Alan Parsons
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| Alan Parsons | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 20 December 1948 London, England |
| Genre(s) | Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Audio engineer, composer, musician, record producer, director |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Label(s) | Legacy, Arista, Fox, Mercury |
| Associated acts | The Alan Parsons Project |
| Website | Alan Parsons Music |
Alan Parsons (b. 20 December 1948 in London) is a British audio engineer, musician, and record producer. He was involved with the production of several successful albums, including The Beatles' Abbey Road and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon for which Pink Floyd credit him as an important contributor. Parsons' own group, The Alan Parsons Project, as well as his subsequent solo recordings, have also been successful commercially.
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[edit] Career
In October 1967, at age 18, Parsons went to work as an assistant engineer at Abbey Road Studios, where he earned his first credit on the LP, Abbey Road. He became a regular there, engineering such projects as Paul McCartney's Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway, five albums by The Hollies, and Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, for which he received his first Grammy Award nomination. He was known for doing more than what would normally be considered the scope of a recording engineer’s duties. He considered himself to be a recording director, likening his contribution to recordings to what Stanley Kubrick contributed to film. This is apparent in his work with Al Stewart's Year of the Cat, where Parsons added the saxophone part and transformed the original folk concept into the jazz-influenced ballad that put Al Stewart onto the charts. It is also heard in Parsons’ influence on the Hollies’ He Ain't Heavy, He’s My Brother and The Air That I Breathe, sharp departures from their 1960s popular Stay, Just One Look, Stop! Stop! Stop! or Bus Stop. Parsons was also known to have swapped shifts during the engineering of The Dark Side of the Moon so he could work entirely on the project.
Parsons also produced three albums by Pilot, a Scottish pop rock band consisting of Ian Bairnson on guitar, Stuart Tosh on drums, and David Paton on lead vocals, guitars, and on bass. Their hits included January and Magic.
Apparently inspired by his influential contribution to Stewart’s work, he initiated The Alan Parsons Project with producer and songwriter (and occasional singer) Eric Woolfson in 1975. The Project consisted of a revolving group of studio musicians and vocalists, most notably the members of Pilot and (on the first album) the members of American rock band Ambrosia. Unlike most rock groups, the Alan Parsons Project rarely performed live, although they did release a number of music videos. After releasing ten albums, the Project terminated after 1987, and Parsons continues to release work in his own name and in collaboration with other musicians; Parsons and his band now regularly tour many parts of the world.
Although an accomplished vocalist, keyboardist, bassist, guitarist and flautist, Parsons sang infrequent and incidental parts on his albums. While his keyboard playing was very audible on Alan Parsons Project albums, very few recordings feature his flute.
Of all his collaborations, guitarist Ian Bairnson worked with Parsons the longest, including Parsons' post-Woolfson albums, Try Anything Once, On Air, and The Time Machine.
As well as receiving gold and platinum awards from many nations, Parsons has received ten Grammy Award nominations for engineering and production. In 2007 he received a nomination for Best Surround Sound Album for A Valid Path.
The Project’s song, Sirius, has been used for years by the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Pittsburgh Steelers, New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns,Kansas City Chiefs, VfB Stuttgart and Leinster Rugby as background music for their home team player introductions. It was also used by professional wrestler Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat as his theme music during his first stint in the World Wrestling Federation during the 1980s, and in the Michael Jordan film "Michael Jordan to the Max". (In addition, the song the Bulls use as background music for the visiting team introductions is Pink Floyd’s "On The Run," from The Dark Side of the Moon, engineered by Parsons). In 2008, the song was featured as part of a Dr. Pepper soda commercial, featuring Julius Erving.
In May 2005, Parsons appeared at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, California, to mix front-of-house sound for Southern California-based Pink Floyd tribute band Which One’s Pink? and their performance of The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety. link In an interview with the Santa Barbara Independent newspaper regarding his work with Project Unity, Parsons also briefly mentioned Which One's Pink? link
Indie band Grandaddy made a promotional CD with the track “Alan Parsons In A Winter Wonderland”.
Since 2003 he has toured under a revised name, The Alan Parsons Live Project (with Woolfson’s permission). The globe-trotting band features guitarist Godfrey Townsend, drummer Steve Murphy, keyboardist Manny Focarazzo, and bass guitarist John Montagna. The 2004-2005 shows offered vocalist P.J. Olsson’s track More Lost Without You while the later 2006 shows presented The Crystal Method-featured We Play the Game and opened with Return to Tunguska along with successes spanning the Project years.
Parsons lives in the Santa Barbara, California, area, where he is a member of the Orange County Oranges, the current Orange County frisbee golf champions.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Date | Title | Label | Charted | Country | Catalog Number | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| as part of The Alan Parsons Project | ||||||
| May 1976 | Tales of Mystery and Imagination | Mercury | 38 | US | ||
| June 1977 | I Robot | Arista | 9 | US | ||
| June 1978 | Pyramid | Arista | 26 | US | ||
| August 1979 | Eve | Arista | 13 | US | ||
| October 1980 | The Turn of a Friendly Card | Arista | 13 | US | ||
| June 1982 | Eye in the Sky | Arista | 7 | US | ||
| 1983 | The Best of the Alan Parsons Project | Arista | 53 | US | ||
| February 1984 | Ammonia Avenue | Arista | 15 | US | ||
| March 1985 | Vulture Culture | Arista | 46 | US | ||
| November 1985 | Stereotomy | Arista | 43 | US | ||
| January 1987 | Gaudi | Arista | 57 | US | ||
| 1988 | The Best of the Alan Parsons Project, Vol. 2 | Arista | - | - | ||
| 1988 | The Instrumental Works | Arista | - | - | ||
| 1990 | Freudiana | EMI | - | - | ||
| 9 October 1989 | Pop Classics | Arista | - | - | ||
| 26 October 1993 | Try Anything Once | Arista | 122 | US | ||
| 27 June 1995 | The Very Best Live | - | - | |||
| 24 September 1996 | On Air | Digital Sound | - | - | ||
| 1 July 1997 | Apollo | - | - | |||
| 15 July 1997 | The Definitive Collection | - | - | |||
| 15 April 1999 | Sound Check 2 | - | - | |||
| 27 July 1999 | Master Hits - The Alan Parsons Project | - | - | |||
| 2 August 1999 | Alan Parsons Project - Greatest Hits Live | - | - | |||
| 3 August 1999 | Eye in the Sky | - | - | |||
| 3 August 1999 | Eye in the Sky - Encore Collection | - | - | |||
| 9 May 2000 | Alan Parsons Project - Gold Collection | BMG International | - | - | ||
| 22 August 2002 | Works | Audiophile Legends | - | - | ||
| 23 March 2004 | Ultimate | - | - | |||
| 1 June 2004 | Extended Versions: The iEncore Collection Live | - | - | |||
| 2006 | Days Are Numbers (3 CD Compilation) | Arista | - | - | 88697016972 | |
| as Engineer | ||||||
| 1969 | Abbey Road (The Beatles) | 1 | UK US |
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| 1970 | Atom Heart Mother (Pink Floyd) | 1 55 |
UK US |
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| 1973 | The Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd) | 2 1 |
UK US |
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| 1974 | Hollies (The Hollies) | 28 | US | |||
| 1975 | Another Night (The Hollies) | 132 | US | |||
| 1975 | Ambrosia (Ambrosia) | - | - | |||
| 1976 | Year of the Cat (Al Stewart) | 5 | US | |||
| as Producer | ||||||
| 1975 | The Best Years of Our Lives (Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel) | - | - | |||
| 1976 | Rebel (John Miles) | 171 | US | |||
| 1976 | Year of the Cat (Al Stewart) | 5 | US | |||
| 1976 | Somewhere I've Never Travelled (Ambrosia) | - | - | |||
| 1978 | Time Passages (Al Stewart) | 10 | US | |||
| March 1984 | Keats | EMI | ||||
| 1985 | Ladyhawke (OST by Andrew Powell) | Atlantic Records | ||||
| as Solo Artist | ||||||
| 6 October 1993 | Try Anything Once | Arista | - | - | ||
| 25 July 1997 | On Air | A&M/Digital Sound | - | - | ||
| 28 September 1999 | Time Machine | Miramar | - | - | ||
| 24 August 2004 | A Valid Path | Artemis | - | - | ||
[edit] Billboard Top 40 Hit Singles (U.S.)
- # 3 - Eye in the Sky (1982)
- #15 - Time (1981)
- #15 - Don't Answer Me (1984)
- #16 - Games People Play (1980)
- #27 - Damned if I Do (1979)
- #36 - I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You (1977)
- #37 - (The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether (1976)
[edit] Canadian Singles
- #62 - (The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether (1976)
- #22 - I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You (1977)
- #16 - Damned if I Do (1980)
- # 9 - Games People Play (1981)
- #30 - Time (1981)
- # 1 - Eye in the Sky (1982)
- #43 - You Don't Believe (1983)
- #20 - Don't Answer Me (1984)
- #89 - Let's Talk About Me (1985)
[edit] Grammy Nominations
- 1973 - Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon - Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
- 1976 - Ambrosia - Somewhere I've Never Traveled - Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
- 1976 - The Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination - Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
- 1978 - The Alan Parsons Project - Pyramid - Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
- 1979 - Ice Castles - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
- 1979 - The Alan Parsons Project - Eve - Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
- 1981 - The Alan Parsons Project - The Turn of a Friendly Card - Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
- 1982 - The Alan Parsons Project - Eye in the Sky - Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
- 1986 - The Alan Parsons Project - "Where's The Walrus?" - Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
- 2007 - Alan Parsons - A Valid Path - Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album
[edit] External links
- Alan Parsons Music Official Site
- Alan Parsons Project Official Site
- Alan Parsons in the Internet Movie Data Base
- Crawdaddy! "Parsons Knows: The Tale of Alan Parsons and Edgar Allan Poe" link
- [1] Interview at 2006 Canadian Music Week (courtesy of mvyradio)
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