Me & He

Me & He
'Marjoram Marjoram' c/w 'Toes In The Brook'
Butter Discs Butter 06
Sebastian Grant (Guitar, Vocals), Noel Grant (Guitar, Vocals)

Rising from the ashes of The Compact 8, this acoustic duo (twin brothers Seb and Noel Grant) brushed the fringes of the chart in 1972. When it comes to bands like The Kinks or Oasis, brothers can make great music even if they hate each other. With the Grant brothers, the opposite was true. They loved each other dearly but their music was appalling.

It was down to Alan Franklin (of The Alsations) to come to their rescue. Franklin supplied Me & He with 'Marjoram Marjoram', a ditty about the joys of one of the lesser-known garden herbs. But it proved a struggle in the studio.

"Harmonies were impossible", says Franklin. "They could barely manage to sing the same words never mind the same notes".

It was left to Franklin to pick up the pieces. "I just buried them in the mix. I used echo, reverb, 150 backing singers, harpsichette, phased nockatinas, the lot. I think I multi-tracked seventeen autoharps. Eventually I told the boys to just go down the pub and wait for me. I rang up Dorian Peacock and he did the vocals. I never told the boys but I did buy them each a drink. On that fateful night...bless 'em, they were like the closest brothers you've ever met. They would have died for each other, those two".

Which is exactly what happened. On that warm September's evening in 1972, after a long and happy night's drinking, Sebastian Grant saved his brother's life by pushing him out of the way of a speeding lorry. Seb was killed in the accident. Sadly, Noel also died. The force from Seb's push sent Noel headlong over a railway bridge and into the path of an oncoming train.