The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Origin | London, England |
Genres | |
Years active | 1975–1990 |
Labels | |
Past members | |
Website | the-alan-parsons-project |
The Alan Parsons Project were a British rock band active between 1975 and 1990,[1] whose core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They were accompanied by varying session musicians and some relatively consistent session players such as guitarist Ian Bairnson, arranger Andrew Powell, bassist and vocalist David Paton, drummer Stuart Elliott, and vocalists Lenny Zakatek and Chris Rainbow. Parsons and Woolfson shared writing credits on almost all of the Project's songs, with Parsons producing or co-producing all of the band's recordings.
The Alan Parsons Project released eleven studio albums in its 15-year career, the most successful being
Career
1974–1976: Formation and debut
Woolfson's idea was to manage Alan and help his already successful production career. This was the start of their longstanding friendly business relationship. He managed Parsons' career as a producer and engineer through a string of successes, including
Recalling his earlier Edgar Allan Poe material, Woolfson saw a way to combine his and Parsons's talents. Parsons produced and engineered songs written and composed by the two, and the first Alan Parsons Project was begun. The Project's first album, Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976), released by 20th Century Fox Records and including major contributions by all members of Pilot and Ambrosia, was a success, reaching the Top 40 in the US Billboard 200 chart.[2] The song "The Raven" featured lead vocals by the actor Leonard Whiting. According to the 2007 re-mastered album liner notes, this was the first rock song to use a vocoder, with Alan Parsons speaking lyrics through it, although others such as Bruce Haack pioneered this field in the previous decade.
1977–1990: Mainstream success and final releases
After those successes, however, the Project began to fade from view. There were fewer hit singles, and declining album sales. 1987's Gaudi was the Project's final release, though it had planned to record an album called Freudiana (1990) next.
The musical Freudiana
Even though the studio version of Freudiana was produced by Parsons (and featured the regular Project session musicians, making it an 'unofficial' Project album), it was primarily Woolfson's idea to turn it into a musical. While Parsons pursued his own solo career and took many session players of the Project on the road for the first time in a successful worldwide tour, Woolfson went on to produce musical plays influenced by the Project's music. Freudiana, Gaudi, and Gambler were three musicals that included some Project songs like "Eye in the Sky", "Time", "Inside Looking Out", and "Limelight". The live music from Gambler was only distributed at the performance site in Mönchengladbach, Germany.
The Sicilian Defence
In 1979, Parsons, Woolfson, and their
The Sicilian Defence was our attempt at quickly fulfilling our contractual obligation after I Robot, Pyramid, and Eve had been delivered. The album was rejected by Arista, not surprisingly, and we then renegotiated our deal for the future and the next album, The Turn of a Friendly Card. The Sicilian Defence album was never released and never will be, if I have anything to do with it. I have not heard it since it was finished. I hope the tapes no longer exist.
— Alan Parsons[6]
In interviews he gave before his death in 2009,
Parsons' and Woolfson's solo careers
Parsons released titles under his name; these were
Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976) was re-mixed in 1987 for release on CD, and included narration by Orson Welles recorded in 1975, but delivered too late to be included on the original album. For the 2007 deluxe edition release, parts of this tape were used for the 1976 Griffith Park Planetarium launch of the original album, the 1987 remix, and various radio spots. All were included as bonus material.
Sound
The band's sound is described as
Vocal duties were shared by guests to complement each song. In later years, Woolfson sang lead on many of the group's hits, including "Time", "Eye in the Sky", and "Don't Answer Me". The record company pressured Parsons to use Woolfson more, but Parsons preferred to use polished proficient singers; Woolfson admitted he was not in that category. In addition to Woolfson, vocalists Chris Rainbow, Lenny Zakatek, John Miles, David Paton, and Colin Blunstone are regulars.[2] Other singers, such as Arthur Brown, Steve Harley, Gary Brooker, Dave Terry a.k.a. Elmer Gantry, Vitamin Z's Geoff Barradale, and Marmalade's Dean Ford, recorded only once or twice with the Project. Parsons sang lead on one song ("The Raven") through a vocoder and backing on a few others, including "To One in Paradise". Both of those songs appeared on Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976). Parsons also sings a prominent counter melody on “Time”.
A variety of session musicians worked with the Alan Parsons Project regularly, contributing to the recognizable style of a song despite the varied singer line-up. With Parsons and Woolfson, the studio band consisted of the group
The Alan Parsons Project played live only once under that name during its original incarnation because Woolfson and Parsons held the roles of writing and production, and because of the technical difficulties of re-producing on stage the complex instrumentation used in the studio. In the 1990s, musical production evolved with the technology of digital samplers. The one occasion the band was introduced as 'The Alan Parsons Project' in a live performance was at The Night of the Proms in October 1990. The concerts featured all Project regulars except Woolfson, present behind the scenes, while Parsons stayed at the mixer except for the last song, when he played acoustic guitar.
Since 1993, Alan Parsons continues to perform live as the Alan Parsons Live Project to be distinct from The Alan Parsons Project. The current line up consists of lead singer
In popular culture
In Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Dr. Evil devised a plan to turn the moon into a "Death Star" using a "laser" invented by Dr. Alan Parsons. He called this "The Alan Parsons Project".
Members
- Official members
- engineering, programming, composition, vocals, keyboards, guitars (1975–1990)
- Eric Woolfson – composition, lyrics, piano, keyboards, vocals, executive production (1975–1990; died 2009)
- Notable contributors
- Andrew Powell – composition, keyboards, orchestral arrangements (1975–1996)[13]
- Philharmonia Orchestra
- Ian Bairnson – guitars (1975–1990; died 2023)
- David Pack – guitars (1976, 1993), vocals, keyboards (1993)
- Richard Cottle – keyboards, saxophone (1984–1990)
- David Paton – bass (1975–1986), vocals (1975–1986, 1990), acoustic guitar (1990)
- Stuart Tosh – drums, percussion (1975–1977)
- Stuart Elliott – drums, percussion (1977–1990)
- Mel Collins – saxophone (1982–1984)
- Geoff Barradale– vocals (1987)
- Phil Kenzie – saxophone (1978)
- Andy Kanavan - percussion (1993)
- Dennis Clarke – saxophone (1980)
- Colin Blunstone – vocals (1978–1984)
- Gary Brooker – vocals (1985; died 2022)
- Arthur Brown – vocals (1975)
- Lesley Duncan – vocals (1979; died 2010)
- Graham Dye– vocals (1985, 1998)
- Dean Ford – vocals (1978; died 2018)
- Dave Terry ("Elmer Gantry") – vocals (1980, 1982)
- Jack Harris – vocals (1976–1978)
- The Hollies – vocals
- John Miles – vocals (1976, 1978, 1985, 1987, 1990; died 2021)
- Chris Rainbow – vocals (1979–1990; died 2015)
- Eric Stewart – vocals (1990, 1993)
- Peter Straker – vocals (1977)
- Clare Torry – vocals (1979)
- Dave Townsend – vocals (1977, 1979)
- Lenny Zakatek – vocals (1977–1987)
- The English Chorale – choir (1976, 1977, 1982, 1987)
Discography
- Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976)
- I Robot (1977)
- Pyramid (1978)
- Eve(1979)
- The Turn of a Friendly Card (1980)
- Eye in the Sky (1982)
- Ammonia Avenue (1984)
- Vulture Culture (1985)
- Stereotomy (1985)
- Gaudi (1987)
- Freudiana (1990 – Austrian Original Cast Musical Soundtrack, virtually a solo Woolfson project)
- The Sicilian Defence (2014, recorded in 1979)
Related
- The Philharmonia Orchestra Plays the Best of the Alan Parsons Project (1983 – orchestral album by Andrew Powell)
- Ladyhawke (1985 – soundtrack by Powell, produced and engineered by Parsons)
References
- ^ "Alan Parsons – Bio FAQ Discography". Alanparsonsmusic.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
- ^ ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
- ^ "History @". The-alan-parsons-project.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
- ^ Vare, Ethlie Ann (15 March 1986). "Parsons' Latest Project – 'Stereotomy': Wide-Range Personality". Billboard. p. 76. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- ^ "Alan Parsons Project". Official Charts. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- ^ "Alanparsonsmusic.com". Alanparsonsmusic.com. 20 December 1948. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
- ^ "Eric Woolfson on Facebook". Facebook.com. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
- ^ Mansfield, Brian (14 February 2013). "Alan Parsons on the road again". USA Today. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
- ^ Team Rock. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
- ^ a b Houle, Zachary (3 December 2013). "The Alan Parsons Project: I Robot (Legacy Edition)". PopMatters. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- ^ "The Alan Parsons Project | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ISBN 0-13-782426-2.
- ^ John Miles, Laurence Cottle, Ian Bairnson, Contributed to The Alan Parsons Project Archived 31 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Official website www.The-Alan-Parsons-Project.com
- The official Eric Woolfson website
- The Alan Parsons Project at IMDb
- The Alan Parsons Project albums to be listened as stream at Spotify.com