New Zealand’s Original Country Gentleman Returns.
John Grenell - the purest voice in New Zealand music - makes a very welcome and long overdue return with his new cd compilation ‘Welcome To My World’.
John Grenell’s career in music has spanned 50 years since winning his first talent quest in 1963.
John’s career can be filed under two separate and distinct chapters. The first chapter was as John Hore (his stepfathers surname) when his warm baritone voice captivated our Island nation. John quickly became a household name and released a staggering 17 albums and 24 singles during 1966 - 1973.
This compilation of John’s music highlights the second chapter from 1989 onwards as John Grenell (his mother’s maiden name), by which time he had become an accomplished performer, songwriter and story teller.
His number 1 record ‘Welcome To Our World’ started life as a television advertisement for Toyota in December 1989. After only a few weeks on our screens it soon became an intrinsic part of our culture with John’s immaculate vocals and Murray Grindlay’s lush production over a bed of iconic local footage.
Murray recorded John’s vocal one line and in some cases one word at a time in the search of the perfect vocal performance. It was no surprise that it was released as a single early in 1990 and debuted at number one on our National charts before going platinum.
Other stand out tracks on this album include John’s breathtaking version of the Kiwi classic ‘Blue Smoke,’ ‘Have You Ever Been Lonely’, ‘Take Me Back To Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu’ and John’s other signature track ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’.
Tracklisting:
1. Welcome to Our World (version 2)
2. Blue Smoke
3. Have You Ever Been Lonely (with Jodi Vaughan)
4. I’ve Been Everywhere
5. Take Me Back To Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu
6. A Rolling Stone
7. Carolina in the Pines
8. Rockin’ Over River
9. Other Side of the Hill
10. Love is the Master
11. Mandrake Aristocrat
12. All God’s Critters
13. Ghost Town
14. Dance All Night (Down Otago Way)
15. Lovers and Losers
16. Dance With You
17. She Knows Her Daddy Sings
18. Plains Song (Canterbury Wind)
19. Windstar - Aotearoa
20. Rakaia River Waltz
21. Glendhu Bay
22. Soul of Southland (Taka Timu Memories)
