Q – Hi Lloyd! The first time I heard That’s Alright (a nice song, btw), I noticed a lyrical similarity with an old Mott The Hoople song. “Loving you is hard enough”, the first line of the chorus, is also the first line of the chorus in I’m a Cadillac by Mott.
Then I noticed that you say thanks to Mott guitarist Mick Ralphs in the booklet. He wrote and sang I’m a Cadillac. Is there a connection here?
(As a fan of both you and them, I’d love to hear a bit about your relation to Mott The Hoople!)
A – it’s true the one line is the same words and the melody is similar, too!
This was a strange one because I did notice it after I had begun the writing and before the song was recorded.
I tried for a very long time to write a different lyric but this one was perfect.
I still wasn’t sure what to do but then last year when the Commotions were getting the Tartan Clef award in Glasgow I met Mick and told him about it suggesting maybe I should credit him. He laughed and said not to worry – no one knows that song anyway!
So I figured with his blessing I’d go ahead with it, hence the thank you note.
I’ve been trying to find a contact adddress to send him a copy but Mott are strangely elusive these days… Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I suppose a worst case scenario now has the publisher suing me for a writing share. Which would be fine by me!