After Personal Setbacks, a Changed David Gray Returns

A lot happened in David Gray’s life in the three years since his last album, “White Ladder.”

The British singer-songwriter’s father died last year. He and his wife had their first baby (a girl) just seven weeks ago.

And, oh yeah, “White Ladder”--which he made without a record contract following the tepid commercial reception for his first three albums--became a worldwide hit, selling 1.8 million copies in the U.S. alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures, after being released here by the Dave Matthews-owned ATO Records. It was a gratifying but disorienting surge that had him playing before ever-growing audiences for the better part of two years.

So, Gray says, anyone who wants to read 9/11 meaning into the sometimes wrenching, sometimes triumphant songs on his new album, “A New Day at Midnight” (due Nov. 5) is welcome to do so--but they’ll be off-base.

“The general mood just happened to chime with my own,” he says. “Losing my father and several other minor traumas that happened around the same time dominated the personal side of the record. And there’s a certain amount of reaction in some of the songs to the disorientation I was feeling hurtling around the globe while all this was happening back home.”

Even the song “Freedom,” written last September, has nothing to do with geopolitics.

“ ‘Freedom’ was just what I felt when I stopped touring at the end of August last year,” he says.

The album’s title, reflecting the jarring changes he went through, “came to me in a sleepless night.”

Sleepless nights are the norm these days with the new baby in the house, but also with the new-to-him circumstance of making and launching an album for which many hold high expectations, both commercial and artistic.

“I’m comfortable in the role of the underdog, and I guess that’s one of the reasons I’m concerned now,” he says. “I don’t take any of this for granted.... I think people at the record company are expecting to [sell] a lot of this album. They’re not saying, ‘Oh no, Dave let us down.’ At least they haven’t said it to me.”

Gray, though, is trying to balance the demands of the business with his parental role, and that may be his biggest challenge in the coming months, considering he may not be willing to spend as much time on the road as he did following “White Ladder.”

“Obviously, I’ll make lots of records, but I’ve waited a long time to have a baby, so I’ve got mixed emotions of being on tour,” he says.

“I’ll be doing tours of places I’ve never been--Singapore, Australia, New Zealand. And there will be an American tour, with Madison Square Garden in January or February. And there’s a big British tour that’s just about sold out. But beyond that, it’s a whole different thing this time.”

TWO “DAY’S” NIGHTS: As with the upcoming DVD edition of the Beatles movie “A Hard Day’s Night,” L.A. events celebrating that release are filling up with their own bonus features.

On Sept. 29 at the Egyptian Theatre, the American Cinematheque will screen a restored 35-millimeter print of the 1964 movie, preceded by the world premiere of “Things They Said Today ...,” a half-hour special about the movie made by DVD producer and Beatles historian Martin Lewis. The screening will also be attended by two actors from “A Hard Day’s Night”: Victor Spinetti (who played the neurotic TV director) and John Junkin (he appeared as one of the band’s road managers). Both will take part in a Q&A; after the showing.

Then on Oct. 1, the House of Blues in West Hollywood will host “A Hard DVD’s Night,” a party (open to the public) featuring Beatles tribute band the Fab Four playing all 12 songs from the movie in order, as well as the incidental and source music. For “Ringo’s Theme,” George Martin’s instrumental version of “This Boy,” the band will be joined by English guitarist Vic Flick, who played the melody originally--and who has never performed it since. (He also created the original James Bond theme guitar sound.)

Additionally, Spinetti and Junkin are planning to reenact scenes from the movie. Junkin will re-create Peter Sellers’ version of the movie’s title song, delivered a la a Shakespearean soliloquy as read by Laurence Olivier--an idea originally conceived for Sellers by Junkin.

Ticket information and other details can be found on the Beatles-related Web site www.whatgoeson.com.

SMALL FACES: Nick Cave has joined Tom Waits and Merle Haggard on the roster of Anti Records, the roots-and-beyond branch of L.A. punk haven Epitaph. A new Cave album is expected in early 2003.... Amoeba Records has bought the entire inventory from soon-to-close Cleveland music store Shattered Records, which specialized in obscure punk and metal treasures ranging from limited-pressing singles by such early punk bands as the Germs to African Metallica releases and Japanese Guns ‘N Roses promotional items. The new collection will be available for exploration over the Columbus Day weekend, starting Oct. 12, at Amoeba’s Hollywood outlet. Prices will range as high as $500, although the bulk of the collection is expected to be between $10 and $20.... A live album from Willie Nelson’s guest-laden “Stars & Guitars” May TV special will be released by Lost Highway Records on Nov. 5. Among Nelson’s musical partners on the release are Sheryl Crow, Matchbox Twenty, Dave Matthews, Norah Jones and Ryan Adams.... A breast cancer awareness benefit for the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic will feature the debut of the Blare Bitch Project, the new band fronted by Blare N. Bitch, formerly of Betty Blowtorch, whose leader, Bianca Halstead, was killed in a December car crash. Former Runaways singer Cherie Currie will emcee the evening, to be headlined by Texas Terri. It’s happening Thursday at the Derby.... Mike City, who produced Brandy’s song “Full Moon” and hits for Sunshine Anderson and Carl Thomas, is working on new material by Blu Cantrell and 702. Cantrell’s new album is due in early 2003 from Arista Records, while 702’s is set for November from Motown.

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Steve Hochman is a regular contributor to Calendar.