By Shawn Perry
Alan Parsons is of a rare breed in the world of music. Starting out in the control room of Abbey Road studios, Parsons was all of 19 when he was given the job to man the tape machines during the recording sessions for Beatles’ Let It Be and Abbey Road.
By the 70s, he had become a producer and engineer, working with Paul McCartney, Al Stewart and Pink Floyd. His reputation as a sonic architect grew. The only logical step was to write and record his own music. In that respect, The Alan Parsons Project became the perfect vehicle.
Over the course of 11 years, The Alan Parsons Project released 10 acclaimed studio albums. They never performed live, even after having several Top 20 hits in both the U.S. and U.K. When The Project, co-piloted with singer and songwriter Eric Woolfson, ended its run in 1990, Parsons took the music to the concert stage. In between live commitments, he continued to make records and collaborate with other artists.
During the following interview, the leading topic of conversation with Parsons, who has received 12 Grammy nominations for engineering and production, was the live set, Eye To Eye: Live In Madrid. Available on CD and DVD, this is the first officially released live recording of all those classic Alan Parsons Project hits, along with a couple of detours. Backed by a stellar touring band, Parsons himself plays guitar and sings lead vocals on three songs.
Even as a touring musician, Parsons is still passionate about working in the recording studio. He’s applied his expertise in a number of magazine columns, seminars, and a new film series called The Art And Science Of Sound Recording. In an age of digital portability and convenience, Parsons takes stock in both the human side and the equipment essential to the recording process. And really — who can argue with the guy who turned the knobs and rang the bells on The Dark Side Of The Moon?
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