Haydn Bendall
Encyclopedia
Haydn Bendall is a British music record producer, engineer and mixer. He was Chief Engineer at Abbey Road Studios
for ten years and was awarded the Audio Pro Industry Excellence Award for Best Studio Engineer in 2009.
as a piano tuner. He joined Ken Townsend's Abbey Road team in 1973 as a part-time assistant, taking on a full-time position a year later.
Initially partnering with Tony Clarke
, Bendall worked on albums by Herbie Flowers
, Steve Harley
, Alan Parsons
, Cliff Richard
and Camel
, developing a close working relationship with Sky
. In the 1980-90s, he worked with Kate Bush
on five albums, including Hounds of Love
in 1985. Further Abbey Road work included engineering or producing for XTC
, Toyah
, Tina Turner
and Massive Attack
. Film soundtrack work included The Long Good Friday
and Ryuichi Sakamoto
's pieces on the Oscar- and Grammy-winning soundtrack to The Last Emperor.
Leaving Abbey Road in 1991, Bendall became an independent producer/engineer. As an independent, Bendall has worked with The Pet Shop Boys, Everything but the Girl
, Pat Metheny
, Chris Botti
, Leona Lewis
, The Priests
, Mike Batt
and Katie Melua
. In 1992, Bendall engineered the Grammy-award winning album Secret Story
for Pat Metheny
. He also worked with Eric Woolfson
on the development of three musicals: Gaudi, Gambler and Poe.
Recently Bendall mixed and engineered La Voce for Russell Watson
and Noël for The Priests
. Other projects include engineering and mixing the Vatican album Alma Mater
featuring the voice of Pope Benedict XVI
, recording orchestral tracks for Andrea Bocelli
and mixing tracks for Siphiwo Ntshebe
. He is currently based in Strongroom Studios, Shoreditch
, London and is working with Jelone, Katie Melua
, the London Bulgarian Choir
and Igor Grigorev.
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...
for ten years and was awarded the Audio Pro Industry Excellence Award for Best Studio Engineer in 2009.
Career
Bendall started out at Orange Studios, moving on to Steinway & SonsSteinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...
as a piano tuner. He joined Ken Townsend's Abbey Road team in 1973 as a part-time assistant, taking on a full-time position a year later.
Initially partnering with Tony Clarke
Tony Clarke (producer)
Tony Clarke was an English rock music record producer and guitarist. Born in Coventry, he is best known for producing The Moody Blues from 1966 to 1979.-Biography:...
, Bendall worked on albums by Herbie Flowers
Herbie Flowers
Herbie Flowers is an English musician specialising in bass guitar, double-bass and tuba. He is noted as a member of Blue Mink, T...
, Steve Harley
Steve Harley
Steve Harley is an English singer and songwriter, best known for his work with the 1970s rock group Cockney Rebel, with whom he still occasionally tours .-Biography:As a child, Harley suffered from polio, spending four years in hospital up to the...
, 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...
, Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
and Camel
Camel (band)
Camel are an English progressive rock band formed in 1971. An important group in the Canterbury scene, they have been releasing studio and live recordings steadily, with considerable success, since their formation.-1970s:...
, developing a close working relationship with Sky
Sky (band)
Sky was a British instrumental group that specialised in fusing a variety of musical styles including light rock, progressive rock, classical and jazz. The group's best known members were classical guitarist John Williams, bass player Herbie Flowers Sky was a British instrumental group that...
. In the 1980-90s, he worked with Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
on five albums, including Hounds of Love
Hounds of Love
Hounds of Love is a 1985 album by the British singer Kate Bush. It was Bush's fifth studio album, and her second no. 1. It has since been certified Double Platinum in the UK...
in 1985. Further Abbey Road work included engineering or producing for XTC
XTC
XTC were a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime" , but are perhaps even better known for their long-standing critical success.- Early years:...
, Toyah
Toyah
Toyah may refer to:*Toyah Willcox, a singer, actress, and TV presenter, often referred to by her first name only*Toyah , the pop group fronted by Toyah Willcox between 1977 and 1983*Toyah, Texas, a town in Texas, USA...
, Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
and Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
. Film soundtrack work included The Long Good Friday
The Long Good Friday
The Long Good Friday is a British gangster film starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. It was completed in 1979 but, because of release delays, it is generally credited as a 1980 film...
and Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto
After working as a session musician with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1977, the trio formed the internationally successful electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978. Known for their seminal influence on electronic music, the group helped pioneer electronic genres such as...
's pieces on the Oscar- and Grammy-winning soundtrack to The Last Emperor.
Leaving Abbey Road in 1991, Bendall became an independent producer/engineer. As an independent, Bendall has worked with The Pet Shop Boys, Everything but the Girl
Everything but the Girl
Everything but the Girl was a two-person English band, formed in Hull during 1981, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, and singer Ben Watt . They are currently inactive although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may reform someday...
, Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
, Chris Botti
Chris Botti
Christopher Stephen "Chris" Botti , is an American trumpeter and composer. In 2007, Botti was nominated for two Grammy Awards including Best Pop Instrumental Album. On December 4, 2009, he was nominated for three more Grammy Awards including Best Pop Instrumental Album and Best Long Form Music Video...
, Leona Lewis
Leona Lewis
Leona Louise Lewis is a British singer and songwriter. Lewis first came to prominence in 2006 when she won the third series of the British television series The X Factor....
, The Priests
The Priests
The Priests are a classical musical group made up of three Catholic priests all from Northern Ireland. Fr Eugene and his brother Fr Martin O'Hagan are originally from the village of Claudy, County Londonderry with the family now residing in Derry whilst Fr David Delargy is from Ballymena, County...
, Mike Batt
Mike Batt
Michael Philip "Mike" Batt is a British songwriter, musician, producer and Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry...
and Katie Melua
Katie Melua
Ketevan "Katie" Melua is a British-Georgian singer, songwriter and musician. She moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then to England at fourteen. Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of composer Mike Batt, and made her musical debut in 2003...
. In 1992, Bendall engineered the Grammy-award winning album Secret Story
Secret Story (album)
Secret Story is an album by Pat Metheny released in 1992. The music is all composed by Metheny and it is one of his most ambitious and successful studio ventures, integrating elements of rock, jazz, neo-folk and "world music"...
for Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
. He also worked with Eric Woolfson
Eric Woolfson
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....
on the development of three musicals: Gaudi, Gambler and Poe.
Recently Bendall mixed and engineered La Voce for Russell Watson
Russell Watson
Russell Watson is an English tenor who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop songs. The self-styled "People's Tenor" had been singing since he was a child, and became known after performing at a working men's club...
and Noël for The Priests
The Priests
The Priests are a classical musical group made up of three Catholic priests all from Northern Ireland. Fr Eugene and his brother Fr Martin O'Hagan are originally from the village of Claudy, County Londonderry with the family now residing in Derry whilst Fr David Delargy is from Ballymena, County...
. Other projects include engineering and mixing the Vatican album Alma Mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
featuring the voice of Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
, recording orchestral tracks for Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli, is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident....
and mixing tracks for Siphiwo Ntshebe
Siphiwo Ntshebe
Siphiwo Ntshebe was a South African tenor opera singer. Former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela personally selected Ntshebe to perform at the opening ceremony for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg. Ntshebe died of meningitis on 25 May 2010, days before he was due to perform at the...
. He is currently based in Strongroom Studios, Shoreditch
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney in England. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Etymology:...
, London and is working with Jelone, Katie Melua
Katie Melua
Ketevan "Katie" Melua is a British-Georgian singer, songwriter and musician. She moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then to England at fourteen. Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of composer Mike Batt, and made her musical debut in 2003...
, the London Bulgarian Choir
London Bulgarian Choir
The London Bulgarian Choir is a London-based amateur choir, specialising in Bulgarian folk music. Dessislava Stefanova has led the choir since its formation in 2000...
and Igor Grigorev.
Selected Discography
- 1979 Cliff Richard - Rock'n'Roll Juvenile
- 1981 Camel - Nude
- 1982 Sky - Sky 4: Forthcoming
- 1982 Alan Parsons - Eye in the Sky
- 1982 Kate Bush - Dreaming
- 1985 Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
- 1985 Alan Parsons - Vulture Culture
- 1986 Everything But the Girl - Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
- 1986 Paul McCartney - Press to Play
- 1987 Ryuichi Sakamoto - Last Emperor – Grammy Award
- 1987 Marc Almond - Mother Fist and Her Five Daughters
- 1989 Kate Bush - Sensual World
- 1990 a-ha - East of the Sun, West of the Moon
- 1990 Kate Bush - This Woman's Work
- 1990 Gary Moore - Still Got the Blues
- 1990 Pet Shop Boys - Behaviour
- 1991 Camel - Dust and Dreams
- 1992 Pat Metheny - Secret Story – Grammy Award
- 2002 Everything But the Girl - Like the Deserts Miss the Rain
- 2003 Pet Shop Boys – PopArt
- 2004 Chris Botti - When I Fall in Love
- 2005 Chris Botti - To Love Again: The Duets
- 2005 Katie Melua - Piece by Piece
- 2007 Leona Lewis – Spirit
- 2008 Il Divo - Promise
- 2009 Andrea Bocelli - My Christmas
- 2010 Russell Watson – Il Voce
Selected Singles
- 1981 Elton John and Kiki Dee – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
- 1981 Olivia Newton-John - Physical
- 1986 Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush – Don’t Give Up
- 1986 Freddie Mercury – Time and In My Defense
- 1991 Tina Turner – Simply the Best
- 1991 Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy
Soundtracks
- Brazil (1985) – sound engineering
- The Last Emperor (1987) – co-production. The soundtrack received an Oscar for the best sound-recording and a Grammy award for the best album.
- Someone to Watch Over Me (1987) – sound engineering.
- Crusoe (1988) – sound engineering.
- Scandal (1989) – sound-engineering for the theme song ‘Nothing Has Been Proved’ with Dusty Springfield and Pet Shop Boys.
- Twin Peaks (1990) – sound engineering.
- Strike It Rich (1990) – sound engineering.
- White Squall (1996) – sound engineering.
- Victory (2009) – sound engineering.
- Touchback (2011) – sound engineering.