various tracks is better left for the myriad books written on the subject, but spend enough time making your end product sound like a million dollars.
Mix for the mastering. The mastering stage is the final ribbon that gets tied around the package. Generally, you want to leave between -3 and -5 dB of headroom on your final mix so that the mastering engineer can have enough space in which to ply his trade. It is here that the best elements of your mix are slightly emphasized and some of the horrid sonic features can be deftly hidden. Mastering, through the use of compression and limiting evens the track out and gives it an overall gain structure so that when played on multiple systems it should sound great on all those various iphones, ipads, home stereos, car stereos, television and other music reproduction units.
Chapter 7 Dreams
Between tomorrow’s dream and yesterday’s regret is today’s opportunity.
You have to fulfill your own mission, live your own dreams, make them come true somehow and stay in the race or you will never win.
Dreams of the Everyday Housewife has been recorded numerous times, topped a variety of charts and received multiple accolades including the BMI 3 million plays award. When Chris wrote it, he was literally living the dream in Nashville with barely two nickels to rub together. Without the vision and drive, this American classic would have never been written. Even when the chips are down and the future is uncertain, the dream you have of yourself must transcend the reality of where you are at that time.
Imagine You are at a party honoring your significant other when suddenly an idea hits you so hard that if you don’t get it down now it will be lost. Convinced that this is the Big Idea, you are willing to cast everything aside to write the song that could change the course of your life. Your partner looks at you like you’re crazy wondering why this can’t wait until later. The simple fact is, it can’t. The inspiration races through you and takes over all faculties that might have anything to do with reason or accountability.
Sadly, relationships have been tossed upon the shores of broken dreams because a creative ambition is placed before the stability of the relationship. It makes no sense, but that is exactly why songwriting is not for everyone. Late nights in the studio working out the final details of that killer ballad mean nothing to anyone else but you.
But that is the dream of the songwriter. Dream big – project your thoughts into reality, you’ll never be sorry that you placed yourself so high.