Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was involved with the production of several significant albums, including the Beatles' Abbey Road and Let It Be, and the art rock band Ambrosia's debut album Ambrosia as well as Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon for which Pink Floyd credit him as an important contributor.
Parsons' own group, the Alan Parsons Project, as well as his subsequent solo recordings, have also been successful commercially.
In October 1967, at the age of 18, Parsons went to work as an assistant engineer at Abbey Road Studios, where he earned his first credit on the LP Abbey Road. He became a regular there, engineering such projects as Paul McCartney's Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway, five albums by the Hollies, and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, for which he received his first Grammy Award nomination.
He was known for doing more than what would normally be considered the scope of a recording engineer's duties. He considered himself to be a recording director, likening his contribution to recordings to what Stanley Kubrick contributed to film. This is apparent in his work with Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat", where Parsons added the saxophone part and transformed the original folk concept into the jazz-influenced ballad that put Al Stewart onto the charts.
It is also heard in Parsons' influence on the Hollies' "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" and "The Air That I Breathe", sharp departures from their popular 1960s hits "Stay", "Just One Look", "Stop! Stop! Stop!" or "Bus Stop". Parsons was also known to have swapped shifts during the engineering of Dark Side of the Moon so he could work entirely on the project.
Stunning photograph of Morrissey by Mary McCartney taken at the Royal Festival Hall, London in 2004
Iconic image of David Gilmour playing his ‘The Black Strat’ with Pink Floyd live at The Rainbow Theatre, London on 4 November 1973.
Horace Silver performing at the Newport Jazz Festival, Rhode Island in July 1966
Syd Barrett captured in a candid moment at Abbey Road Studios whilst rehearsing for the recording of 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'
Sir Cliff Richard is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor & philanthropist, he has sold more than 250 million records worldwide.
With his distinctive raspy voice and profound lyricism, Rod Stewart is one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Liam Gallagher is best known as the charismatic, self-assured front man of Manchester Britpop band Oasis.
Sir Elton John is an English pianist, singer-songwriter, composer & pop icon who has sold millions of records and won countless awards.
The USA has given us many of the world's greatest music artists - we celebrate the best of the best
Curated collection of authentic, signed limited edition fine art prints by legendary rock music photographer, Mck Rock
The Rolling Stones have been entertaining audiences for more than 50 years. Our collections share the best images spanning their career
A fantastic curated collection of museum quality fine art prints by leading music photographer Barry Schultz
