It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah is the debut studio album by the English rock band Black Grape, released on 7 August 1995 through Radioactive Records. Following the breakup of Happy Mondays, frontman Shaun Ryder formed Black Grape with vocalist Paul "Kermit" Leveridge and dancer Bez. They were put in contact with management company Nicholl and Dime, who secured the band a recording contract with Radioactive Records. After demos and the band finalizing their line-up, Ryder met with producers Stephen Lironi and Danny Saber. Black Grape recorded their debut studio album in late 1994 and early 1995 at Rockfield Studios in Wales, Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire, and Boundary Row in London. It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah is a dance-pop and pop funk album, with the word "straight" in its title referring to being sober from drugs.
Black Grape's existence was made public in 1995; they played a handful of shows in the United Kingdom, as well as festivals in mainland Europe. "Reverend Black Grape" was released as the lead single from It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah in May 1995, followed by the second single "In the Name of the Father" in July 1995. A tour of the United States was planned for later in the year but was postponed due to the band members' past convictions. Kermit was diagnosed with sepsis and, as a result, had to miss performances. His role was covered by Carl "Psycho" McCarthy when the band went on a UK tour in early 1996; Bez left shortly after, citing financial disagreements. They embarked on a US tour in April 1996, which was promoted with "Kelly's Heroes", the third single from the album.
It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah received generally positive reviews from music critics, several of whom saw it as an update to Happy Mondays' sound and highlighted Ryder's lyricism. It topped the UK Albums Chart for two weeks and reached the top 20 in New Zealand, Scotland, and Sweden. The album went on to sell 100,000 copies in the UK, where it was certified platinum, and 600,000 copies worldwide. "Reverend Black Grape" and "In the Name of the Father" reached the top ten in both Scotland and the UK; "In the Name of the Father" reached the top 40 in the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart. "Kelly's Heroes" peaked within the top 20 in Scotland and the UK. It's Great When You're Straight appeared on album of the year and best of decade lists by Melody Maker, NME, and Select.
Background
Happy Mondays released their fourth studio album, Yes Please!, in September 1992. The band's label, Factory Records, went into administration two months later.Spence 2015, p. 294 Their manager had secured a contract with EMI; in February 1993, the band met a representative from the label.Spence 2015, p. 299 Frontman Shaun Ryder bailed on an interview with the rep; after a band meeting, where they realised it would be difficult to revive interest with the label, they decided to break up.Spence 2015, p. 300Middles 1997, p. 157 Following this, Ryder lived in Cheshire, left his long-term girlfriend, and started to date Donovan's daughter, Oriole Leitch; dancer Mark "Bez" Berry became a local celebrity around Manchester.Middles 1997, pp. 158, 160, 161 Despite Ryder saying he left the music industry, he guested on an Intastella B-side.Middles 1997, pp. 161, 162Warburton; Ryder 2011, p. 42 Ryder formed a band with his brother, bassist Paul Ryder, who would leave shortly after to start a band with his girlfriend.Spence 2015, p. 305 Bez and Ruthless Rap Assassins member Paul "Kermit" Leveridge then joined Shaun Ryder's act, which was now named Black Grape.Middles 1997, p. 168
Ryder previously worked with Kermit when recording his vocals for Yes Please!, where Kermit guested on "Cut 'Em Loose Bruce".Spence 2015, p. 285 The pair bonded while on Happy Mondays' final tour and would appear on stage with them during several performances.Verrico 1998, p. 187 A&R man Gary Kurfirst, who was friends with Yes Please! producers Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth and was aware of Happy Mondays, contacted Ryder about his future plans.Ryder 2012, pp. 306, 307 He recruited Intastella bassist Martin Mittler and guitarist Martin Wright for a demo session at Drone Studios in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, where they laid down versions of "Kelly's Heroes", "Reverend Black Grape", and "Yeah Yeah Brother". Ryder sent the demos to Kurfirst, who promptly flew him to the United States to sign a recording contract. John Price of Warner Chappell Music had sent an offer to Ryder after hearing the demos, but by this time Kurfirst was in talks with him. Kurfirst wanted to sign Ryder as a solo artist, though he preferred working in a band, to his label, Radioactive Records, a subsidiary of MCA Records, as well as control Ryder's publishing and act as his manager.Ryder 2012, p. 309
The band were put in touch with management company Nicholl and Dime, which consisted of Nik and Gloria Nicholls, by Frantz and Weymouth.Verrico 1998, p. 189 Kurfirst helped to orchestrate a signing with them; the pair, though officially tour managers, were used to appear as the band's management to avoid looking like a conflict of interest for Kurfirst. Nicholl and Dime paid for the band to record home demos; they were unsuccessfully shopped around to multiple labels, many of whom felt it unwise to spend money on Ryder. Black Grape officially signed to Radioactive Records in March 1993. Brendan Bourke, the label's general manager, was a fan of Happy Mondays and was planned to be that band's American manager prior to them breaking up. The contract advance allowed Black Grape to buy equipment and book time in a recording studio. As the heads of Radioactive were impressed by the recordings they had up to this point, they gave Black Grape more money. Demo sessions continued into early 1994; around this time, Mittler and Wright returned to Intastella. Kermit's former bandmate and Ruthless Rap Assassins drummer Ged Lynch, along with Paul "Wags" Wagstaff of Paris Angels, were recruited.
Recording As with Happy Mondays in their early years, Black Grape were unsure of their musical direction. Ryder told Bourke that he wished to make an album that combined the sounds of hip hop group Cypress Hill and rock band the Rolling Stones.Verrico 1998, p. 190 Bourke suggested one producer, former Altered Images member Stephen Lironi, who would help shape Black Grape's song structures. Ryder met Lironi in a London studio in June 1994 to see if they would work well together; they co-wrote "Shake Your Money" in the process.Verrico 1998, p. 190–1 Bourke then suggested producer Danny Saber, who worked with artists that appealed to Ryder's music taste, such as Cypress Hill, House of Pain, and Bobby Womack. Saber had a publishing deal with EMI Music Publishing, who asked them to send him to the UK.Millar 2016, event occurs at 17:05–17 Saber went to London, where he was put in touch with a member of EMI, who connected him with Shannon O'Shea.Millar 2016, event occurs at 17:29–37 O'Shea had the management company SOS Management, whose clients consisted of producers, such as Butch Vig.Millar 2016, event occurs at 17:37–44 Someone in Black Grape's camp contacted O'Shea with the aim of getting Vig.Millar 2016, event occurs at 17:59–18:05 O'Shea had worked with Saber on a couple of projects and felt he was a better fit for the band.Millar 2016, event occurs at 18:06–15 Kurfirst subsequently put Ryder in contact with Saber.
Ryder and Saber had a writing session at Battery Studios in London, where they came up with "Shake Well Before Opening".Millar 2016, event occurs at 18:20–37 Bourke said that since Lironi and Saber were multi-instrumentalists, they would be key in helping form Black Grape's debut.Verrico 1998, p. 191 Shortly before starting the recording sessions, Saber flew to the UK again, but the label would not acquire him a work visa.Millar 2016, event occurs at 29:57–30:02 His cousin was getting married; the customer service officer at the airport allowed him to stay one night for the wedding before he returned to Los Angeles, California.Millar 2016, event occurs at 30:05–20 He was worried the band would start recording without him until Ryder called him and reassured him that they would wait.Millar 2016, event occurs at 30:37–50 A demo session was held with Saber at Spirit Studio in Manchester, where the band and Saber wrote two songs.Ryder 2012, p. 310 It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah was recorded over the course of seven weeks in late 1994 and early 1995 with Saber, Lironi, and Ryder as producers. Ryder said Lironi's involvement as a co-producer came from Radioactive wanting the album to have a rock element to it so as to avoid leaning too heavily into hip hop territory.Ryder 2012, p. 313
The sessions began at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales; they wanted to record in Ireland until they found it too expensive. At the same studio, Happy Mondays' contemporaries, the Stone Roses, were working on their second and final studio album, Second Coming (1994). Black Grape would stay in pubs until late afternoon and start recording in the evenings. Across three separate sessions at Rockfield, they came up with guitar-based rock tracks and sample-driven dance songs. Ryder felt Saber was a perfect match with the band, adding that he gave the recordings a poppy sound, comparing them to Pin Ups by David Bowie (1973). Upon leaving Rockfield, Black Grape had finished six songs, with four more in progress.Verrico 1998, p. 192 Recording moved to Boundary Row in London and then to Chapel Studios in Alford, Lincolnshire, for three weeks. This was done because the band were short of two songs because Kurfirst rejected material that had too much of a hip hop sound to them.Ryder 2012, p. 317 Phil Auklt, Saber, Jim Spencer, and Eawn Davis acted as engineers, with additional engineering from Michael Scherchen. Saber recorded Ryder and Kermit adlibbing, which he would later add to the recordings, such as during the ending of "Little Bob".Ryder 2012, p. 316 Tom Lord-Alge mixed the recordings at Encore Studios in Los Angeles before they were mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound in New York.
Composition and lyrics Musically, the sound of It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah has been described as dance-pop and pop funk.Middles 1997, p. 173 Author Lisa Verrico wrote in her book High Life 'N' Low Down Dirty: The Thrills and Spills of Shaun Ryder that with its "funky basslines, stuttering hip hop beats, odd noises, psychedelic effects and jubilant brass section," she dubbed it the "ultimate party album". According to Ryder, the album title refers sarcastically to being free of mood-altering substances, despite the band frequently consuming drugs during the time period.Ryder 2019, p. 71 Ryder compared the writing process to that of Happy Mondays' third studio album Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches (1990), which was partially written in the studio.Ryder 2019, p. 65 He and Kermit would come up with lyrics by vocally sparring with each other; any lines they thought would work in a song were kept.Ryder 2019, p. 68 Ryder attributed the various religious imagery across the album to Samuel L. Jackson's character Jules in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction, in the way he would recite Bible passages as well as his own Irish Catholic upbringing.Ryder 2012, p. 311 In addition to the band, other musicians contributed to the recordings: Saber with guitars, bass, keyboards, Hammond organ, and programming; Anthony Guarderas with bass; Lironi with keyboards, Hammond organ, and programming; Dahni Birihani with sitar; and Michael Scherchen with programming.