- Denis Preston
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Denis Preston Birth name Sydney Denis Preston Born 1919 Origin London, England Died 1979 (aged 59–60) Genres Jazz Occupations Record producer, critic Instruments Recording studio Labels Lansdowne Records Sydney Denis Preston[1] (1916–1979) was a British record producer and music critic.[1] He has been described as "Europe's first independent record producer".[2]
Biography
Preston worked independently;[2] he was not contracted to a particular record label and would often risk cutting a record before pitching for a deal.[3]
In the early 1950s, Preston founded Record Supervision Ltd, a production company that licensed recordings to major labels.[4] The following year, he accepted a licensing deal with Pye Records and produced records for Chris Barber, Acker Bilk, Alex Welsh, Sandy Brown and Al Fairweather, Terry Lightfoot, and Kenny Baker.[4][5] He also produced some of Lonnie Donegan's early skiffle recordings.[4]
In 1956, he established Lansdowne Studios (and associated label Lansdowne Records) in west London.[6][7] The same year he produced Humphrey Lyttleton's 1956 record "Bad Penny Blues" with the recording engineer Joe Meek.[4] When Meek left Lansdowne in 1960, he took inspiration from Preston's independent approach and expanded on this by also producing in his own recording studio.[8]
During the early, Preston worked with EMI on their Columbia label. Preston's production branched out from traditional jazz into folk, modern jazz and guitar-based genres (working with artists such as Jack Elliot, Roger Whittaker, Joe Harriott and Stan Tracey) as well as African and Indian-inspired artists (Amancio D'Silva and Kofi Ghanaba).[4][9]
Preston died in 1979. His Sunday Times obituary described him as "probably the most important figure to emerge from the British jazz business".[4] He was the cousin of the historian (and jazz critic) Eric Hobsbawm.[10]
References
- ^ a b "Denis Preston". Oxford Biography Index. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101075566/. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
- ^ a b Reetze, Jan. "RGM Sound Ltd.". Joe Meek - A Portrait. The Joe Meek Page. http://www.joemeekpage.info/essay_02_E.htm. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
- ^ "BIOGRAPHY - Later recording". amanciodsilva.com. http://www.amanciodsilva.com/html/later_recording.html. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f Adams, Paul. "Denis Preston and the Record Supervision story". SINGSONGPR NEWS. Sing Song Entertainment Publicity. http://www.singsongpr.biz/news/lake3.htm. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
- ^ "Production Discography". Denis Preston. Discogs. http://www.discogs.com/artist/Denis+Preston. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
- ^ "Pye Launches Spoken Albums". Billboard Magazine: p. 3. 1 May 1961. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_iAEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
- ^ "Biography". elainedelmar.com. http://www.elainedelmar.com/biography.htm. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
- ^ Leigh, Spencer Leigh (2 June 2005). "Preview: Telstar - The Joe Meek Story, New Ambassadors Theatre, London". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/preview-telstar--the-joe-meek-story-new-ambassadors-theatre-london-492791.html. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
- ^ "Kofi Ghanaba: Ghanaian drummer and bandleader". The Times. 13 February 2009. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5727535.ece. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
- ^ Eric Hobsbawm "Diary", London Review of Books, 32:10, 27 May 2010, p41
Categories:- 1916 births
- 1979 deaths
- British record producers
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