Tony Clarke (producer)
Encyclopedia
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.
in skiffle
bands in the middle and late 1950s, and continued playing in rock bands into the early 1960s. Alongside this, he found work as a session musician
for Decca Records
, and in 1963 he was hired by the label
as a promoter. In 1964 he transferred to the production department, working under Dick Rowe
.
Most of his early work was spent on clerical and discographical
tasks, though he also worked as a songwriter
; his tune "Our Song" was recorded by Malcolm Roberts
(who had a hit with it in South America
) and Jack Jones
. He produced his first single with Pinkerton's Assorted Colours
; that song, "Mirror, Mirror", became a #8 hit on the UK Singles Chart
. He wrote "The Guy Who Made Her A Star" for the Equals, featured on the b-side of the band's 1968 hit single
, "Laurel And Hardy".
He was assigned to work with the Moody Blues starting in 1966, when the group was fading after its first major hit, "Go Now
". He worked with them on the single "Fly Me High", and following this was put in charge of a project to create a rock version, with the Moody Blues, of Antonin Dvorak
's New World Symphony. After this idea was shelved, he produced what became their 1967 symphonic rock
album Days of Future Passed
. Like the members of the Moody Blues themselves, Clarke had received no formal training in classical music
as a youngster. He worked with them closely over the course of their next six albums, helping them develop a complex sound which, among other things, involved copious use of the mellotron
(and earning the nickname "the Sixth Moody" from fans). When the Moody Blues set up their own label, Threshold Records
, Clarke attempted to have them sign King Crimson
, though the deal never came to fruition.
Aside from the Moody Blues, Clarke also worked with Providence
and on the album Blue Jays
, by Moody Blues members Justin Hayward
and John Lodge. He produced The Four Tops for a UK
only release in 1972, which used several songs written by the Moody Blues.
After the Moody Blues went on hiatus in the middle of the 1970s, he worked to have them reunite, and produced their 1978 comeback album, Octave
; however, he elected not to continue working with them after this album. Subsequently he produced for Clannad
, Rick Wakeman
, and Nicky Hopkins
, among others. He talked extensively about his career in Nick Awde's 2008 study Mellotron
, subtitled The Machine and the Musicians That Revolutionised Rock.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
. Born in Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, he is best known for producing The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....
from 1966 to 1979.
Biography
Clarke played bass guitarBass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
in skiffle
Skiffle
Skiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was mainly...
bands in the middle and late 1950s, and continued playing in rock bands into the early 1960s. Alongside this, he found work as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
for Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
, and in 1963 he was hired by the label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
as a promoter. In 1964 he transferred to the production department, working under Dick Rowe
Dick Rowe
Richard Paul Rowe was an A&R man at Decca Records from the 1950s to the 1960s.He was one of the most important producers and record executives in the United Kingdom in the 1950s and early 1960s and is the man who signed The Rolling Stones, Them , The Moody Blues, The Animals, The Zombies, John...
.
Most of his early work was spent on clerical and discographical
Discography
Discography is the study and listing of the details concerning sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified musical genres...
tasks, though he also worked as a songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
; his tune "Our Song" was recorded by Malcolm Roberts
Malcolm Roberts
Malcolm Roberts was an English traditional pop music singer, who enjoyed three hit singles from 1967 to 1969 in the UK Singles Chart.-Career:...
(who had a hit with it in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
) and Jack Jones
Jack Jones (singer)
John Allan "Jack" Jones is an American jazz and pop singer. He was one of the most popular vocalists of the 1960s.-Overview:...
. He produced his first single with Pinkerton's Assorted Colours
Pinkerton's Assorted Colours
Pinkerton's Assorted Colours were a mid 1960s pop band from England.-Career:Formed in Rugby, Warwickshire as 'The Liberators', they became Pinkerton's Assorted Colours in 1965, and scored a Top 10 hit with their first single release, "Mirror, Mirror" written by Tony Newman. They were managed by...
; that song, "Mirror, Mirror", became a #8 hit on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. He wrote "The Guy Who Made Her A Star" for the Equals, featured on the b-side of the band's 1968 hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
, "Laurel And Hardy".
He was assigned to work with the Moody Blues starting in 1966, when the group was fading after its first major hit, "Go Now
Go Now (song)
"Go Now" is a 1964 song composed by Larry Banks and Milton Bennett. It was first recorded by Bessie Banks, and most successfully by The Moody Blues.-Bessie Banks:The song was first recorded by Larry Banks' former wife, Bessie Banks...
". He worked with them on the single "Fly Me High", and following this was put in charge of a project to create a rock version, with the Moody Blues, of Antonin Dvorak
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
's New World Symphony. After this idea was shelved, he produced what became their 1967 symphonic rock
Symphonic rock
Symphonic rock is a sub-genre of progressive rock. Since early in progressive rock's history, the term has been used sometimes to distinguish more classically influenced progressive rock from the more psychedelic and experimental forms of progressive rock....
album Days of Future Passed
Days of Future Passed
Days of Future Passed is the second album and first concept album by The Moody Blues, released in 1967. It was also their first album to feature Justin Hayward and John Lodge, who would play a very strong role in directing the band's sound in the decades to come...
. Like the members of the Moody Blues themselves, Clarke had received no formal training in classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
as a youngster. He worked with them closely over the course of their next six albums, helping them develop a complex sound which, among other things, involved copious use of the mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
(and earning the nickname "the Sixth Moody" from fans). When the Moody Blues set up their own label, Threshold Records
Threshold Records
Threshold Records was a record label created by The Moody Blues, after their 1969 album On the Threshold of a Dream.It was a UK subsidiary of Decca Records and a U.S. subsidiary of London Records...
, Clarke attempted to have them sign King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
, though the deal never came to fruition.
Aside from the Moody Blues, Clarke also worked with Providence
Providence (band)
Providence was a six-piece music group originally from Boise, Idaho, but later based out of Portland, Oregon, USA, circa 1971—1974. The band was made up of six members: Bob Barriatua, electric bass, vocals; Bart Bishop, lead vocals, piano, harpsichord, organ, autoharp; Jim Cockey, violin,...
and on the album Blue Jays
Blue Jays (album)
Blue Jays is a 1975 album by Justin Hayward & John Lodge. It was recorded and released during the Moody Blues' five-year hiatus.The track "Blue Guitar", originally released as a non-album single credited to Hayward & Lodge in September 1975 but performed by Hayward with the band 10cc, was added to...
, by Moody Blues members Justin Hayward
Justin Hayward
Justin Hayward is an English musician, best known as singer, songwriter and guitarist in the rock band The Moody Blues.Hayward was born in Dean Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, England...
and John Lodge. He produced The Four Tops for a UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
only release in 1972, which used several songs written by the Moody Blues.
After the Moody Blues went on hiatus in the middle of the 1970s, he worked to have them reunite, and produced their 1978 comeback album, Octave
Octave (album)
Octave is the ninth album by The Moody Blues, and their first release after a substantial hiatus following the success of the best-selling Seventh Sojourn in 1972. The album proved to be the last for the group with keyboardist Mike Pinder, who departed during the album's sessions, and declined an...
; however, he elected not to continue working with them after this album. Subsequently he produced for Clannad
Clannad
Clannad are an Irish musical group, from Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal. Their music has been variously described as bordering on folk and folk rock, Irish, Celtic and New Age, often incorporating elements of an even broader spectrum of smooth jazz and Gregorian chant...
, Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
, and Nicky Hopkins
Nicky Hopkins
Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins was an English pianist and organist.He recorded and performed on noted British and American popular music recordings of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a session musician....
, among others. He talked extensively about his career in Nick Awde's 2008 study Mellotron
Mellotron (book)
Written by writer and musician Nick Awde, - subtitled 'The Machine and the Musicians That Revolutionised Rock' is a series of discussions with influential British musicians who innovated popular music through the use of the Mellotron.-Symbol of social heritage:...
, subtitled The Machine and the Musicians That Revolutionised Rock.