Tony Cox is a British record producer and arranger. As such he was influential in late 1960s and 1970s folk rock developments and the fledgling progressive rock scene, and has since worked primarily as a composer and orchestrator.
Career
editHe entered the music business as a performer in 1966, and as a duo with Douglas MacRae-Brown released The Young Idea LP in 1967,[1] and had a UK top ten hit single with a cover version of the Lennon-McCartney song "With a Little Help from My Friends".[2] (The album was re-issued on CD in 2009 with previously unreleased tracks.) He continued performing in the studio with various acts he produced such as Trees[3] and Mick Softley.[4] He was an early adopter of the EMS VCS 3 synthesizer and in 1971 played on the Spirogyra album St. Radigunds,[5] and Mike Heron's album Smiling Men With Bad Reputations.[citation needed] In 1972 he played piano with The Bunch alongside Sandy Denny on vocals,[6] and in 1976 he played synth on Martin Carthy's Crown Of Horn LP.[7]
In 1974 he founded Sawmills Studios in Cornwall,[8] one of the first residential recording studios in the UK.[9]
In 1978 he married the singer-songwriter Lesley Duncan,[10] and produced her single "The Magic's Fine".[11] In 1979 produced and arranged the charity single "Sing Children Sing" for the International Year of the Child.[10] In 1982 he produced Duncan's cover version of Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' single.[10] In 1996 they moved to the Isle of Mull, Scotland.[12]
From 1988 to 1990 he worked for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group as music supervisor, overseeing various shows.[12]
Recently Cox has been composing 'Protomodal' music for instrumental ensemble, creating a uniquely distinctive sound by utilizing unusual modal scales and unorthodox harmonies, mixing rigid composition rules with John Cage like chance elements.[13]
Credits
editProducer
edit- Caravan
- Mick Softley (arranger)
- Tír na nÓg
- Magna Carta (arranger)
- Trees (arranger)
- Françoise Hardy (arranger)
- Mick Greenwood (arranger)
- Amory Kane
Arranger and orchestrator
edit- Family
- Yes
- Renaissance
- John and Beverley Martyn
References
edit- ^ The Young Idea LP, at Discogs.com Retrieved 5 November 2016.
- ^ The Young Idea, on officialcharts.com] Retrieved 5 November 2016.
- ^ Trees on Discogs.com Retrieved 6 November 2016.
- ^ Mick Softley on Discogs.com Retrieved 6 November 2016.
- ^ Spirogyra on Discogs.com Retrieved 6 November 2016.
- ^ The Bunch on Discogs.com Retrieved 6 November 2016.
- ^ Martin Carthy on Discogs.com Retrieved 6 November 2016.
- ^ The Great British Recording Studios, by Howard Massey
- ^ Sawmills studio 'about us' Sawmills.co.uk Retrieved 6 November 2016
- ^ a b c Interview with Lesley Duncan, at lesleyduncan.net Retrieved 6 November 2016
- ^ Lesley Duncan – The Magic's Fine on Discogs.com Retrieved 6 November
- ^ a b Tony Cox, FATTO* – a little about what I’ve done Retrieved 8 November 2017
- ^ Tony Cox on Protomodalism Retrieved 8 November 2017
- The Young Idea LP, at Discogs.com Retrieved 5 November 2016.
- The Young Idea, on officialcharts.com Retrieved 5 November 2016.
- Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music, by Rob Young. ISBN 0-571-23753-3
- The Young Idea CD liner notes by Stefan Granados
- The Great British Recording Studios, by Howard Massey. ISBN 1-4584-2197-X
- Mick Softley CD Retrieved 5 November 2016.
- credits on Allmusic.com Retrieved 5 November 2016.
External links
edit- Official website
- 'The Young Idea' singles on 45Cat
- Tony Cox on Discogs