Norman Newell

This article deals with the music producer Norman Newell, for the palaeontologist of the same name see Norman D. Newell

Norman Dennis Newell (born January 25, 1919 in Plaistow , London ; † December 1, 2004 in Angmering-on-Sea , East Sussex ) was one of the most important music producers in the British music industry and was largely responsible for his career in the light pop music sector by Shirley Bassey . He was also the lyricist of well-known songs that received awards.

childhood

Newell grew up with a sister in poor parental circumstances and dreamed of becoming an actor. In order to earn a living, he first worked for London Transport at the Upton Park bus depot. During the Second World War he befriended comedian Bill Waddington, who got him a job at the music publisher Cinephonic Music Company after the war . During this time Newell wrote the song Nice to Know You Care (1949) with pianist Lesley Baguley , released in January 1950 by Tommy Dorsey , later covered by the Five Dallas Boys (March 1961).

music producer

In early 1949 he was employed by EMI as a music producer for its sub-label Columbia Records . He was the first of the three later great music producers who helped EMI to fame. His first assignment was in June 1949 for Petula Clark to produce Put Your Shoes on, Lucy , which was also the first record for the 17-year-old singer. In total, the song was covered six times in 1949. He composed Our Love Story with William Harrison , the original of which is published by Bill Johnson in March 1949. With Mischa Spoliansky he wrote A Song of Capri , which was released in August 1949 by The Queen's Hall Light Orchestra under the direction of Sidney Torch. His first hit was the production of Les Trois Cloches for the French male choir Les Compagnons de la Chanson in December 1951.

In early 1950 he discovered the ballad singer Steve Conway, whose first song My Thanks to You came from Newell's pen and was released in April 1950. The girls' trio Beverley Sisters received a recording deal with Columbia in 1951 and were considered the highest paid group in England at the time. However, Newell failed to produce bigger hits for the girls. In 1954 the trio migrated to the British Decca. When in January 1953 the distribution agreement between the EMI label Columbia and the independent US label Columbia ended, Newell went with the US Columbia catalog to the Phillips label. Here he first worked with orchestra conductor Geoff Love - a connection that lasted for over 20 years. Newell returned to EMI-Columbia in 1954 after a six-month stay in the USA. Here he discovered the piano virtuoso Russ Conway , with whom he produced his first hit Roll the Carpet Up in November 1957 . It was the basic pattern for a variety of pop-oriented piano instrumentals, often published as a single under the numbered title Piano-Pops (first published in October 1957 as Piano-Pops No. 1 ). The highlight of this series was the single Side Saddle , which after its release on February 21, 1959, brought the producer Newell first place on the British charts. It took Newell 9 years to produce his first number one.

Laurie London - He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

On October 4, 1957, the British jazz band John Barry & The Seven created the title Zip Zip . John Barry was frequently used by Newell as an arranger in music productions and in the 1960s as an important film music composer for the James Bond films. Newell produced a total of 20 records for John Barry by 1961. With the only 13-year-old Laurie London , Newell produced the Christian-oriented pop song He's Got the Whole World in His Hands on September 29, 1957 for the Parlophone label . On that day, The Cradle Rock was recorded with the orchestra of Geoff Love as accompaniment , Handed Down followed on December 11, 1957, and I Gotta Robe was recorded on December 15, 1957 for the EP Laurie London . The label decided to release the Christian-oriented pop song, which was based on a gospel song, as a single . After publication on November 8, 1957, it was only ranked 12th in Great Britain, but in the USA it climbed to number 2 on the charts and sold a million copies. In Germany, too, the gospel piece made it to number 5. Laurie London could have become a star, "but things went wrong," remarked Newell.

On January 17, 1958, Newell's production Heartsick Feeling was released by Adam Faith . It was Newell's first rock and roll production, a style of music he admitted he didn't understand. Adam Faith became an important pop star for the EMI sub-label HMV , while producer colleague Norrie Paramor celebrated great success with Cliff Richard as a rock & roll interpreter. When on September 25, 1959 Faith did a recording session for What Do You Want? was scheduled, Newell refused to direct it because he disapproved of the play. Instead, his assistant John Burgess took this job. The following great rock hits by Adam Faith were also created under the studio direction of John Burgess. EMI saw rock & roll as an important sales factor, but ballads and light pop music continued to be the core business. This strategy only changed in 1963 when the Beatles broke all sales records for the label and beat music became their core business. When the TV pop series Six-Five Special started in England on February 16, 1957 , Newell had the idea of ​​producing a suitable album. It was released in December 1957 with Jim Dale . This idea was born with the music show Oh Boy! Which started on September 13, 1958 . repeated.

1959 began a long-term collaboration with the diva Shirley Bassey, who had just moved from Phillips to Columbia. Bassey had left Phillips with a top hit ( As I Love You ) and so the pressure was great to maintain that base of success. Her further career was largely determined by Newell. He brought the powerful-voiced singer with John Barry as arranger and the orchestra Geoff Love together for the first time on If You Love Me / Count on Me , which was launched on September 2, 1959 and did not reach the charts. He produced their LP Fabulous Shirley Bassey (1959) with the orchestra of Geoff Love, which, however, was only released in June 1961 and rose to number 12 on the British LP charts. Disappointing was the performance of With These Hands , which was created on February 8, 1960 and was only 31st. From various materials, Newell finally selected As Long As He Needs Me for Shirley Bassey, recorded on June 22, 1960, and was certain that it would finally become a number one hit. His assessment came very close to reality, because the ballad written by Lionel Bart came up to number 2 on the charts. You'll Never Know , recorded on April 13, 1961, reached sixth place , before Reach for the Stars / Climb Ev'ry Mountain, recorded on June 25, 1961, topped the charts for the first time. For the Shirley Bassey EP Goldfinger (came out in December 1962) Newell only contributed What Now My Love (recorded on July 4, 1962), the eponymous song from the James Bond film of the same name was produced by colleague George Martin . Over the years, under Newell's supervision, many classics were created with Shirley Bassey, including Ave Maria (January 10, 1962), You'll Never Walk Alone (January 24, 1962) or What Kind of Fool am I (May 30, 1962). In July 1963, Shirley Bassey asked EMI management to replace their producer Newell because of disputes after four years of service and was assigned to Walter J. "Wally" Ridley; but already in November 1964 she returned to Newell.

Judy Garland recorded under Newell's supervision between August 2 and 9, 1960 a double LP with a total of 20 tracks under the title Judy in London . With Danny Williams, Newell played the most successful version of Henry Mancini's composition Moon River , which was published in November 1961 and developed into another top hit. From 1962 began the collaboration with the ballad singer Ken Dodd , who however only delivered medium hits for three years. Newell was influenced by John Barry , according to the British music journal New Musical Express , to take rock singer and composer Marty Wilde (father of Kim Wilde ) to EMI (August 24, 1962), as well as Tommy Steele (June 14, 1963).

Peter & Gordon - A World Without Love

Newell did not remain completely isolated from beat music. George Martin mentioned that Newell was one of the producers the Beatles turned down after a test recording. In January 1964, Newell discovered the pop duo Peter & Gordon in London's Pickwick Club , who sang in the close harmony style of the Everly Brothers . As early as January 21, 1964, Newell was in charge of the production of Lennon / McCartney's song A World Without Love with Peter & Gordon and with it delivered a top hit. The song, released on February 28, 1964, became a million seller , with 550,000 copies sold in the UK and over 400,000 in the US. On March 4, 1965, there was another hit with True Love Ways , composed by Buddy Holly , which was listed at number 2 and sold more than a million records. For Newell, Peter & Gordon remained the only interpreters of the beat wave with electric guitars and loud sound.

Despite the success of George Martin, Newell consistently rejected the production of beat groups, especially since he had to admit that he did not understand enough about them. He knew more about ballads and was thus able to record further successes. With patience, he managed to produce a great hit for Ken Dodd with the ballad Tears . The intensely performed ballad reached number 1 in the British charts for 6 weeks after its release in September 1965, developed - despite the success of beat music - into the top-selling hit of the year and even exceeded the record sales of the Beatles hit Help! . In November 1965 the million mark was exceeded, by August 1966 1.6 million copies had been sold. With Careless Hands for Des O'Connor , Newell stayed true to the ballad genre (November 1967, # 6),

Other compositions

Petula Clark - Sailor

The lyrics to I Want to Make my Mother Proud of Me (November 1951), Look Down in Mercy (February 1952), Dreams of Yesterday (October 1952), Dreamtime (Melba Waltz) and Is This the Beginning of came from his early days Love? (1952), Give All Your Love to Me (May 1953) or The Night Belongs to Me (July 1954). Newell also wrote Portrait of My Love for Matt Monro under the pseudonym David West (November 2, 1960), which earned the producer another top position. Under the same pseudonym Newell wrote the English text of the German million seller Seemann (your home is the sea) by Lolita . The English version reached the top of the charts in Great Britain with Petula Clark and sold over 250,000 copies after publication in January 1961. The title was the first number one hit for the singer. Also under the pseudonym David West, Newell wrote the text for a melody composed by Udo Jürgens especially for Shirley Bassey, the number one hit Reach for the Stars (July 1961). Newell also wrote the text for the British Eurovision contribution Say Wonderful Things for Ronnie Carroll (March 1963, # 6), who came fourth with 28 points. In April 1963 he wrote the English text for Ti guarderò nel cuore (from the film Mondo Cane , premiere in Italy on March 30, 1962; music by Nino Oliviero and Riz Ortalani). It has appeared as More in at least 207 versions, best known by Steve Lawrence , Vic Dana and Frank Sinatra (recorded June 12, 1964). He also wrote for Bassey Goodbye Lover, Hello Friend (LP The Fabulous Shirley Bassey ; January 1965) and Never, Never, Never (March 1973, # 8).

The 1970s

In January 1971, Newell signed a production contract with the Philips label. In 1975 Newell produced the LP Big Bond Movie Themes and 12 of the most famous James Bond soundtracks with the orchestra of Geoff Love, of which John Barry had worked as composer on 8 titles. In July and August 1984 he produced the LP I Am What I Am for Shirley Bassey in the Olympic Studios in London with the London Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Carl Davies. In 1978 he translated the French song called "Le Lambeth walk" by Dalida into English.

Statistics and awards

During his career he used 35 different names (often including John Moran). He has produced at least 858 songs, most of them in the Abbey Road studios. George Martin characterized his colleague “as a copywriter and producer. But his forte was getting the big show business entertainers right. ”Martin alluded to the recordings of musicals that Newell kept focusing on. He produced the British version of the musical Kiss Me, Kate on August 3 and 6, 1987 at Abbey Road Studios. Newell retired in 1990.

He was awarded a Grammy and an Emmy , 3 Ivor Novello Awards , 6 British Music Industry Awards and a Golden Globe for Forget Domani (from the film The Yellow Rolls-Royce , premiered on December 31, 1964). In 1999 his composition A Portrait of My Love had reached 2 million airplays , his composition More ranks 12th in the BMI Top 100 Songs of the Century. He received the OBE Officer of the Order of the British Empire in February 2003 for his services to the British music industry, and passed away the following year.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Norman Newell: Record Producer and Songwriter Who Shaped Middle-of-the-Road-Music , The Independent, December 7, 2004.
2. ↑ George Martin was only employed in October 1950, Norrie Paramor until 1952
3. ↑ The original version came from Anne Shelton with the Key Notes from March 1949, The Five Smith Brothers brought out a cover in October 1949
4. ↑ the original of Les Trois Cloches (The Three Bells) was recorded by Edith Piaf together with the Compagnons on July 10, 1946
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Gordon Thompson, Please Please Me - Sixties British Pop, Inside Out , 2008, p. 53 f.
6. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 118.
7. ^ Internet Movie Database, biography for Adam Faith
8. ↑ Billboard Magazine, July 27, 1963, p. 44
9. ↑ Billboard Magazine, November 14, 1964, p. 44
10. ↑ Judy Garland Discography ( Memento of the original from September 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
11. ↑ George Martin with Jeremy Hornsby, All You Need is Ears , 1979, p. 121
12. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 196.
13. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 211.
14. ↑ the original came from Rudy Vallée from 1929
15. ^ British Public is Crying for Dodd's "Tears," Billboard Magazine, Oct. 30, 1965, p. 24.
16. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 205.
17. ↑ Copyrights from the Faqs database
18. ↑ UK Teen Leanings Bring Lean Class Artist Pickings, Says Newell , Billboard Magazine, June 11, 1966, p. 1.
19. ↑ Savona: Dalida site Officiel - The lambeth walk. Retrieved April 28, 2018 (fr-fr). 
20. ↑ George Martin with Jeremy Hornsby, All You Need is Ears , 1979, p. 83.
21. ↑ BMI Top 100 Songs of the Century ( Memento of the original from February 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.