Grayson Hugh

Grayson Hugh (born October 30, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, Hammond B3 organ player and composer. He is best known for his 1988 hit "Talk It Over", and his other blue-eyed soul hits "Bring It All Back" and "How 'Bout Us?".

Early life

Hugh was the first generation of his family to be born in the United States, and grew up surrounded by classical music. His father was classical music radio host Ivor Hugh (born in Hammersmith, England); his mother was born in Shanghai, the daughter of missionary Frank Rawlinson (born in Langham, Rutland, England), who wrote nine books, including a life of Christ in Chinese.

Hugh began playing the piano at the age of three years. In his early teens, however, rock and roll and soul won out. He played for a year as the pianist in a black gospel church and studied African drumming. He studied piano with jazz pianist Jaki Byard and avant garde pianist Ran Blake. Hugh dropped out of high school during his junior year to focus on his music.

During his 20s, Hugh supplemented his income as a rock and soul musician by accompanying modern dance classes. This began his association as composer for several well-known choreographers, notably Viola Farber of New York, Prometheus Dance, Rebecca Rice (Boston Ballet) and Christine Bennett of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He briefly attended film school at the University of Bridgeport. Hugh struggled with alcoholism in the 1970s, achieving sobriety in 1980.Grayson Hugh biography
GraysonHugh.net; accessed May 29, 2017.

Career

1980s

In 1980, Hugh released a self-titled album (One in Nineteen Records, 1980). This album was produced by Ron Scalise, winner of 14 Emmy Awards for audio work with ESPN.

Hugh moved to New York City in 1986 where he happened to meet producer Michael Baker in an elevator. Baker was finishing producing The Blow Monkeys's album '' She Was Only a Grocer's Daughter'' for RCA Records. Hugh was hired to sing backup vocals on that album and subsequently signed to RCA Records as singer-songwriter in 1987. He broke into the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1989 with three singles from his album ''Blind to Reason'' (RCA Records, 1988). In 1988 "Talk It Over", a song written by Sandy Linzer and Irwin Levine that Hugh arranged, reached the Top 20.

After Hugh had arranged and recorded the song, Olivia Newton-John was given rights of first release, then recorded it herself and released it as a single under the name "Can't We Talk It Over in Bed", which appeared on her album '' The Rumour''. Hugh subsequently released his version which became a hit. His two other singles "Bring It All Back" and " How 'Bout Us" (a remake of the 1981 Champaign hit recorded with Betty Wright) were also radio hits. ''Blind to Reason'' eventually went gold in Australia. Hugh toured extensively in 1988 in the US and overseas, at first opening for Dickey Betts, Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson, Sheena Easton and Phoebe Snow, before beginning several years of headlining his own tours.

1990s

Hugh's second major label album ''Road to Freedom'' (MCA Records, 1992) was voted "one of the year's top-ten albums" by ''Billboard Magazine'' and received rave reviews. Leonard Pitts Jr. of the ''Miami Herald

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