Gus Dudgeon
| Gus Dudgeon | |
|---|---|
| Born |
30 September 1942 Woking, Surrey, England |
| Died |
21 July 2002 (aged 59) M4 motorway, Berkshire, England |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer |
| Years active | 1962–2002 |
| Labels | Decca, The Rocket Record Company |
Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, most notable for production of many of Elton John's recordings.
Early career
Gus Dudgeon was born in Woking, Surrey, England. He began work at Decca's studio in West Hampstead, London as a tea boy, and eventually was promoted to the position of sound engineer. In this capacity, he worked with The Artwoods, Bruce Channel, Davy Graham and Shirley Collins. Early pop successes included The Zombies' single "She's Not There" (1964) and John Mayall's album Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966). He helped in the auditions for Tom Jones and The Rolling Stones. Finally he became a co-producer on Ten Years After's debut album in 1967. Around this time he also produced the Bonzo Dog Band albums The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse and Tadpoles.
Dudgeon produced Michael Chapman's first three albums, Rainmaker 1969, Fully Qualified Survivor 1970, and Wrecked Again 1971. Each of these albums features string arrangements by Paul Buckmaster. Dudgeon produced two highly successful albums for Elkie Brooks: Pearls and Pearls II. He also produced David Bowie's 1969 hit single, "Space Oddity".
Elton John years
Dudgeon left Decca and founded his own company. In 1970, Dudgeon began working with Elton John. The first song which they worked together on was "Your Song", on which Dudgeon elaborated on the simple piano tune and added an orchestral arrangement by Paul Buckmaster. The song reached the US Top 10, becoming John's first substantial hit. Dudgeon continued to work with John on his next few albums. Dudgeon was sometimes critical of John's work; for instance, in Elizabeth Rosenthal's book His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John, Dudgeon called the 1974 Caribou album "a piece of crap ... the sound is the worst, the songs are nowhere, the sleeve came out wrong, the lyrics weren't that good, the singing wasn't all there, the playing wasn't great and the production is just plain lousy".[1]
Dudgeon and John, along with Bernie Taupin and Steve Brown, founded The Rocket Record Company in 1973. In 1995 Dudgeon remastered much of Elton's catalogue. Gus was also responsible for the mixing of the 80-plus member Melbourne Symphony Orchestra which toured Australia with Elton John in late 1986. A recording of the final show of the tour was released as the album Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Other work
In 1972 he produced Whatever's for Us, the debut album of Joan Armatrading, written by Armatrading and her then collaborator Pam Nestor. He also produced two singles for the duo, "Lonely Lady" and "Together in Words And Music", (Cube Records, 7" single, BUG-31) and both tracks were later added to the re-mastered CD issue of the Whatever's For Us album in 2001.[2]
In 1975 he produced Kiki Dee and the Kiki Dee Band's version of "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am", a song popularised by Nancy Wilson in 1964.
Dudgeon and John parted company, although they re-united in the 1980s to produce three more albums together. Dudgeon worked with a variety of other acts, including Audience, Chris Rea, Ralph McTell, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Lindisfarne, Joan Armatrading, Elkie Brooks, Fairport Convention, Sam Gopal Dream, The Sinceros, The Beach Boys, Mary Wilson, Solution, Voyager (band) and Steeleye Span. In the 1980s he built Sol Studios.
After his temporary reunion with Elton John, Dudgeon started working with alternative bands such as XTC, Menswear, and The Frank and Walters. He managed a band called Slinki Malinki. In 1989 Gus Dudgeon produced the debut solo-album by Thomas Anders (ex-Modern Talking). The Guinness Book of Records recognised him as the first person to use sampling. His production of John Kongos' hit "He's Gonna Step on You Again" (1971) used a tape loop of African tribal drumming. Dudgeon was also a founder of the Music Producers Guild.
Joan Armatrading dedicated her 2003 album Lovers Speak to Gus Dudgeon and his wife Sheila.
Death
On 21 July 2002 Dudgeon and his wife, Sheila, died when the car he was driving veered off the M4 between Reading and Maidenhead.[3] The inquest recorded a verdict of accidental death.[4] Elton John's 2004 album Peachtree Road was dedicated to the memory of Gus and Sheila Dudgeon.
References
- ↑ Rosenthal, Elizabeth J. (2001). His song : the musical journey of Elton John (1. publ. ed.). New York: Billboard Books. ISBN 978-0-8230-8893-5.
- ↑ Mayes, Sean (1990). Joan Armatrading – A Biography (unauthorised). Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-81058-8.
- ↑ "Record producer dies in crash". BBC. 22 July 2002. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
- ↑ "Elton pal drowned in ditch". The Sun (London: News International). Retrieved 17 January 2012.
External links
- Gus Dudgeon Foundation Website (archived 2014)
- Gus Dudgeon at AllMusic
- Gus Dudgeon discography at Discogs
- Gus Dudgeon at the Internet Movie Database
- Interview with Gus Dudgeon in 2001
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