Alan Parsons (20 December 1948[1]— ) 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.
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 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 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 the Alan Parsons Project albums, very few recordings feature his flute. During the late 1990s, Parsons career travelled an interesting full circle, having started out in the music industry at the World famous Abbey Road Studios in London as an assistant engineer in the late 1960s, he briefly returned to run the studio in it's entirety, a role he reportedly managed to combine with the demands of a hectic performing and recording schedule, Parsons also continued with his selective production work for other bands.
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 sports teams such as 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. (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). "Sirius" 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. The song was used in the 2000 Michael Jordan film Michael Jordan to the Max, as well as the 2009 animated film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. 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.[2]
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.
Personal life
Parsons was born in London. He resides in Santa Barbara, California with his wife and two daughters, as well as numerous pets.[1]
Discography
Albums
Billboard Top 40 hit singles (U.S.)
- #37 - "(The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether" (1976)
- #36 - "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" (1977)
- #27 - "Damned if I Do" (1979)
- #16 - "Games People Play" (1980)
- #15 - "Time" (1981)
- #3 - "Eye in the Sky" (1982)
- #15 - "Don't Answer Me" (1984)
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)
Awards and nominations
Nominations
References
External links
