Alan Parsons – from the rooftop of Savile Row to Pink Floyd, Steve Harley and some singing pigs

The teenage Alan Parsons was hired as a tape op by EMI and worked with the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Steve Harley, orchestras, comedians, Pinky And Perky and countless others in the control room at Abbey Road, and saw almost 60 years of technical revolution. He’s just finished a 50th anniversary box set of Harley’s the Best Years Of Our Lives and talks here from his Santa Monica home studio about …  

… the things you find buried in old recordings.

 … how AI will allow anyone to remix their favourite record. 

… the miraculous transformation of Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) from a vindictive dirge to a No 1 pop hit, its backing vocalists and its DJ-baffling false ending.

… cutting the tape with John Lennon to end I Want You (She’s So Heavy).

… seeing himself - ‘in an orange shirt and black knitted tie’ - in the Get Back movie 52 years later. ‘It proves I was there!’

… recording the clocks, footsteps and airport announcer for The Dark Side Of The Moon - ‘playing Abbey Road studios as an instrument’.

… recording He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother with Reg Dwight on piano.

… the magical ‘60s technology that made Pinky And Perky.

… opening the door at Savile Row and first seeing the Beatles and all their girlfriends.

… recording Pilot, the Hollies and the Joe Loss Orchestra.

… the story of Clare Torry and The Great Gig In The Sky. 

… Abbey Road recordings stored at a nearby squash court.

… working with David Gilmour on an Earls Court show from the 1990s.

… touring with the Alan Parsons Project (who never toured originally).

… why Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone is the greatest record of all time (clue: the hi-hat and bass figure).

Pre-order Steve Harley’s ‘The Best Years of Our Lives’ here:

https://SteveHarley.lnk.to/TBY

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