David Paton

For other people named David Paton, see David Paton (disambiguation).

David Paton
Paton in 2017 in Magdeburg, Germany
Background information
Born	(1949-10-29) 29 October 1949 Edinburgh, Scotland
Genres	Pop, rock
Occupation	Musician
Instrument(s)	Bass, guitar, vocals
Years active	Late 1960s–present
Website	davidpatonsongs.com

David Paton (/ˈpeɪtən/; born 29 October 1949) is a Scottish bassist, guitarist and singer. He first achieved success in the mid-1970s as lead vocalist and bassist of Pilot, who scored hits with "Magic", "January", "Just a Smile" and "Call Me Round" before splitting in 1977. Paton is also known for his work in the original lineup of The Alan Parsons Project (1975-1985), and for working with acts such as Kate Bush, Camel and Elton John.

Biography

Early life

David Paton, Countdown Spectacular 2, Australia, 2007

Albert Hammond & David Paton 2018, Live in Schneeberg, Germany

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Paton grew up in the south-eastern suburb of Gilmerton, Edinburgh, where he attended Liberton High School. His first band was called 'The Beachcombers' and they signed a recording contract in 1968 with CBS Records. They changed their name to The Boots and published their first single, "The Animal In Me". This was soon followed by "Keep Your Lovelight Burning". Because of financial problems, the band split up in 1970.

Career

Paton initially joined the Bay City Rollers for a short period of time but never recorded with them. He joined in 1968, as their bassist, when bassist Alan Longmuir, switched to full-time guitarist. After leaving them in October 1970, Longmuir switched back to bass, and Paton became a member of another Band called 'Fresh', which changed their name to Christyan and published a single, "Nursery Lane", in 1971. While still playing with the band, he took a job as a musician in a nightclub called Tiffanys where he met Ian Bairnson.

Pilot

Main article: Pilot (band)

In 1973, Paton was a co-founder of Pilot. With Ian Bairnson, Billy Lyall and Stuart Tosh, they recorded several demos with EMI Records and recorded their first album From the Album of the Same Name which was published in 1974. On it was included their first major hit, "Magic" and Bairnson, who was still not an official member of the band, joined them after the recording of the first album. They released their second album Second Flight in 1975, and its single "January" topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks, ironically beginning week ending 1 February. and it was followed in 1976 by their third, Morin Heights which was recorded at Le Studio in Morin Heights in Quebec, Canada, and produced by Roy Thomas Baker.

The Alan Parsons Project

The same year, he and Bairnson started working with producer Alan Parsons and published a first album under the name Alan Parsons Project, Tales of Mystery & Imagination. Paton played bass and sang with the band until the 1986 album Stereotomy as he continued to work with other artists as a session musician.

Solo

His first solo album was released in 1991, titled Passions Cry (under the name of Davie Paton), and the second album Fragments in 1996, that was also under the same name. In 1980, Paton already recorded an album with the title No Ties No Strings at the Abbey Road Studios, which was never released. In 2003, however, the album The Search was released, which was a new recording of the "lost album" from 1980. In the following years, David Paton released other solo albums.

Later works

He also played on the first two albums by Kate Bush in 1978, The Kick Inside and Lionheart.

In the 1980s, Paton was known for his work with Camel and Elton John in studio albums and touring around the world. Other credits include bass guitar and backing vocals for several albums by Fish, as well as Rick Wakeman in the 1990s, such as The Classical Connection, African Bach, Softsword, The Classical Connection 2 and Prayers. In 1984, he was a member of Keats. In 1985, he participated to the original score for the movie Ladyhawke which was written, composed and played by Andrew Powell and produced by Alan Parsons.

Paton also appeared solo in the Countdown Spectacular 2 concert series in Australia, between August and September 2007, as a performer and musical director.

Discography

Solo

Title	Year
Passions Cry	1991
Fragments	1996
The Search	2003
Fellow Man	2007
The Studio Diary Songs	2009
Under the Sun	2012
The Traveller	2019
2020	2020

With David Paton & Friends

Title	Year
Originals	2007

With Boots

Singles

Title	Year
The Animal in Me	1968
Keep Your Lovelight Burning	1968

With Pilot

Studio albums

Year	Album
1974	From the Album of the Same Name
1975	Second Flight
1976	Morin Heights
1977	Two's a Crowd
2002	Blue Yonder
2014	A Pilot Project
2019	The Traveller - Another Pilot Project
2021	The Magic EP

Singles

Year	Title
1974	"Just a Smile"
	"Magic"
	"Ra-Ta-Ta"
1975	"January"
	"Call Me Round"
	"Just a Smile" (new version)
	"Lady Luck"
1976	"Running Water"
	"Canada"
	"Penny in My Pocket"
1977	"Get Up and Go"
	"Monday Tuesday"

With The Alan Parsons Project

Studio albums

Title	Year
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

With Kate Bush

Studio Albums

Title	Year
The Kick Inside	1978
Lionheart	1978

With Camel

Title	Year
The Single Factor	1982
Stationary Traveller	1984
Dust and Dreams	1991
On the Road 1982	1994
Harbour of Tears	1996

With Keats

Single

A-Side	B-Side	Year
Turn Your Heart Around	Ask No Questions	1984

Studio albums

Title	Year
Keats	1984

With Rick Wakeman

Singles

A-Side	B-Side	Year
Don't Fly Away	After Prayers	1991
Welcome a Star		1996

Studio albums

Title	Year
Time Machine	1988
The Classical Connection	1991
African Bach	1991
Softsword	1991
The Classical Connection 2	1993
Prayers	1993
Rock & Pop Legends: Rick Wakeman	1995
Almost Live in Europe	1995
The New Gospels	1996
Can You Hear Me?	1996
Orisons	1996

With Fish

Studio albums

Title	Year
Internal Exile	1991
Songs from the Mirror	1993
Suits	1994

Live albums

Title	Year
Derek Dick & His Amazing Electric Bear	1991
There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Fish	1992
For Whom the Bells Toll	1993
Toiling in the Reeperbahn	1993
Uncle Fish & The Fish Creepers	1993
Acoustic Session	1994
Sushi	1994
Lucky Bastards	1994
Fortunes of War	1998
The Complete BBC Sessions	1999

Singles

Title	Year
Lady Let It Lie	1994
Out of My Life	1994
Black Canal	1994

With Sadie Paton

Singles

Title	Year
Don't Touch Me	2012
Love Song	2018

With Eric Woolfson

Studio album

Title	Year
Eric Woolfson sings The Alan Parsons Project That Never Was	2009

External links

• Media related to David Paton (musician) at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Detailed list of Paton's session work