21/12/2021
Alan Parsons is celebrating his 73rd birthday today. In October 1967, at the age of 18, Parsons went to work as an assistant engineer at Abbey Road Studios, where he earned his first credit on The Beatles LP "Abbey Road". He became a regular at Abbey Road Studios, 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 popular 1960s hits "Stay", "Just One Look", "Stop! Stop! Stop!" or "Bus Stop". Parsons was also known to have swapped shifts during the engineering of "Dark Side of the Moon" so he could work entirely on the project.
In 1975, he declined Pink Floyd's invitation to come back and work on the follow-up for "Dark Side," "Wish You Were Here," and instead initiated the The Alan Parsons Project with Eric Woolfson, whom he had met at Abbey Road. The Project consisted of a revolving group of studio musicians and vocalists. Unlike most rock groups, the Alan Parsons Project never performed live during its heyday, although it did release several music videos.
Alan is still active in the recording / production side of music today as well as performing live.
Happy Birthday Alan!!! Very impressive.
