The Place I Love (40th anniversary) - Bill Elliott interview by Tom Brennan, September, 2014

How was the album recorded?
As far as I remember, the musicians we used were probably on top dollar, so I think it was a guide vocal to get the backing tracks done and mixed, and then the (final) vocals.

What was it like working with George Harrison on the album?
The first album was a miracle as George put huge amounts of his time into it. I think George was going through a bad time personally, so there were a few strange moments, but at the time being young and naïve, I guess most of it went unnoticed. Nobody can imagine how it felt to be a twenty-four year old singer harmonizing with a Beatle in his own home forty years later. I still feel proud and very privileged to have been there.

What was Gravy Train about?
I don’t think there was any underlying meaning to the song. If you study the lyrics, it seems to me that Bob is writing about someone who looks down on him, maybe a person in his life before Splinter formed. I never used to analyze the lyrics that much other than learn them. I just wanted to get my voice around those beautiful melodies.

Is it true that Drink All Day was banned?
Unfortunately, the second single, Drink All Day didn't make the BBC playlist, as it was a panel of five people and it had to be unanimous. Unfortunately, Doreen Davis didn't like the fact that it might influence the youth at the time to consume alcohol, so the song didn't make the playlist, which is a pity, because in my opinion, it was a more happy-go-lucky song and I think it would have charted given the chance.

Why does the song China Light have some Japanese references? What inspired that song?
"Sayonara" was a lyrical mistake. As the song is called China Light, one would assume it’s somewhere in China and “sayonara” is Japanese for “goodbye.” Up until that album, we hadn’t done very much traveling. The song’s origin, as I remember, came from a (1966) Steve McQueen movie called The Sand Pebbles. Billy Preston’s parts were probably done at Friar Park, but we weren’t at the sessions.

Where was Costafine Town?
I had a great empathy with Costafine Town because I was born in that area. The actual spelling for it is Corstophine Town. Being that it was a dockland area and most of my family worked in the docks on the river Tyne, my thoughts went to the dealings that went on. Here is a third verse that I wrote that wasn’t used on the recording:

Ships carry in all the duty free gin
And the sailors line the way OR As the ladies line the way [Bob and Bill each remember a different line here]
The first one on board gets the best of the haul tonight
Women in shawls, men in brown overalls
That’s the way it’ll always be
Smoking and drinking
Get around infamy

Typical dockland goings on at that period, but as you probably know, singles could not exceed more or less three and a half minutes, so my verse didn’t make it. Chorus is everything! A few songs were on the list for release as a single and Costafine Town was not on that list until a friend of Klaus Voorman’s (Graham Maitland) stepped in to play accordion, which was triple-tracked, and suddenly it became the single. I think the guy was from a Scottish band called Glencoe.

Was (the title song) The Place I Love written about Friar Park?
I don't think The Place I Love was about Friar Park as it was written before we recorded the album. It may have been a place that Bob visited and liked. As I said before, a few of the songs were in line to be a single, but when the accordion was put on Costafine Town, it became an obvious choice.

How about Elly-May? Do you know whom Bob wrote that about?
I think the song was probably one of Bob’s travelling songs in the days when it was safe to hitchhike…

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