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ERIC WOOLFSON |
Biography |
Eric Woolfson was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1945. At the beginning of his career, Eric was primarily a song writer.
At the age of eighteen, he was signed as a writer by Andrew Loog Oldham, the legendary producer of the Rolling Stones.
While Eric Woolfson is best known as half of the duo that were The Alan Parsons Project, prior to 1975 he was a prolific writer, and his songs had been covered by many artists, including such names as: Marianne Faithful, Frank Ifield, Joe Dassin, The Tremeloes, Marmalade, Dave Berry, Peter Noone, and the US group Music Explosion. Eric's song "Baby Make It Soon", sung by Chris Farlowe, was Mick Jagger's first production and the French artist Marie's recording of his composition "Soleil" won the Antibes Song Festival in 1971 and reached number one in the French charts.
As a record producer, Eric's credits included artists such as The Equals, Freddy Garrity (of The Dreamers), The Tremeloes, Dave Berry, and Graham Gouldman of 10cc.
In the early seventies, Eric turned his hand to management and was instantly successful. His first two signings were Carl Douglas, (whose record "Kung Fu Fighting" was one of the biggest selling hits of all time) and engineer/record producer Alan Parsons.
Eric devised and formed The Alan Parsons Project and the collaboration with Alan became a creative as well as business one.
From 1976-1987, Eric has conceived and wrote all ten Alan Parsons Project albums, which have achieved world-wide sales in excess of forty million. In addition, Eric is the pianist on Alan Parsons Project albums and has sung on many of the hit singles including "Eye In The Sky" and "Time".
Over the years, the themes of Project albums were often inspired by great minds from Edgar Allan Poe, to the architect Antonio Gaudi. In 1990, Eric was inspired by Sigmund Freud, and what was supposed to have been the 11th album by The Alan Parsons Project, soon took on a whole new life.
The idea was to take "Freudiana" and make it into a stage production. Parsons and Woolfson, enlisted the help of Brian Brolly. Brolly had previously worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber, so it’s no surprise that when "Freudiana" debuted in Vienna, that the show was a world-class production.
The success of "Freudiana" encouraged Eric Woolfson to delve deeper into the world of musical theatre. Since then, Eric has successfully staged two more musicals: "Gaudi" and "Gambler".
Currently none of his shows are currently running, however Woolfson is believed to be in development of his next musical: Poe. Hopefully it will not be long before he has audiences rising to their feet again!
ERIC WOOLFSON
Selected Discography
| Eric Woolfson Musicals | |
|---|---|
| YEAR | ALBUM |
| 1991 | Freudiana (Austrian Cast) |
| 1995 | Gaudi (German Cast) |
| 1997 | Gambler (German Cast) |
| "Woolfsongs" Covered By Other Artists | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| YEAR | ARTIST | ALBUM | SONG |
| 1968 | Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds | Paint It Farlowe | Baby Make It Soon |
| 1979 | Pat Benatar | In the Heat of the Night | Don't Let It Show |
| 1982 | Fausto Papetti | My One and Only Love | Eye in the Sky |
| 1993 | La Gente De Rana | El #10 | Dime Donde Estas |
| 1993 | Pyramide Club | Where Do We Go (single) | Games People Play |
| 1993 | Up To Date | Don’t Answer Me (single) | Don’t Answer Me |
| 1994 | Original Sins | Acidbubblepunk | Sunshine Games |
| 1995 | The Music Explosion | Anthology | Sunshine Games |
| 1995 | Original Soundtrack | The Challenge [London Cast] | If I Ever See That Face Again |
| 1996 | Mark Hartman | World of Synthesizer | Old and Wise |
| 1996 | Elmer Gantry & the Velvet Opera | Very Best of Elmer Gantry | Talk of the Devil |
| 1997 | Mariel | Starry Eyes | Don't Answer Me |
| 1998 | Trance Atlantic Air Waves | Energy of Sound | Lucifer |
| 2000 | Symphonic Rock Project | Songs of Alan Parsons | 19 APP songs |
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