Tony Cox (record producer)

Last updated

Tony Cox is a British record producer and arranger. As such he was influential in late 1960s and 1970s folk rock developments and the fledgling progressive rock scene, and has since worked primarily as a composer and orchestrator.

Contents

Career

He entered the music business as a performer in 1966, and as a duo with Douglas MacRae-Brown released The Young Idea LP in 1967, [1] and had a UK top ten hit single with a cover version of the Lennon-McCartney song "With a Little Help from My Friends". [2] (The album was re-issued on CD in 2009 with previously unreleased tracks.) He continued performing in the studio with various acts he produced such as Trees [3] and Mick Softley. [4] He was an early adopter of the EMS VCS 3 synthesizer and in 1971 played on the Spirogyra album St. Radigunds, [5] and Mike Heron's album Smiling Men With Bad Reputations.[ citation needed ] In 1972 he played piano with The Bunch alongside Sandy Denny on vocals, [6] and in 1976 he played synth on Martin Carthy's Crown Of Horn LP. [7]

In 1974 he founded Sawmills Studios in Cornwall, [8] one of the first residential recording studios in the UK. [9]

In 1978 he married the singer-songwriter Lesley Duncan, [10] and produced her single "The Magic's Fine". [11] In 1979 produced and arranged the charity single "Sing Children Sing" for the International Year of the Child. [10] In 1982 he produced Duncan's cover version of Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' single. [10] In 1996 they moved to the Isle of Mull, Scotland. [12]

From 1988 to 1990 he worked for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group as music supervisor, overseeing various shows. [12]

Recently Cox has been composing 'Protomodal' music for instrumental ensemble, creating a uniquely distinctive sound by utilizing unusual modal scales and unorthodox harmonies, mixing rigid composition rules with John Cage like chance elements. [13]

Credits

Producer

Arranger and orchestrator

Related Research Articles

<i>Elton John</i> (album) 1970 studio album by Elton John

Elton John is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John. It was released on 10 April 1970 through DJM Records. Including John's breakthrough single "Your Song", the album helped establish his career during the rise of the singer-songwriter era of popular music.

Lesley Cox was an English singer-songwriter, best known for her work during the 1970s. She received much airplay on British radio stations such as BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, but never achieved greater commercial success, in part because of her unwillingness to chase stardom, as well as crippling stage fright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Harley</span> English singer and songwriter (born 1951)

Steve Harley is an English singer and songwriter, best known as frontman of the rock group Cockney Rebel, with whom he still tours, albeit with frequent and significant personnel changes.

<i>Barabajagal</i> 1969 studio album by Donovan

Barabajagal is the seventh studio album and eighth album overall from British singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released by Epic Records in the United States on 11 August 1969, but was not released in the United Kingdom because of a continuing contractual dispute that also prevented Sunshine Superman, Mellow Yellow, and The Hurdy Gurdy Man from being released in the UK.

<i>Changesonebowie</i> 1976 compilation album by David Bowie

Changesonebowie is a compilation album by English musician David Bowie, issued through RCA Records in 1976. It collected songs from the 1969–1976 period, including the first LP appearance of "John, I'm Only Dancing". A "sax version" of this song, cut during the Aladdin Sane sessions in 1973, appeared on the first 1000 copies of the UK pressing. Later pressings of Changesonebowie featured the original version of the single that had been recorded and released in 1972. All US pressings of the LP contain this original version as well.

<i>Vive Le Rock</i> 1985 studio album by Adam Ant

Vive Le Rock is the third solo album by Adam Ant, released in September 1985, which contained two versions of Ant's 1984 song "Apollo 9".

Michael Softley was an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. A figurehead during the British folk scene, Softley set up his own folk club, released three albums and worked with performers such as Mac MacLeod, Donovan, and Maddy Prior. Donovan covered two of Softley's songs in 1965. Dave Berry also covered two of Softley's songs in 1966.

<i>The Deviants 3</i> 1969 studio album by The Deviants

The Deviants 3 is the third and final album by the UK underground group the Deviants, released in 1969.

<i>The Best Years of Our Lives</i> (Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel album) 1975 studio album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel

The Best Years of Our Lives is the third studio album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released by EMI in 1975. It was the first album to feature Harley's name ahead of the band's. The album was produced by Harley and Alan Parsons, and contains the band's only UK number one, the million-selling "Make Me Smile ".

<i>Bare Wires</i> 1968 album by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers

Bare Wires is a studio album by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, featuring Mick Taylor on guitar, Chris Mercer and Dick Heckstall-Smith on saxophones, Jon Hiseman on drums, Henry Lowther on cornet and violin, and Tony Reeves on bass. It was released in 1968 on Decca Records. The album was the last John Mayall studio album to feature the name "Bluesbreakers". The album was also Mayall's first successful U.S. album reaching #59 on the Billboard 200.

Any Mother Doesn't Grumble is an LP released in 1972 by Mick Softley, produced by Tony Cox under the CBS record label in the UK and the Netherlands, and the Epic record label in Japan. It was reissued on CD by Cherry Red Records in November 2016. The cover art work is by Ian Beck.

<i>Thank God for Girls</i> (album) 1978 studio album by Benny Mardones

Thank God for Girls is the 1978 debut studio album from American singer Benny Mardones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black or White (Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel song)</span> 1975 single by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel

"Black or White" is a song by British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released in 1975 as the lead single from their fourth studio album Timeless Flight (1976). The song was written and produced by Harley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Someone's Coming</span> 1979 song by Steve Harley

"Someone's Coming" is a song by English singer-songwriter Steve Harley, released in 1979 as the second and final single from his 1978 debut solo studio album, Hobo with a Grin. The sonsg was written by Harley and Jo Partridge, and was produced by Harley.

<i>We Can Do It</i> (album) 1975 studio album by The Rubettes

We Can Do It is the second studio album by the English pop band The Rubettes, released on the State Records label in March 1975. The album reached no 41 in the UK charts and contained two UK top 10 hits – "I Can Do It" and "Juke Box Jive".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">98.6 (song)</span> 1966 song by Keith

"98.6" is a song written by Tony Powers (lyrics) and George Fischoff (music) and recorded by Keith. It reached No. 7 on the Billboard chart and No. 24 on the UK Singles Chart in 1967 and appeared on his 1967 album 98.6/Ain't Gonna Lie. The Tokens, who had provided the backing vocals on Keith's debut single, "Ain't Gonna Lie", did the same for "98.6".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whatever You Believe</span> 1988 single by Anderson, Harley & Batt (AH&B)

"Whatever You Believe" is a song by the British singer-songwriter Mike Batt, which was originally recorded and released as a collaboration charity single featuring Batt with Jon Anderson of Yes and Steve Harley of Cockney Rebel. Released in 1988, the single tied-in with that year's ITV Telethon. The song was written and produced by Batt.

<i>Rubettes</i> (album) 1975 studio album by The Rubettes

Rubettes is the third studio album by the English pop band The Rubettes, released on the State Records label in November 1975, their third studio album release within 12 months. It was the last Rubettes album produced by Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington.The album contained two UK top 40 hits - Foe Dee O Dee and Little Darling.
In 1992, Dice Records (France) released the Rubettes' third and fourth albums as a double CD set. In 2015, Caroline Records released the album Rubettes, with three bonus tracks, as part of a box CD set of the Rubettes' first five studio albums.

<i>Baby I Know</i> 1977 studio album by The Rubettes

Baby I Know is the fifth studio album by the English band The Rubettes. It was released on the State Records label in April 1977.

<i>Sincerely</i> (Cliff Richard album) 1969 studio album by Cliff Richard

Sincerely was the 14th studio album by Cliff Richard, released in 1969. It is his 26th album overall.

References

  1. ↑ The Young Idea LP, at Discogs.com Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  2. ↑ The Young Idea, on officialcharts.com] Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  3. ↑ Trees on Discogs.com Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  4. ↑ Mick Softley on Discogs.com Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  5. ↑ Spirogyra on Discogs.com Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  6. ↑ The Bunch on Discogs.com Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  7. ↑ Martin Carthy on Discogs.com Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  8. ↑ The Great British Recording Studios, by Howard Massey
  9. ↑ Sawmills studio 'about us' Sawmills.co.uk Retrieved 6 November 2016
  10. 1 2 3 Interview with Lesley Duncan, at lesleyduncan.net Retrieved 6 November 2016
  11. ↑ Lesley Duncan – The Magic's Fine on Discogs.com Retrieved 6 November
  12. 1 2 Tony Cox, FATTO* – a little about what I’ve done Retrieved 8 November 2017
  13. ↑ Tony Cox on Protomodalism Retrieved 8 November 2017
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.