Gus Dudgeon is rated as one of the greatest British producers of all time; his work can be found in millions of homes across the world.
Starting out as an engineer, he got to produce the Zombies’ classic She’s Not There in 1964 when the allotted producer popped out for refreshments. There followed an eclectic ride through the 60s as a fully-fledged producer working with acts as diverse as John Mayall and Eric Clapton’s Blues Breakers, the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Ralph McTell (he persuaded Ralph to record the original Streets Of London when it wasn’t included in a forthcoming session), David Bowie’s first hit Space Oddity, prog rockers Audience and psychedelic act The Locomotive.
His big break was being chosen to produce new act Elton John for DJM Records. The singer had recorded before as Bluesology but took a new singer/songwriter direction with his writing partner Bernie Taupin. Their first singles for Philips failed to chart and their Debut DJM LP did not garner much interest, so Gus was brought in with his production team, including brilliant arranger Paul Buckmaster. That transformed the Elton John sound and, starting with Your Song in January 1971, began a string of hits and acclaimed albums that continue to this day. Gus became such an integral part of the creative recording process that Elton considered him to be one of the band.
In those momentous 70s, Kiki Dee also scored big spin-off hits and Gus worked wonders for acts such as Joan Armatrading, Lindisfarne, Chris Rea, as well as an intriguing oneoff hit for Voyager and new wave group XTC. The lesser-known tracks are just as worthy, such as Love You Too by Paul Buckmaster’s group Sounds Nice with influential keyboard player Tim Mycroft, and the amazing Boredom by Tea & Symphony, which predated the Buzzcocks’ song of the same name by a decade. It is also only the second time John Lennon has appeared on an Ace Records release.
Gus’s manager and Right Recordings Director, John Kaufman, first had the idea to release a ‘greatest hits’ album as a surprise for Gus’s Sixtieth Birthday in 2002. Later, Gus got involved, helping to compile a list of his most iconic tracks. Tragically, Gus and his wife Sheila died in a car crash that year, and the project was shelved. Recently John re-connected with Gus’s brother Murray, who told him he was the newly installed chairman of the Gus Dudgeon Foundation. This CD album has been compiled with the full approval of Murray and the foundation and a percentage of the sales proceeds will be donated to the charity. The foundation works to preserve and promote music production techniques, giving students from all walks of life the opportunity to learn and pass on these skills to future generations.
The 40-page CD booklet contains an 8,000-word essay by respected journalist Richie Unterberger. Elton John has contributed to the sleeve notes, and there are four pages crammed with photos, and additional tributes from John Reid, Davy Johnson, Nigel Olson, Ray Cooper, Legs Larry Smith, Ray Laidlaw etc.
