Eric Woolfson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eric Woolfson
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Eric Norman Woolfson |
| Born | 18 March 1945 Charing Cross, Glasgow, Scotland |
| Origin | Pollokshields, Glasgow, Scotland |
| Died | 2 December 2009 (aged 64) London, England |
| Genres | Progressive rock, soft rock, pop rock, musical theatre |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Piano, keyboards, vocals |
| Years active | 1960s–2009 |
Eric Norman Woolfson (born March 18, 1945 – died December 2, 2009) was a talented Scottish musician. He was a songwriter, singer, pianist, and producer. He is best known as the co-creator of the famous band the Alan Parsons Project. This band sold over 50 million albums around the world. Eric Woolfson also had a successful career creating musical plays for the stage.
Contents
Early Life and Music Beginnings
Eric Woolfson was born in Charing Cross, a part of Glasgow, Scotland. His family owned a furniture store there. He grew up in the Pollokshields area of the city. He went to the High School of Glasgow. Eric became interested in music because of his uncle. He taught himself how to play the piano.
After school, he briefly tried working as an accountant. But his real passion was music. So, he moved to London to find opportunities in the music industry.
Starting His Music Career
Eric arrived in London in 1963. He started working as a session pianist. This means he played piano for recordings by other artists. Soon, Andrew Loog Oldham, who produced records for the Rolling Stones, signed him as a songwriter.
Over the next few years, Eric Woolfson wrote songs for many artists. These included Marianne Faithfull, Frank Ifield, and the Tremeloes. His songs became popular in Europe and America. He also worked with other famous composers like Andrew Lloyd Webber.
In the early 1970s, Eric also produced records for different companies. He worked with bands like the Equals. Even with his success, it was hard to make a steady living just from songwriting. So, he decided to try managing other artists. This new path was very successful right away. His first two artists were Carl Douglas, who had a huge hit with "Kung Fu Fighting", and a record producer named Alan Parsons.
The Alan Parsons Project
In 1974, Eric Woolfson met Alan Parsons at Abbey Road Studios in London. They were both working on different music projects. Alan asked Eric to be his manager. They worked together with several bands, including Pilot and the Hollies.
Later, Eric and Alan decided to form their own band. They called it the Alan Parsons Project. This name was first just a temporary idea. From 1976 to 1987, Eric and Alan worked together on ten albums. Eric wrote the ideas and lyrics for all of them. The Alan Parsons Project sold over 50 million albums worldwide.
For every Project album, Eric Woolfson would sing a rough version of each song. This helped the main singers know how to sing the songs. You can hear some of these early recordings on newer versions of the albums. Eric himself sang on many of the Project's biggest hits. These include "Time", "Don't Answer Me", "Prime Time", and their most famous song, "Eye in the Sky". "Eye in the Sky" reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1982.
Solo Work and Musicals
Eric Woolfson had an idea for an 11th album for the Alan Parsons Project. It was called Freudiana. But Eric wanted to turn it into a musical play instead. He met Brian Brolly, who had worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber on musicals like Cats. With Brian's help, Eric turned Freudiana into a stage musical.
The Freudiana musical opened in Vienna in 1990. A studio album was released before the show. The musical was very popular. There were plans to open it in other cities. However, a disagreement between Eric and Brian stopped these plans.
Eric explained why he switched to musicals in an interview in 2004:
I eventually developed The Alan Parsons Project as a vehicle but then I realised that there was more to it than that and that Andrew Lloyd Webber was right and that the stage musical was a fulfilling media for a writer like myself. I got into stage musicals in the mid-1980s.
His first three musicals were Freudiana (1990), about Sigmund Freud; Gaudi (1993), about the architect Antonio Gaudi; and Gambler (1996). He also created a musical called Edgar Allan POE. It was based on the life of the famous writer Edgar Allan Poe. A concert version of this musical was performed in London in 2003. Albums and a DVD of the concert were released in 2003 and 2009.
Another musical, Dancing with Shadows, opened in Korea in 2007. It was inspired by a play from a Korean writer.
Personal Life
Eric Woolfson married his wife Hazel in 1969. They had two daughters and four grandchildren. In politics, he supported the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 1980s. He was a friend of the party's leader, David Owen.
Death
Eric Woolfson passed away from kidney cancer in London on December 2, 2009. He was 64 years old. He was survived by his wife, his daughters Sally and Lorna, and his four grandchildren. He is buried in Cathcart Cemetery near Glasgow.
Discography
As solo artist
- 1971 San Tokay b/w Sunflower (as ERIC ELDER) UK and US Philips (arranged and produced by 10cc)
- 1990 Freudiana (with The Alan Parsons Project line-up)
- 1991 Black Freudiana – Deutsche Originalaufnahme (Austrian Original Cast Musical Soundtrack)
- 1995 Gaudi (Musical)
- 1997 Gambler (Das Geheimnis der Karten)
- 2003 Poe: More Tales of Mystery and Imagination
- 2007 Dancing Shadows
- 2009 The Alan Parsons Project That Never Was
- 2009 Edgar Allan Poe: A Musical
- 2013 Somewhere in the Audience, released on 18 March 2013, the anniversary of Woolfson's birthday
As part of The Alan Parsons Project
- 1976 Tales of Mystery and Imagination
- 1977 I Robot
- 1978 Pyramid
- 1979 Eve
- 1980 The Turn of a Friendly Card
- 1982 Eye in the Sky
- 1983 Ammonia Avenue
- 1984 Vulture Culture
- 1985 Stereotomy
- 1987 Gaudi
- 2014 The Sicilian Defence (recorded 1979)
See also
In Spanish: Eric Woolfson para niños
