Eric Woolfson
Encyclopedia
Eric Norman Woolfson was a Scottish
songwriter, lyricist, vocalist, executive producer, pianist, and creator of The Alan Parsons Project
. He has sold over 50 million albums world-wide.
Following the 10 successful APP albums he made with Alan Parsons, Woolfson pursued his career in musical theatre. He wrote 5 musicals which won many awards and have been seen by over a million people. They have been performed in Germany
, Austria
, Korea
and Japan
.
area of Glasgow
and raised in the Pollokshields
area. He was educated at the High School of Glasgow
.
He started composing music in his early teens. He moved to London where he found work as a session pianist, at the age of 18. The record producer for the Rolling Stones, Andrew Oldham, signed him up as a songwriter. During the following years, Woolfson wrote songs for such artists as Marianne Faithfull
, Frank Ifield
, Joe Dassin
, The Tremeloes
,Marie (french singer) Marmalade
, Dave Berry
, and Peter Noone
. His songs were recorded by over 100 artists both in Europe and America. During the '60s he worked alongside two then-unknown writers, Andrew Lloyd Webber
and Tim Rice
.
In 1971, with the assistance of Eric Stewart
, Kevin Godley
, Lol Creme
and Graham Gouldman
(who later became 10cc
), a single was produced under the name of Eric Elder ("San Tokay" b/w "Sunflower") and issued on UK Philips 6006 081 and US Philips 40699. Woolfson then produced a single by Graham Gouldman ("Nowhere to Go" b/w "Growing Older") which was issued in 1972 on UK CBS 7739.
In the early '70s, Eric turned his hand to management and was instantly successful. His first two signings were Carl Douglas
(whose record Kung Fu Fighting
was one of the biggest selling hits of all time) and engineer/record producer Alan Parsons
.
.
Eric and Alan formed a new kind of collaboration that would allow Parsons' engineering skills to be used to the fullest extent while allowing Woolfson to exploit his talents as a songwriter and lyricist. The Alan Parsons Project
was born, the name originally being intended as a working title for their collaborative project. From 1976 to 1987, Woolfson and Parsons collaborated on the conception and lyrics for all ten albums by The Alan Parsons Project
, which have achieved worldwide sales in excess of 50 million.
On every Project album, Woolfson would sing a guide vocal
track for each song, which the album's eventual lead vocalists would use as a reference. Some of these tracks can be heard on the new remastered editions of various Project albums released in 2007. Woolfson himself was the actual singer on many of the Project's biggest hits, such as "Time", "Don't Answer Me", "Prime Time" and the band's signature tune "Eye in the Sky
", which peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 on 16-30 October 1982.
was originally meant to be the 11th album by The Alan Parsons Project, but Woolfson was keen to explore the possibility of realising the project as a musical. While recording the album, Brian Brolly
was introduced to Woolfson and promised to steer the album in this new direction. Brolly was previously a partner with Andrew Lloyd Webber
, and together they created such musicals as Cats. With some help from Brolly, Woolfson was able to turn Freudiana
into a stage musical.
Before the Freudiana stage production opened in 1990 in Vienna, a double-length studio album was released. The musical had a successful run, and it was planned that the show would open in other cities. However, plans were put on hold when a lawsuit broke out between Brolly and Woolfson, each fighting for control of the project.
The studio disc (the "white" album) was quite difficult to obtain for a while. There was also a double-length German-language cast disc (the "black" album) which is currently out of print.
His first musical premiered in Vienna
in 1990: Freudiana, about Sigmund Freud
. The success of this first work led to Woolfson’s second musical Gaudi (concerning the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi) (1995), which ran for over five years in several German productions. Gambler, Woolfson’s third musical also premiered in Germany in 1996 and had a first run of over 500 performances. Gambler has had six productions in Korea, two of which also toured Japan in 2002 and 2005 (the first time a Korean language production had been staged in this way). A fourth musical POE, based on the life of the author
, was given a world premiere concert production at Abbey Road studios
, London in 2003. An album was released in 2003 as POE More Tales of Mystery and Imagination and a musical album CD 'Edgar Allan Poe' and DVD of the POE Abbey Road concert were released in 2009. DVD.
Dancing with Shadows (inspired by the anti-war play Forest Fire by the Korean playwright Cham Bum-Suk and with a book by Ariel Dorfman
) was premiered in July 2007 in Korea.
in London in the early hours of 2 December 2009. He is survived by both his daughters.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
songwriter, lyricist, vocalist, executive producer, pianist, and creator of The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock band, active between 1975 and 1990, consisting of singer Eric Woolfson and keyboardist Alan Parsons surrounded by a varying number of session musicians....
. He has sold over 50 million albums world-wide.
Following the 10 successful APP albums he made with Alan Parsons, Woolfson pursued his career in musical theatre. He wrote 5 musicals which won many awards and have been seen by over a million people. They have been performed in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Early life
Woolfson, who belonged to a Jewish family, was born in the Charing CrossCharing Cross, Glasgow
Charing Cross is a major road junction in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde on Sauchiehall Street, at a major interchange of the M8 motorway. Formerly the gateway from the shopping area of Sauchiehall Street to the more prosperous Woodlands area, its...
area of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and raised in the Pollokshields
Pollokshields
Pollokshields is a district in the Southside of Glasgow, Scotland. It is a conservation area which was developed in Victorian times according to a plan promoted by the original landowners, the Stirling-Maxwells of Pollok, whose association with the area goes as far back as...
area. He was educated at the High School of Glasgow
High School of Glasgow
The High School of Glasgow is an independent, co-educational day school in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded as the Choir School of Glasgow Cathedral in around 1124, it is the oldest school in Scotland, and the twelfth oldest in the United Kingdom. It remained part of the Church as the city's grammar...
.
He started composing music in his early teens. He moved to London where he found work as a session pianist, at the age of 18. The record producer for the Rolling Stones, Andrew Oldham, signed him up as a songwriter. During the following years, Woolfson wrote songs for such artists as Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
, Frank Ifield
Frank Ifield
Francis Edward Ifield is an early Australian-English easy listening and country music singer. He achieved considerable success in the early 1960s, especially in the UK Singles Chart, where he had four Number 1 hits between 1962 and 1963....
, Joe Dassin
Joe Dassin
Joseph Ira Dassin , more commonly known as Joe Dassin, was an American singer-songwriter best known for his French songs of the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...
, The Tremeloes
The Tremeloes
The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, Essex, and still active today.-Career:They formed as Brian Poole and the Tremoloes influenced by Buddy Holly and The Crickets...
,Marie (french singer) Marmalade
Marmalade (band)
Marmalade were a successful Scottish pop rock group, from the east end of Glasgow, originally formed in 1961 as "The Gaylords", later "Dean Ford and The Gaylords". In 1966, they changed the group name to 'The Marmalade'. The most successful period for the band, in terms of UK chart success, was...
, Dave Berry
Dave Berry (musician)
Not to be confused with English 1960s singer Mike Berry.Dave Berry is a British pop singer and former teen idol of the 1960s...
, and Peter Noone
Peter Noone
Peter Noone is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist and actor, best known as "Herman" of the successful 1960s rock group Herman's Hermits.-Early life:...
. His songs were recorded by over 100 artists both in Europe and America. During the '60s he worked alongside two then-unknown writers, Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
and Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
.
In 1971, with the assistance of Eric Stewart
Eric Stewart
Eric Stewart is an English musician, songwriter and record producer most known for his tenure with The Mindbenders in the 1960s, and 10cc from 1972 to 1995....
, Kevin Godley
Kevin Godley
Kevin Godley is a British musician and music video director.He was born in a family of Jewish descent, and went to North Cestrian Grammar School in Altrincham....
, Lol Creme
Lol Crème
Lol Creme is an English musician and music video director, best known for his work in 10cc. He sings, plays guitar and keyboards.-Biography:...
and Graham Gouldman
Graham Gouldman
Graham Keith Gouldman is an English songwriter and musician who is a long-time member of British band 10cc.-Early life and 1960s pop career: 1946–1968:Gouldman was born in Broughton, Salford, England...
(who later became 10cc
10cc
10cc are an English art rock band who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians -- Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme -- who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the "10cc" name...
), a single was produced under the name of Eric Elder ("San Tokay" b/w "Sunflower") and issued on UK Philips 6006 081 and US Philips 40699. Woolfson then produced a single by Graham Gouldman ("Nowhere to Go" b/w "Growing Older") which was issued in 1972 on UK CBS 7739.
In the early '70s, Eric turned his hand to management and was instantly successful. His first two signings were Carl Douglas
Carl Douglas
Carl Douglas is a former Jamaican-born, UK-based, singer, best known for his song "Kung Fu Fighting", which hit number one in both the UK Singles Chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. The R.I.A.A. awarded gold disc status on 27 November, and it won a Grammy Award for Best Selling Single...
(whose record Kung Fu Fighting
Kung Fu Fighting
"Kung Fu Fighting" is a disco song written by Jim Brusatto and Vivian Hawke performed by Carl Douglas, and composed and produced by Biddu. It was released as a single in 1974, at the cusp of a chopsocky film craze, and eventually rose to the top of the British and American charts, in addition to...
was one of the biggest selling hits of all time) and engineer/record producer Alan Parsons
Alan Parsons
Alan Parsons is a British audio engineer, musician, and record producer. He was involved with the production of several significant albums, including The Beatles' Abbey Road and Let It Be, as well as Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon for which Pink Floyd credit him as an important contributor...
.
Career
In 1975, Woolfson joined forces with record producer Alan ParsonsAlan Parsons
Alan Parsons is a British audio engineer, musician, and record producer. He was involved with the production of several significant albums, including The Beatles' Abbey Road and Let It Be, as well as Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon for which Pink Floyd credit him as an important contributor...
.
Eric and Alan formed a new kind of collaboration that would allow Parsons' engineering skills to be used to the fullest extent while allowing Woolfson to exploit his talents as a songwriter and lyricist. The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock band, active between 1975 and 1990, consisting of singer Eric Woolfson and keyboardist Alan Parsons surrounded by a varying number of session musicians....
was born, the name originally being intended as a working title for their collaborative project. From 1976 to 1987, Woolfson and Parsons collaborated on the conception and lyrics for all ten albums by The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock band, active between 1975 and 1990, consisting of singer Eric Woolfson and keyboardist Alan Parsons surrounded by a varying number of session musicians....
, which have achieved worldwide sales in excess of 50 million.
On every Project album, Woolfson would sing a guide vocal
Guide track
A guide track or ghost track is a recorded selection of music or song used as an aid in sound recording, filmmaking and performance. It is closely related to the click track, and the two are typically used in conjunction....
track for each song, which the album's eventual lead vocalists would use as a reference. Some of these tracks can be heard on the new remastered editions of various Project albums released in 2007. Woolfson himself was the actual singer on many of the Project's biggest hits, such as "Time", "Don't Answer Me", "Prime Time" and the band's signature tune "Eye in the Sky
Eye in the Sky (song)
"Eye in the Sky" is a 1982 song by the Alan Parsons Project from the album Eye in the Sky.Possibly the most successful song the group has ever had, it hit #3 on the Billboard charts in the US in October of 1982 and #6 in Canada and New Zealand. Says Parsons of the song, "...I hated the song when we...
", which peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 on 16-30 October 1982.
Splitting up
FreudianaFreudiana
Freudiana is a rock opera, originally intended to be the 11th album by The Alan Parsons Project, but by release time was the first album credited to Eric Woolfson as a solo artist, marking his final project with former collaborator Alan Parsons, who is credited as producer. After recording the...
was originally meant to be the 11th album by The Alan Parsons Project, but Woolfson was keen to explore the possibility of realising the project as a musical. While recording the album, Brian Brolly
Brian Brolly
Brian Brolly , was an English showbusiness entrepreneur. He was the managing director of Paul and Linda McCartney's MPL Communications, and then of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatre Company. He was a co-founder of the radio stations Jazz FM and Classic FM.Brolly was born in London...
was introduced to Woolfson and promised to steer the album in this new direction. Brolly was previously a partner with Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
, and together they created such musicals as Cats. With some help from Brolly, Woolfson was able to turn Freudiana
Freudiana
Freudiana is a rock opera, originally intended to be the 11th album by The Alan Parsons Project, but by release time was the first album credited to Eric Woolfson as a solo artist, marking his final project with former collaborator Alan Parsons, who is credited as producer. After recording the...
into a stage musical.
Before the Freudiana stage production opened in 1990 in Vienna, a double-length studio album was released. The musical had a successful run, and it was planned that the show would open in other cities. However, plans were put on hold when a lawsuit broke out between Brolly and Woolfson, each fighting for control of the project.
The studio disc (the "white" album) was quite difficult to obtain for a while. There was also a double-length German-language cast disc (the "black" album) which is currently out of print.
Musical theatre
Woolfson was eager to write for musical theatre. He explained his career switch during an interview in 2004:His first musical premiered in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1990: Freudiana, about Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
. The success of this first work led to Woolfson’s second musical Gaudi (concerning the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi) (1995), which ran for over five years in several German productions. Gambler, Woolfson’s third musical also premiered in Germany in 1996 and had a first run of over 500 performances. Gambler has had six productions in Korea, two of which also toured Japan in 2002 and 2005 (the first time a Korean language production had been staged in this way). A fourth musical POE, based on the life of the author
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
, was given a world premiere concert production at Abbey Road studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
, London in 2003. An album was released in 2003 as POE More Tales of Mystery and Imagination and a musical album CD 'Edgar Allan Poe' and DVD of the POE Abbey Road concert were released in 2009. DVD.
Dancing with Shadows (inspired by the anti-war play Forest Fire by the Korean playwright Cham Bum-Suk and with a book by Ariel Dorfman
Ariel Dorfman
Vladimiro Ariel Dorfman is an Argentine-Chilean novelist, playwright, essayist, academic, and human rights activist. A citizen of the United States since 2004, he has been a professor of literature and Latin American Studies at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina since 1985.-Personal...
) was premiered in July 2007 in Korea.
Personal life and death
Woolfson was married to Hazel from 1969 until his death from kidney cancerKidney cancer
Kidney cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the cells in the kidney.The two most common types of kidney cancer are renal cell carcinoma and urothelial cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis...
in London in the early hours of 2 December 2009. He is survived by both his daughters.
As solo artist
- 1971 San Tokay b/w Sunflower (as ERIC ELDER) UK and US Philips (arranged and produced by 10cc)
- 1990 FreudianaFreudianaFreudiana is a rock opera, originally intended to be the 11th album by The Alan Parsons Project, but by release time was the first album credited to Eric Woolfson as a solo artist, marking his final project with former collaborator Alan Parsons, who is credited as producer. After recording the...
(with The Alan Parsons Project lineup) - 1991 Black Freudiana (Austrian Original Cast Musical Soundtrack)
- 1996 Gaudi (Musical)
- 1997 GamblerGambler (Eric Woolfson album)Gambler was a musical staged in Germany written by Eric Woolfson. It features several of his most popular singles from his earlier writing with The Alan Parsons Project...
(Das Geheimnis Der Karten) - 2000 "FreudianaFreudianaFreudiana is a rock opera, originally intended to be the 11th album by The Alan Parsons Project, but by release time was the first album credited to Eric Woolfson as a solo artist, marking his final project with former collaborator Alan Parsons, who is credited as producer. After recording the...
" - 2003 Poe: More Tales of Mystery and ImaginationPoe: More Tales of Mystery and ImaginationPoe: More Tales of Mystery and Imagination is an album by Eric Woolfson.-Track listing:# Angel Of The Odd# Wings Of Eagles# Train To Freedom# Somewhere In The Audience# The Bell# The Pit and the Pendulum: Part I...
- 2005 Gambler
- 2007 Dancing Shadows
- 2009 The Alan Parsons Project That Never WasThe Alan Parsons Project That Never WasEric Woolfson sings The Alan Parsons Project That Never Was is an album by the progressive rock musician Eric Woolfson, co-creator with Alan Parsons of The Alan Parsons Project, as well as main songwriter and manager of the band. Released in 2009, this was Woolfson's final album before he died of...
- 2009 "Edgar Allan Poe: A Musical"
As part of The Alan Parsons Project
- 1976 Tales of Mystery and ImaginationTales of Mystery and ImaginationTales of Mystery and Imagination is the debut album by the progressive rock group The Alan Parsons Project, released in 1976. The album's avant-garde soundscapes kept it from being a blockbuster, but the interesting lyrical and musical themes — retellings of horror stories and poetry by...
- 1977 I Robot
- 1978 PyramidPyramidA pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
- 1979 EveEveEve is the first woman created by God in the Book of Genesis.Eve may also refer to:-People:*Eve , a common given name and surname*Eve , American recording artist and actress-Places:...
- 1980 The Turn of a Friendly CardThe Turn of a Friendly CardThe Turn of a Friendly Card is a progressive rock album by The Alan Parsons Project, released in 1980. The album focuses on gambling, and loosely tells the tale of a middle-aged man who grows restless and takes a chance by going to a casino and betting all he has, only to lose it all...
- 1982 Eye in the Sky
- 1984 Ammonia AvenueAmmonia AvenueAmmonia Avenue is one of the most commercially successful albums of The Alan Parsons Project.It was the second of the group's three most accessible albums, beginning with Eye in the Sky and ending with Vulture Culture...
- 1985 Vulture CultureVulture CultureVulture Culture is an album by The Alan Parsons Project.The first side of the LP consists entirely of four-minute pop songs, and the second side varies widely, from the subdued funk of the title track to the bouncing, desert-like "Hawkeye".At the beginning of 1985, the lead single "Let's Talk...
- 1986 StereotomyStereotomyStereotomy is the penultimate album by The Alan Parsons Project.Although generally considered better musically than its predecessor, Vulture Culture, it was not as successful commercially, perhaps due to much fewer vocals from Eric Woolfson...
- 1987 Gaudi