Speaking Volumes – Audio-books : Gordon Griffin
Gordon gave us a very entertaining talk on his work with audio-books describing how a young Geordie lad from Byker came, in 2017 , to be awarded an MBE at Buckingham Palace for his services to audio-book recording.
In the 1950’s he wanted to be an actor and took elocution lessons to acquire a more acceptable accent for auditions and performance. He went to drama school, worked in repertory theatre in Lincoln and Sheffield in a variety of theatre productions including Shakespeare, Restoration plays and comedy. He also worked in TV with directors Stanley Donen (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) and with actors such as Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren (Arabesque -1965) in which he played Fanshawe being rescued from drowning by Peck. The river drowning scene of 2 minutes took three days to film with many takes and changes of clothing for Peck. Other TV work included Family at War and When the Boat Comes In, work on PlaySchool, and Reading Rainbow.
He also did work on radio for Mrs Dale’s Diary, playing the 16yr old grandson, and in Romeo and Juliet as Romeo. Although he was no longer a youth playing these parts , on radio this did not matter, as long as the voice was suitable. Work on school radio, reading poetry, reviewing books and reading extracts followed.
In 1977 he performed (as one of the conspirators) in Julius Caesar in Chichester and as the priest in Murder in the Cathedral (1968).
Talking books did not really get off the ground until the invention of cassette tapes. Prior to that recordings were on vinyl records. One book took up a lot of disks. Gordon submitted an audition tape to a company in Whitley Bay and began his recording career with The Petronov Plan by J. Pattinson. He recorded books as diverse as Catherine Cookson and Charles Dickens and has now recorded over 850 books. Audio books have evolved from catering primarily to the sight impaired or sick, to books for everyone! There is now some simultaneous print and audio publishing and it is one of the fastest moving areas of the book industry. The term “narrator” (American) is used to describe an audio-book reader.
Gordon described the skills needed to engage an audience, such as a good ear, a talent for accents and an ability to draw an audience in with acting skills and good preparation on the pronunciation of names and places. The internet has helped a lot with the background research on pronunciation. He annotates scripts using “iAnnotate” software and makes a close reading of the book beforehand to make sure he has not missed anything important which might affect the authenticity of the reading.
He interspersed his talk with three readings – one from “Billy Elliot” (in Geordie accent of course) and one from “Oxygen” by Andrew Miller ending with a cliff hanger! What he most enjoys is playing all the parts and making himself disappear in the process. His third reading was from the chef Keith Floyd’s account of filming with live frogs in the kitchen where the high point depended on the frogs leaping out of the pan! This was a most amusing reading which might not have pleased the RSPCA or the animal rights people!
Gordon rounded off his talk saying how much he had enjoyed talking to a “live” audience as recording books in a studio is like recording in a vacuum. Questions followed on the companies he works for (more than one) and whether he ever refuses books he does not like. His only criteria for refusing a book is whether he has the time to do the preparation needed. He is only paid for time in the studio – not for all the preparation.
This was a most enjoyable talk enlivened by Gordon’s evident acting skills.
We congratulate him on his MBE and his prodigious output.
