Cross Road Blues Lyrics and interpretation How can the lyrics be interperted? Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets.
Why would he grieve over that?
Why would Johnson grieve over being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets?
A crossroads or an intersection of rural roads is one of the few landmarks in the Mississippi Delta, a flat featureless plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is part of the local iconography and various businesses use the name, such as gas stations, banks, and retail shops. A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker. In the simplest reading, Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets. However, many see different levels of meaning and some have attached a supernatural significance to the song.  Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tells of his failed attempts to hitch a ride. In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress.  The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. The lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain, but they have been interpreted as a description of the singer's fear of losing his soul to the Devil (presumably in exchange for his talent). Music historian Elijah Wald believes that Johnson's verses do not support the idea. Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson promoted himself as having made a deal with the Devil and Southern folklore identifies a crossroads or graveyard as the site of such a pact, which Wald identifies as likely sources of the myth. However, musicologist Robert Palmer points out that Johnson was "fascinated with and probably obsessed by supernatural imagery." His song "Hellhound on My Trail" tells of trying to stay ahead of the demon hound which is pursuing him and in "Me and the Devil Blues" he sings, "Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door, and I said 'Hello Satan I believe it's time to go'". These songs contribute to the Faustian myth; how much Johnson promoted the idea is debated, although many agree "the 'devil angle' made for good marketing".  Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary. The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States. Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here". Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place. Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness. Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman". CANNOTANSWER
A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker.
"Cross Road Blues" (also known as "Crossroads") is a blues song written and recorded by American blues artist Robert Johnson in 1936.  Johnson performed it as a solo piece with his vocal and acoustic slide guitar in the Delta blues-style. The song has become part of the Robert Johnson mythology as referring to the place where he supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his musical talents, although the lyrics do not contain any specific references.

Bluesman Elmore James revived the song with recordings in 1954 and 1960–1961.  English guitarist Eric Clapton with Cream popularized the song as "Crossroads" in the late 1960s.  Their blues rock interpretation inspired many cover versions and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included it as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".  Rolling Stone placed it at number three on the magazine's list of the "Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" in recognition of Clapton's guitar work.

Recording
In October 1936, Johnson auditioned for music store owner and sometime talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi; Speir passed on Johnson's contact information to Ernie Oertle, who was a representative for ARC Records.  After a second audition, Oertle arranged for Johnson to travel to San Antonio, Texas, for a recording session.  Johnson recorded 22 songs for ARC over three days from November 23 to 27, 1936.  During the first session, he recorded his most commercially appealing songs.  They mostly represented his original pieces and reflected current, piano-influenced musical trends.  The songs include "Terraplane Blues" (his first single and most popular record) along with "Sweet Home Chicago" and "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom", which became blues standards after others recorded them.

A second and third recording date took place in San Antonio after a two-day break.  The material Johnson chose shows more variety than that for his first date and he reached back into his long-standing repertoire for songs to record. The material reflects the styles of country blues performers Charley Patton and Son House, who influenced Johnson in his youth and are among Johnson's most heartfelt and forceful.

"Cross Road Blues" was recorded during Johnson's third session in San Antonio, on Friday, November 27, 1936.  The sessions continued at an improvised studio in Room 414 at the Gunter Hotel.  ARC producer Don Law supervised the recording and used a portable disc cutting machine.  It is unknown what input, if any, Law had into Johnson's selection of material to record or how to present it.  Two similar takes of the song were recorded.

Lyrics and interpretation
 
A crossroads or an intersection of rural roads is one of the few landmarks in the Mississippi Delta, a flat featureless plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is part of the local iconography and various businesses use the name, such as gas stations, banks, and retail shops.  A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker.  In the simplest reading,  Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets.  However, many see different levels of meaning and some have attached a supernatural significance to the song.

Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tells of his failed attempts to hitch a ride.  In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress.

The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability.  The lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain, but they have been interpreted as a description of the singer's fear of losing his soul to the Devil (presumably in exchange for his talent).  Music historians believe that Johnson's verses do not support the idea.  Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson promoted himself as having made a deal with the Devil and Southern folklore identifies a crossroads or graveyard as the site of such a pact, which Wald identifies as likely sources of the myth.  However, Johnson later recorded two songs that include Satanic references: in "Hellhound on My Trail" tells of trying to stay ahead of the demon hound which is pursuing him and in "Me and the Devil Blues" he sings, "Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door, and I said 'Hello Satan I believe it's time to go'".  These songs contribute to the Faustian myth; how much Johnson promoted the idea is debated, although many agree "the 'devil angle' made for good marketing".

Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary.  The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States.  Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here".  Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place.  Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness.  Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman".

Composition

"Cross Road Blues" reflects Johnson's Delta blues roots and may have been in his repertoire since 1932. It is the first recording to show his mastery of his mentor Son House's style, particularly in his slide guitar work.  Music historian Edward Komara identifies parts of "Straight Alky Blues" by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell (1929) along with Roosevelt Sykes' subsequent adaptation as "Black River Blues" (1930) as melodic precedents.  However, Johnson infuses their relaxed urban approach with a more forceful rural one.  Komara terms Johnson's guitar playing a "blues harp style".  It contrasts with Johnson's finger-picking "piano style", which uses a boogie-style accompaniment on the bass strings while playing melody and harmonies on the higher strings.  Harp-style playing employs sharp percussive accents on the bass strings (an imitation of the sharp draw used by harmonica players) and allows Johnson to explore different chordings and fills.  Johnson uses this technique for "Terraplane Blues", which shares many common elements with "Cross Road Blues".

The song's structure differs from a well-defined twelve-bar blues. The verses are not consistent and range from fourteen to fifteen bars in length.  Additionally, the harmonic progression is often implied rather than stated (full IV and V chords are not used).  Johnson uses a Spanish or open G tuning with the guitar tuned up to the key of B.  This facilitates Johnson's use of a slide, which features as prominently in the song as the vocal. The slide parts function more as a second "answer" vocal than accompaniment, with the tension underscoring the dark turmoil of the lyrics. Charters characterizes the song's rhythm as ambiguous, imparting both a 4/4 time and 8/8 feel.  Music writer Dave Headlam elaborates on Johnson's rhythm:

The two takes of the song are performed at moderate, but somewhat different tempos.  Both begin slower and speed up; the first is about 106 beats per minute (bpm), while the second is about 96 bpm.  Johnson prepares to go into the fifth section for the slower second take, but the engineer apparently cut him off because of the time limits of ten-inch 78 rpm records.  In addition to the slower tempo, Johnson sings the verses at a lower pitch, although both takes are in the same key.  This allows for greater variation and nuance in the vocal.  Together with refinements to some guitar parts, the differences serve to help further distinguish the second take from "Terraplane Blues" and give it more of its own character.

Releases
ARC and Vocalion Records issued the first take of "Cross Road Blues" in May 1937 on the then standard 78 rpm record. With the flip side "Ramblin' on My Mind", it was the third of eleven singles released during Johnson's lifetime. Vocalion's budget labels Perfect Records and Romeo Records also released the single for sale by dime stores. Although sales figures are not available, the record was "widely heard in the Delta" and Johnson's tunes were found in jukeboxes in the region.

As with most of Johnson's recordings, "Cross Road Blues" remained out of print after its initial release until The Complete Recordings box set in 1990. The second take was released in 1961, when producer Frank Driggs substituted it for the original on Johnson's first long-playing record album compilation King of the Delta Blues Singers. This take was also included on the 1990 Complete Recordings (at 2:29, it is 10 seconds shorter than the original 2:39 single version).

Elmore James versions
American blues singer and guitarist Elmore James, who popularized Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom", recorded two variations on "Cross Road Blues".  Both titled "Standing at the Crossroads", they feature James' trademark "Dust My Broom" amplified slide-guitar figure and a backing ensemble.  James' lyrics focus on the lost-love aspect of the song:

James first recorded the song in August 1954 at Modern Records' new studio in Culver City, California.  Maxwell Davis supervised the session and a group of professional studio musicians provided the backup.  The song was produced in a newer style that Modern used successfully for B.B. King and James' slide guitar was placed further back in the mix.  Flair Records, another of the Bihari brothers' Modern labels, released the single, backed with "Sunny Land".  The song became a regional hit, but did not reach the national charts.  Labels associated with Modern included "Standing at the Crossroads" on several James compilation albums, such as Blues After Hours (Crown), The Blues in My Heart – The Rhythm in My Soul (Custom Records), and Original Folk Blues (Kent Records).

In 1959, producer Bobby Robinson signed James to his Fury/Fire/Enjoy group of labels.  In addition to new material, Robinson had James revisit several of his older songs, including "Standing at the Crossroads".  James re-recorded it at Beltone Studios in New York City in late 1960 or early 1961 during one of his last sessions.  Studio musicians again provided the backup and the horn section included baritone saxophone by Paul Williams.  Bell Records' subsidiary labels released the song after James' death in 1965 – Flashback Records released a single with a reissue of "The Sky Is Crying" and Sphere Sound Records included it on a James compilation album also titled The Sky Is Crying.  Both the 1954 and 1960–1961 versions appear on numerous later James compilations.

Homesick James, who recorded and toured with his cousin Elmore, also recorded a rendition titled "Crossroads".  Homesick derived his guitar style from Elmore, which music critic Bill Dahl describes as "aggressive, sometimes chaotic slide work".  Unlike Elmore, however, he uses most of the lyrics from Johnson's second take, which had been first issued in 1961.  The July 23, 1963, recording session produced Homesick's only single for Chicago-based USA Records, "Crossroads" backed with "My Baby's Sweet".

Eric Clapton/Cream interpretation

Background
In early 1966, while still with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Eric Clapton adapted the song for a recording session with an ad hoc studio group, dubbed Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse.  Elektra Records producer Joe Boyd brought together Steve Winwood on vocals, Clapton on guitar, Jack Bruce on bass guitar, Paul Jones on harmonica, Ben Palmer on piano, and Pete York on drums for the project.  Boyd recalled that he and Clapton reviewed potential songs; Clapton wanted to record Albert King's "Crosscut Saw", but Boyd preferred to adapt an older country blues.  Their attention turned to Robert Johnson songs and Boyd proposed "Crossroads" and Clapton chose "Traveling Riverside Blues".

For the recording, Clapton developed an arrangement using lyrics from both songs with an adaption of the guitar line from the latter.  Biographer Michael Schumacher describes the Powerhouse's performance as slower and more blues-based than Cream's. Elektra released the 2:32 recording, titled "Crossroads", on the compilation album What's Shakin' in June 1966.  After the Powerhouse session, Clapton continued playing with Mayall.  Author Marc Roberty lists "Crossroads" in a typical set for the Bluesbreakers in the spring of 1966.

Cream version

"Crossroads" became a part of Cream's repertoire when Clapton began performing with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in July 1966. Their version features a prominent guitar riff with hard-driving, upbeat instrumental backing and soloing.  Clapton previously recorded "Ramblin' on My Mind" with Mayall and "From Four Until Late" with Cream using arrangements that followed Johnson's original songs more closely.  However, he envisioned "Crossroads" as a rock song:

Clapton simplifies Johnson's guitar line and sets it to a straight eighth-note or rock rhythm.  He and Bruce on bass continuously emphasize the riff throughout the song to give it a strong and regular metric drive combined with Baker's drumming.  Johnson's irregular measures are also standardized to typical twelve-bar sections in which the I–IV–V blues progression is clearly stated.  Clapton does not adapt Johnson's slide guitar technique or open tuning; instead he follows the electric guitar soloing approach of B.B. King and Albert King.  However, he employs a Johnson guitar innovation, the duple shuffle pattern or boogie bass line, while singing (Johnson only used it for two bars in "Cross Road Blues").

Clapton also simplifies and standardizes Johnson's vocal lines. Schumacher calls Clapton's vocal on "Crossroads" his best and most assured with Cream.  In addition to Johnson's opening and closing lyrics, he twice adds the same section from "Traveling Riverside Blues":

During the instrumental break, Cream takes an improvisational approach characteristic of their later live performances.  Bruce's bass lines blend rhythm and harmony and Baker adds fills and more complex techniques typical of drummers in jazz trios.  However, the momentum is never allowed to dissipate and is constantly reinforced.

Cash Box described it as "a new winner" for Cream, stating that "the blazing instrumental break gives this track a luster which will bring home the sales."

Recording and releases
Cream recorded the song on November 28, 1966, for broadcast on the BBC Guitar Club radio program.  At less than two minutes in length, Clapton only sings the first and last sections, with his guitar solo replacing the middle "Traveling Riverside Blues" verse.  It appeared on bootleg albums before finally being released in 2003 on BBC Sessions.  On March 10, 1968, Cream recorded it again during a concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.  The song became the opening number on the live half of Cream's Wheels of Fire double album, released in August 1968 by Polydor Records in the UK and Atco Records in the US.  After the group's breakup, Atco issued the song as a single in January 1969, which reached number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 pop chart and 17 on Cashbox. Both the original album and single credit the songwriter as Robert Johnson or R. Johnson, although Clapton and Cream extensively reworked the song.

Cream played "Crossroads" during their final concert at the Royal Albert Hall on November 26, 1968. The expanded version of Cream's Farewell Concert film released in 1977 contains the performance.  During their 2005 reunion, Cream revisited the song at the Royal Albert Hall and it is included on the Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005 album and video.  After Cream's breakup in 1968, Clapton continued to perform "Crossroads" in a variety of settings.  Live recordings appear on Live at the Fillmore (with Derek and the Dominos), Crossroads 2: Live in the Seventies, The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, and other albums. Clapton has also used the name for the Crossroads Centre, a drug rehabilitation facility he founded, and for the Crossroads Guitar Festivals to benefit it.

Editing on album version
Clapton biographer Schumacher notes "Given the passion of the solo performances on 'Crossroads,' it seems almost miraculous that Cream is able to return to the song itself."  Several music writers have explained that Cream's recording for Wheels of Fire was edited from a much longer performance that was typical for the trioin the notes for Clapton's Crossroads box set, Anthony DeCurtis credits the trimming to engineer Tom Dowd, while critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine attributes the editing to producer Felix Pappalardi, who "cut together the best bits of a winding improvisation to a tight four minutes", to allow the song's drive more continuity. In a 1985 interview, Clapton was asked if the song had been edited.  He replied:

However, Barry Levenson, who produced Cream's 1997 box set Those Were the Days, asserts:

Recognition and influence
In 1986, Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues" was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.  Writing for the foundation, Jim O'Neal noted that "regardless of mythology and rock 'n' roll renditions, Johnson's record was indeed a powerful one, a song that would stand the test of time on its own".  In 1998, it received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award to acknowledge its quality and place in recording history. In 1995, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed Cream's "Crossroads" as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".  Rolling Stone magazine placed it at number three on its "Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time".

AllMusic's Richard Gilliam identifies Cream's "Crossroads" as the first recording to bring Robert Johnson to the attention of popular music audiences and allow reissues of his original recordings to sell over a million copies.  By combining elements of hard rock and blues, he adds it inspired "a new generation of blues-influenced artists".  Rock musicians have recorded numerous renditions based on Cream's arrangement.

Notes
Footnotes

Citations

References

1936 songs
1937 singles
Robert Johnson songs
Blues songs
Songs written by Robert Johnson
Songs about roads
Songs about the Devil
1954 singles
Elmore James songs
1969 singles
Cream (band) songs
Song recordings produced by Felix Pappalardi
Atco Records singles
Polydor Records singles
Vocalion Records singles
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Song recordings produced by Don Law
Dominic Charles Roberts Grieve   (born 24 May 1956) is a British barrister and former politician who served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2008 to 2009 and Attorney General for England and Wales from 2010 to 2014. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beaconsfield from 1997 to 2019 and was the Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee from 2015 to 2019.

Grieve attended the Cabinet as Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland from May 2010 to July 2014. He was dismissed as Attorney General by Prime Minister David Cameron as part of the 2014 Cabinet reshuffle, and was replaced by Jeremy Wright. Elected as a Conservative, Grieve had the Conservative whip removed in the September 2019 suspension of rebel Conservative MPs. He unsuccessfully stood as an independent candidate in Beaconsfield at the 2019 general election.

A liberal conservative, Grieve was a central figure on Brexit and frequently used his experience as a lawyer to propose amendments on the issue, with his interventions often being at odds with government policy. A prominent Remain supporter on Brexit, Grieve called for a second referendum on EU membership, and before being expelled had said that he and other Conservative rebels would support a vote of no confidence to bring down a Conservative government, if that were the only way to block the “catastrophic” damage from a bad Brexit. In spring 2019, Grieve was threatened with deselection by his local party after losing a confidence vote by members. In October 2019, following removal of the whip, Grieve announced that he would stand as an independent candidate in his constituency's seat at the next general election. It was announced that the Liberal Democrats would stand aside to help him, but to no avail, as he lost his seat.

Grieve is the president of the Franco-British Society. He was awarded the Legion of Honour in 2016, and broadcasts in French on French radio and television. He is a practising Anglican and was a member of the London diocesan synod of the Church of England.

Early life
Grieve was born in Lambeth, London, the son of Percy Grieve, QC (the MP for Solihull 1964–83), and of an Anglo-French mother, Evelyn Raymonde Louise Mijouain (d. 1991), maternal granddaughter of Sir George Roberts, 1st and last baronet. He was educated at the Lycée français Charles de Gaulle on Cromwell Road in South Kensington, Colet Court (an all-boys' preparatory school in Barnes) and Westminster School. He went to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern History in 1978. He was the President of the Oxford University Conservative Association in 1977.

Grieve continued his studies at the Polytechnic of Central London (now the University of Westminster), where he received a Diploma in Law in 1979.

Legal career
He was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1980 and is a specialist in occupational safety and health law. He was made a Bencher of the Middle Temple in 2005 and appointed a Queen's Counsel in 2008.

Political career

Local council
He was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham for the Avonmore ward in 1982, but did not stand for re-election in 1986. He contested the Norwood constituency in the London Borough of Lambeth at the 1987 general election but finished in second place behind the veteran Labour MP John Fraser.

Member of Parliament

He was elected to the House of Commons for the Buckinghamshire seat of Beaconsfield at the 1997 general election following the resignation of Tim Smith in the cash-for-questions affair. Grieve was elected with a majority of 13,987 votes and remained the MP there until his defeat in the 2019 general election.

He made his maiden speech on 21 May 1997.

He was a member of both the Environmental Audit and the Statutory Instruments select committees from 1997 to 1999. In 1999, he was promoted to the frontbench by William Hague as a spokesman on Scottish affairs, moving to speak on home affairs as the spokesman on criminal justice following the election of Iain Duncan Smith as the new leader of the Conservative Party in 2001, and was then promoted to be shadow Attorney General by Michael Howard in 2003. Grieve also had responsibility for community cohesion on behalf of the Conservative Party. He was retained as Shadow Attorney General by the new Conservative Leader David Cameron, and was appointed Shadow Home Secretary on 12 June 2008, following the resignation of David Davis.

In early 2006, Grieve was instrumental in the defeat of the Labour government on its proposal that the Home Secretary should have power to detain suspected terrorists for periods up to 90 days without charge.

In the last Conservative Shadow Cabinet reshuffle before the general election of 2010, carried out on 19 January 2009, Grieve was moved to become Shadow Justice Secretary, opposite Jack Straw. According to the BBC, Grieve was said to be "very happy with the move" which would suit his talents better.

On 28 May 2010, he was appointed to the Privy Council as part of the 2010 Dissolution of Parliament Honours List.

After the 2010 general election, Grieve was appointed as Attorney General. He was one of four members of the cabinet who abstained in the May 2013 same-sex marriage vote. He said that he believed that the Bill had been "badly conceived".

On 22 November 2013, Grieve was reported as stating politicians need to "wake up" to the issue of corruption in some minority communities and that "corruption in parts of the Pakistani community is 'endemic. Two days later he apologised and said he had not meant to suggest there was a "particular problem in the Pakistani community".

In October 2016, speaking at a fringe meeting of the Conservative party's annual conference, Grieve warned that electoral fraud is found "where there are high levels of inhabitants from a community in which there is a tradition of electoral corruption in their home countries." Although in the past he apologised for singling out the British Pakistani community, Grieve said it was not about any one group.

Grieve was sacked from the cabinet by David Cameron in July 2014 and replaced by Jeremy Wright. Grieve believed this was because of his support for the European Court of Human Rights, although no reason was given;<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/26/dominic-grieve-no-reason-to-think-prime-minister-would-fire-me</</ref> the sacking also occurred a few weeks after Grieve gave Cameron incorrect legal advice on whether he could make a public comment on the Andy Coulson trial.

In July 2019, following the appointment of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, Grieve described Johnson as a "charlatan".

Removal of Conservative whip 

On 3 September 2019, Grieve joined 20 other rebel Conservative MPs to vote against the Conservative government of Boris Johnson. The rebel MPs voted with the Opposition against a Conservative motion which subsequently failed; the successful vote allowed a debate on a Bill which would block a no-deal Brexit. Subsequently, all 21 were advised that they had lost the Conservative "whip", expelling them as Conservative MPs, requiring them to sit as independents. If they decided to run for re-election in a future election, the Party would block their selection as Conservative candidates. In October 2019, Grieve announced that he was planning to stand again in his seat as an independent. The Liberal Democrats decided not to contest the Beaconsfield constituency (giving Grieve an increased chance at defeating the Conservative candidate Joy Morrissey). The deal was described at the time as "the first significant move towards the formation of a 'remain alliance' at the general election". He polled 16,765 votes (29%) losing the seat to Morrisey who polled 32,477 votes (56%), a majority of 15,712 on a 75% electoral turnout.

Brexit
Grieve was opposed to Brexit before the 2016 referendum.

In May 2017, prior to the general election and in support of the Conservative manifesto, Grieve stated on his website that "the decision of the electorate in the Referendum must be respected and that I should support a reasoned process to give effect to it".

During the Brexit negotiation process, Grieve made a number of amendments against the Government's plans to leave the EU. The first was to give Parliament a "meaningful vote" over the Brexit agreement – i.e. to force a motion by Parliament to approve the Brexit agreement which would have a binding effect on the government. In December 2017, he tabled an amendment (Amendment 7) to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill requiring any Brexit deal to be enacted by statute, rather than implemented by government order. The amendment was opposed by the government, but was passed in Parliament. Another proposed amendment tabled on 12 June 2018 (Amendment 19), and again on 20 June, was designed to strengthen the binding effect of the meaningful vote, by requiring that the government follow the directions of a Parliamentary motion in the event that Parliament does not approve the withdrawal agreement put by the government. Grieve threatened to rebel but ultimately voted with the government against the amendment after verbal assurances from Prime Minister Theresa May, presented as a compromise; the outcome was summarised by The Guardian as "Technically, MPs can still have a vote on the final deal – or no deal – but unless it is a vote of confidence, the government can ignore it." Grieve's 3rd amendment in December 2018 would mean Parliament would replace the Government in deciding the outcome of Brexit following a vote against the Government's proposed deal with the EU.

On 24 July 2018, Grieve wrote a column for The Independent backing the online paper's final say petition, which calls for the British electorate to have a "final say on the Brexit deal". The petition was also backed by the leader of the People's Vote campaign, MP Chuka Umunna.  Grieve stated that Brexit puts the Conservative Party's reputation for "economic competence" at risk.

Grieve wrote that Theresa May risked a "polite rebellion" from pro-EU MPs and a "significant" number would support another referendum if there was no deal. This followed a claim that Tory rebels are prepared to "collapse the government" to block a "catastrophic" Brexit deal.

Grieve was one of the signatories of a December 2018 statement by a group of senior Conservatives calling for a second referendum over Brexit. On 11 January 2019, during his speech to the convention for a second referendum, Grieve described Brexit as "national suicide". Shortly afterwards, he co-founded the group Right to Vote. He also declared that he would resign the whip if the Conservative Party elected Boris Johnson as a successor to Theresa May or if the government took Britain out of the EU without a deal.

On 9 January 2019, Grieve made a successful amendment to a government business motion; The amendment was controversial due to unusual means it was permitted by Speaker John Bercow. "Conservatives are furious that Mr Bercow accepted the Grieve amendment, as parliamentary rules usually only allow a government minister to amend motions of this kind." "The new Grieve amendment, now passed by MPs, means that in the event the PM loses next week, the Commons will then have a chance to vote on alternative policies - everything from a "managed no-deal" to a further referendum, via a "Norway option" or a reheated version of the current deal, could be on the table... MPs claim Mr Bercow broke Commons rules and ignored the advice of his own clerks."

Ultimately May's withdrawal deal was rejected and on 29 January 2019, Grieve's resulting amendment was defeated by the Government, supported by Labour rebels. The amendment would have "Forced the government to make time for MPs to discuss a range of alternatives to the prime minister's Brexit plan on six full days in the Commons before 26 March.... which could have included alternative Brexit options such as Labour's plan, a second referendum, no deal and the Norway-style relationship".

On 29 March 2019 (the original planned date of Brexit), a motion of no confidence against Grieve was carried by his local party 182 votes to 131. At this, Grieve said he'll carry on 'exactly as before'. The motion triggers the first stage in the process of deselection. Grieve accused ex-UKIP opponent, Jon Conway, of 'insurgency', claiming Conway was behind the motion; a claim that Conway denied. Grieve has since been asked to apply for readoption by his local party.

Grieve's proposal to block Government funding in order to enable MPs to have a vote on a No Deal Brexit was condemned by the Prime Minister Theresa May. Referencing Grieve's attempt to halt Government spending on pensions and schools, May stated "Any attempt to deny vital funding to Whitehall departments would be grossly irresponsible"; the pro-Brexit Telegraph newspaper condemned the actions as it "risks taking our politics to new extreme".  The attempt was, in any case, blocked by the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, and did not proceed to a vote.

Grieve has been credited as a contributor to a Labour Party motion designed to prevent a no-deal Brexit, the plans were kept secret until their unveiling on 11 June 2019, when Conservative leadership candidates began their campaigns. If successful, it would have seen MPs taking over the Westminster timetable on 25 June 2019 with a view to enshrining legislation which would prevent the UK from leaving the EU without a deal. The motion was defeated by 309 votes to 298 the following day. Grieve said the motion was the "last sensible opportunity" to stop a no-deal Brexit. He added that in the future, if necessary, he would support efforts to bring down a Conservative government in a vote of no confidence if it was the only way to block such an outcome.

Later in June 2019, Grieve successfully proposed amendments which sought to thwart no-deal Brexit prorogation. Grieve's first amendment to the 2019 Northern Ireland bill, which was initially a simple one intended to delay elections and budgets for the long-suspended Northern Ireland assembly and executive, required a minister to report to the Commons every two weeks until December on the progress of talks on restoring the Northern Ireland assembly – though it remained unclear whether this could be done as a written report, meaning the chamber would not necessarily have to sit. This was later changed via another amendment in the Lords, tabled by David Anderson, with support from Labour and the Liberal Democrats. This said the fortnightly reports demanded by Grieve's amendments would have to be debated within five calendar days of being produced, thus necessitating that the Commons sits. When the bill returned to the Commons Grieve then added another tweak via a last-minute amendment, intending to increase the power to block prorogation even more. It specified that if ministers could not meet the obligation to update the Commons because it was prorogued or adjourned, parliament would have to meet on the day necessary to comply with the obligation and for the following five weekdays.

Personal life

He is a practising Anglican and was a member of the London diocesan synod of the Church of England for six years from 1994. He married barrister Caroline Hutton in October 1990 in the City of London. They have two sons.

He lists his hobbies as "canoeing, boating on the Thames at weekends, mountain climbing, skiing and fell walking, architecture, art and travel". He was a police station lay visitor for six years from 1990, and worked in Brixton on various bodies set up to reconcile the different communities after the riots.

Grieve is a Patron of Prisoners Abroad, a charity that supports the welfare of Britons imprisoned overseas and their families.

In 2009, Grieve's wealth was estimated at £3.1 million. Grieve was criticised in 2008 for investments in multinational companies with significant projects in Zimbabwe and Pakistan.

Honours and Awards 

 9 June 2010: appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, giving him the honorific "The Right Honourable" for life.
  2016: Chevalier of the Legion of Honour of the French Republic

References

External links 

 
Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP official parliamentary profile
Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP They Work For You profile
Dominic Grieve | Financial Times
Dominic Grieve | Politics | The Guardian

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1956 births
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Alumni of the University of Westminster
English Queen's Counsel
Privy Council of England
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Councillors in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
English Anglicans
English barristers
Recipients of the Legion of Honour
Living people
Members of the Middle Temple
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
People educated at Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle
People educated at Colet Court
People educated at Westminster School, London
People from Lambeth
Presidents of the Oxford University Conservative Association
Queen's Counsel 2001–
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
UK MPs 2010–2015
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2017–2019
Advocates General for Northern Ireland Sir Robert Grieve FRSE RTPI RIAS FRSGS LLD DLit (11 December 1910 – 25 October 1995) was a Scottish polymath: engineer, planner, academic, mountaineer, poet, raconteur and visionary. Grieve played a pivotal part in both the Clyde Valley Regional Plan and the Highlands and Islands Development Board.
Reflecting on his career, he described it as a process of "falling up the ladder".

Biography

Early life

Grieve was born on 11 December 1910 in Maryhill, Glasgow in a tenement, one of six children to Peter Grieve and his wife, Catherine Boyle. Grieve's father, was a Clydeside boilermaker who did little with his family other than provide a weekly wage packet. His mother, Catherine, was radically socialist, well read and a caring and faithful Roman Catholic. Catherine took Grieve out of the local Roman Catholic School, recognising his potential and intelligence. She was upset that she could not send Grieve to St Aloysius or other fee-paying Roman Catholic school, instead sending him to North Kelvinside school.

The greatest influences on Grieve in his early years were his mother and his uncle Tom. He later described his mother as "a caged tigress". Grieve was taken on "enormous walks" by his uncle. They would travel by tram to get to the countryside. This is where Grieve first saw "the hills of the Campsies in the distance, and once far away the bulk of Ben Lomond".

Grieve learnt values from his uncle and mother of nature and book loving, and a questioning and critical mind. He rarely spoke of his uncle without being moved to tears.

At weekends and holidays Grieve continued walking in the nearby countryside in the Campsie Fells, Loch Lomondside, the Trossachs and the west coast. Looking in at Glasgow, rather than being immersed in it, spaked his determination to alter and improve city dwellers' lives.

Early career

Grieve trained and qualified as a civil engineer at the Royal College of Science and Technology. While working for the Glasgow Corporation, Grieve was further encouraged to take night classes and become a qualified town planner, passing the final exam of the Town Planning Institute in 1937.

In the 1930s Grieve held various posts in local government, including with Paisley Burgh Council and Renfrew County Council. Grieve also had periods of unemployment. During these times he would nurture his passion for climbing and walking in the hills.

In 1940 Grieve was responsible for the construction of air-raid shelters in Clydebank. He used his engineering skills to devise a novel strategy of distributing and locating shelters so that they could be reached from peoples homes in the shortest possible time. Grieve is credited with having saved significant numbers of civilians during the Clydebank Blitz.

Later Grieve claimed that there was a time when Scotland had only two qualified town planners, of which he was one.

Marriage and children

In 1933 Grieve married Mary Blackburn, always known as May. They had four children, Ann, Elizabeth, Iain and William.

Grieve was very close with his wife Mary who supported him in his endeavours. She was a charming and powerful lady who kept Grieve in Scotland when he was offered a position as government Chief Planner in London, not wanting to leave her beloved homeland.

After a long illness May Grieve died in 1984, which caused Grieve profound anguish.

Clyde Valley Regional Plan

From 1944 Grieve worked on the Clyde Valley Regional Plan. According to a later colleague Alec Kerr: "He was always involved in seminal works, and he was the person to ask the searching question which simulated  reasonable thought and forced people to think in depth about what they were proposing."

Grieve's influences on the plan included the framework for moving Glasgow's overspill into new towns, and ensuring that new towns were not only economic development centres but also viable communities.

The preservation of Eaglesham and the concept of East Kilbride were both examples of Grieve's concern for properly balanced communities.

While the best known name on the Clyde Valley Regional Plan was that of architect Sir Patrick Abercrombie, Grieve and Hugh McCalman did most of the work. Grieve was originally tasked with completing the plan's chapter on recreation. The chapter was so good that Grieve was asked to contribute more and more by Sir Robert Matthew. Grieve's concern was the social aspects of planning and how it would effect people. As a result he was sometimes in conflict with his friend, the civil servant James McGuinness, head of the Scottish Economic Planning Department.

The Clyde Valley Regional Plan had a major influence on the development of Glasgow.

Chief Planning Officer for Scotland

In 1946 Grieve joined the Department of Health in the Scottish Office in a new planning division, initially as regional planning officer for the Highlands and Islands. Later he became regional planning officer for the Clyde Valley.

In the years 1960 to 1964 Grieve was given the new Scottish Office post of Chief Planning Officer for Scotland. An example of Grieve's searching questions was his challenge, in 1962, to Glasgow Corporation's plans to build 650 high-rise blocks of flats within the city. The only blocks to be built were the Red Road Flats which have since been demolished.

During his time as chief planning officer, Grieve had influence on road transport planning for the Central Belt and the planning of new towns in Scotland.

Chair of Town and Regional Planning, University of Glasgow

In 1964 the University of Glasgow invited Grieve to become their first Professor of Town and Regional Planning, a post he held until he retired in 1974.

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1969.

At Glasgow Grieve created a Masters programme in planning that was social-science based. The initial intention was that the programme be independent of recognition by the Royal Town Planning Institute.
Grieve's views on urban development were similar to work being developed by Donald Robertson, his close friend, another professor in the Department of Social & Economic Research.
In his seminars and lectures, Grieve practised breadth in education, following Patrick Geddes, another great Scottish planner, with recitations of Scots poetry, particularly of the modern makars.

Highlands and Islands Development Board

When the Highlands and Islands Development Board (HIDB) was established in 1965, the first choice of the then Secretary of State for Scotland, Willie Ross, for the chairmanship was Grieve. 
William Kerr Fraser said of Grieve "The Secretary of State wanted a man of radical approach who both knew the Highlands and was well known in the Highlands." Kerr Fraser also said of Grieve that "He dreamed dreams and was almost fey – but converted them into reality. He saw things against a large canvas. Above all, Bob Grieve did not keep his head below the parapet."

The University of Glasgow agreed to his five year, full time secondment to the HIDB on condition that he could be consulted by the university on the development of his department of Town and Regional Planning and its research activities.

Grieve set a long-term goal of the establishment of a university of the Highlands & Islands during his first year as chairman.

Encouraged by international interest, the HIDB in conjunction with the British Council ran an annual seminar for overseas students, especially from the Third World, in Plockton. These seminars were chaired and planned by Grieve and extended his influence on planning and planners beyond the UK to an international audience.

Recreation

In Who's Who, Grieve listed poetry and mountaineering as his leisure pursuits.

Early influences were Jack London and H. G. Wells. While he had read the great philosophers, he could also quote from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. He had read it many times and scrawled annotations on his copy.

Grieve was a legendary storyteller with mastery over the nuances of language. While keeping a deadpan expression he could tell excruciatingly funny stories. He was admired as raconteur and after dinner speaker.

One of his aphorisms was "unscrewing the inscrutable" to describe a deliberate and careful thought process on complex matters.

In 1967 BBC Scotland invited Grieve to introduce the poems and songs for their Burns' Night programme.

Grieve was a keen and skilled mountaineer and became president of both the Scottish Mountaineering Council and the Scottish Mountaineering Club.

Other chairmanships and presidencies

Grieve was chairman of the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland 1978–1983. Charles Prosser, secretary of the Royal Fine Arts Commission for Scotland, remembered Grieve as a great chairman, and pointed to a paragraph in the commission's 1982 annual report:
"The design for the British National Oil Corporation headquarters in St Vincent Street, Glasgow, was strongly opposed by us and to a greater or lesser extent by all the voluntary amenity bodies who studied it. The chairman of BNOC wrote to the effect that he and his corporation are as well able to assess design quality as we are. We think this opinion to be no more pertinent than any opinions we might have on how to run an oil company."
Grieve was also chairman of the Highlands and Islands Development Consultative Council 1978–1986.

Grieve chaired an enquiry for Glasgow into their housing conditions, in the 1980s.

In 1988 Grieve chaired the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly committee that drafted the Claim of Right for Scotland, which was published in June 1988.

Grieve was president of many bodies, including: 
Friends of Loch Lomond; 
the Inverness Civic Trust; 
numerous mountaineering organisations;
the New Glasgow Society; 
the Saltire Society;
the Scottish Branch of the Royal Town Planning Institute;
the Scottish Countryside Rangers Association; and
the Scottish Rights of Way Society.

Death and afterwards
Grieve died after a long illness in Edinburgh on 25 October 1995. His son William summed up Grieve's life in his death notice incorporating a favourite phrase of his father's: "Throughout his life he exchanged the unexceptionable sentiment for the terror of action."

The University of Glasgow has named the Sir Robert Grieve Dissertation Prizes after him.

Published works

 Grieve on Geddes (1991) the Sir Patrick Geddes Memorial Trust, Scotland.

Grieve collaborated on and part authored several professional reports and books. He also had many articles and papers in technical and professional journals.

Awards

In the 1969 Queen's Birthday Honours List Grieve was created a Knight Bachelor .

In 1976 Heriot-Watt University appointed Grieve as an honorary professor. Grieve was also honoured by Strathclyde University and the University of Edinburgh.

In 1974 the Royal Town Planning Institute awarded Grieve their gold medal, the tenth to be awarded in sixty years.

Grieve was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland.

In 1980 Grieve was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

In 1990 Grieve received the Lord Provost of Glasgow's award for Outstanding Public Service.

References

Engineers from Glasgow
Scottish civil engineers
Scottish urban planners
1910 births
1995 deaths
Fellows of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland
Scottish mountain climbers
Scottish poets
Fellows of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society