Eric Woolfson
Eric Woolfson ( born March 18, 1945 in Glasgow, † December 2, 2009 in London) was a British musician and producer.
Life
Since he was still a child avid musician and composer and excellent piano skills acquired, he has worked with 18 as a session pianist. The producer of the Rolling Stones, Andrew Loog Oldham, gave him soon after working as a songwriter, and the first " Woolfsongs " he wrote for such artists as Marianne Faithfull and Chris Farlowe.
In the Abbey Road Studios in 1974, he met the rising young producer Alan Parsons, with whom he was on good terms and supplemented. Since both appreciated the Phantastica of Edgar Allan Poe, they decided to record a concept album based on Poe's stories. 1976, the pair wrote several short stories appropriately and recorded the album Tales of Mystery and Imagination with guest musicians. The group name The Alan Parsons Project was originally planned for this album only because it was so successful, followed by 1987 nine other productions (see APP discography ). By 2004, 45 million albums sold.
After the musical Freudiana (1990 ), whose rights the artistic director Brian Brolly, but the losses stayed with Parsons and Woolfson, the companions parted. Woolfson produced more musicals like Gambler ( 1996) and Gaudi (1992 ) on the basics of Project albums The Turn of a Friendly Card ( 1980) and Gaudi (1987 ), both directed by Elmar Ottenthal had its world premiere in Germany and several years remained in the program. On 28 August 2009, the last work for the stage by Woolfson Edgar Allan Poe had its world premiere in Halle ( Saale), where it is played until further notice.
In 2003, with singer Steve Balsamo Woolfson a sequel to the first Project LP. POE - More Tales Of Mystery And Imagination was performed in November of the same year once live at Abbey Road Studios.
His latest release Eric Woolfson sings The Alan Parsons Project That Never Was (2009) contains ten songs he had written for The Alan Parsons Project, and which were previously remained unpublished.
Woolfson died on 2 December 2009 at the age of 64 years to cancer.
Others
After Woolfsons own admission he was a founding member of the Social Democratic Party.