DESCRIPTION:
Against The Grain - Larry Cordle feat Garth Brooks All Star Duets - 1988. A very good year for me. I’ve been in Nashville for three years. Carl Jackson tells me he has a song idea he would like me to co-write with him. Carl, session steel guitar wizard, Bruce Bouton, fiddle-great Glen Duncan and I, have a record deal with Capitol Records, Nashville. At the 1st writing session, Carl & I, together with Bruce, convene at Carl’s in Hendersonville, TN. Carl had earlier told me he thought we should ask Bruce to join us in the creative process, since we were going to be recording together. At that session, Carl has a great melody idea that we are quickly drawn to. We begin to hammer out the first verse & chorus. We all think we are on solid footing with the lyric & adjourn after a long day, with plans to reconvene a few days later. Before we can get schedules together to work on the idea more, Carl writes the 2nd verse & excitedly calls to read me what he has and to say hey! We need to get together to finish this song. Bruce cannot make the next scheduled writing session but Carl & I get together and finish the song. It is not done in time to make the Capitol sessions but our deal with them falls apart anyway. Later, our publisher, (Polygram Int’l Publishing Co.), wants us to demo the song. Carl calls Vince Gill to play electric guitar on the session, Emory Gordy, Jr. plays bass, Bruce on steel, Glen on fiddle, Carl on acoustic guitar, Steve Turner on drums and I sing the lead vocal. It turns out just like we had hoped. Thanks to our good friend, Bryan Kennedy, multi-gazillion selling artist Garth Brooks gets pitched the demo. Another great friend, Debbie Nims (Later Debbie Allen) makes sure it gets heard. Garth decides to record it & it goes on his multi-million selling album, ‘Ropin’ The Wind’. Bruce plays steel on Garth’s record. He asks Carl and I, to do the background vocals. The rest as they say, is history. Thank you Garth.

Lead vocals: Garth Brooks & Larry Cordle // Back vocals: Carl Jackson & Larry Cordle // Banjo: Kristin Scott Benson // Bass: Mike Anglin Dobro: Kim Gardner // Fiddle: Jenee Fleenor // Guitar: Bryan Sutton // Mandolin: Chris Davis

1. Against The Grain

Songwriters: (C.Jackson/L.Cordle/B.Bouton) // Publishers: Universal-PolyGram International Publishing, Inc. ASCAP

Lyrics
Some folks call me a maverick, say I ain’t too diplomatic
I’ve just never been the kind to go along
Just avoiding confrontation, for the sake of confirmation
I’ll admit I tend to sing a different song
Sometimes you just can’t be afraid to wear a different hat
If Columbus had complied this old world might still be flat
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
Sometimes you’ve got to go against the grain
Well I’m frequently accused, of makin’ my own rules
There must be rebel blood a-runnin’ through my veins
Least I ain’t no hypocrite, what you see is what you get
It’s the only way I know to play the game
Old Noah took much ridicule, for building his great ark
But after 40 days and 40 nights, he was looking pretty smart
Sometimes you’ve have to brave the wind and rain
By having strength to go against the grain
There’s more folks than a few, who share my point of view
But they’re worried if they’re gonna sink or swim
They’d like to buck the system but the deck is stacked against ‘em And they’re a little scared to go out on a limb.
But if you’re gonna make a difference, if you’re gonna make your
mark You can’t follow, like a bunch of sheep, you gotta listen to
your heart Go bustin’ in like ‘ol John Wayne
Don’t be afraid to go against the grain
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
Sometimes you’ve got to go against the grain

Video by: Passamano Bros. Productions http://www.passamanobros.com/