Tony Ashton
Tony Ashton (born March 1, 1946 in Blackburn , † May 28, 2001 in London ) was a British rock singer and keyboarder.
Life
In 1962 he formed his first band, the College Boys. The Excheckers, Lee Walker and the Travelers, Jimmy Justice and the Excheckers, Mastersounds, John Berri Seven, Mike Hurst and the Method and Remo Four followed in quick succession . In 1963 he recorded his first record with the Excheckers.
In 1968 the Remo Four separated and Ashton founded Ashton, Gardner & Dyke with Kim Gardner and Roy Dyke . After this project failed in 1972, Ashton teamed up with Jon Lord from Deep Purple . The two had already composed the score for the western The Last Rebel together in 1971 , and Ashton can be heard on two of Lord's albums: Gemini Suite (1971) and Windows (1973). In 1974 they recorded the album First of the Big Bands , which caused little enthusiasm in the music press. In 1973, Ashton was also briefly hired by Roger Chapman's band Family , with whom the two albums BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert and It's Only a Movie were created.
In 1976 Ashton formed the rock band Paice Ashton Lord , PAL for short, with Lord and Ian Paice (also from Deep Purple ) . They hired Paul Martinez ( electric bass ) and Bernie Marsden ( guitar ). The band split quickly, however.
Ashton then worked with the Wings , Chicken Shack and Charlie Ainley together and played with Rick Wakeman of Yes . He helped out at Hardin & York , played on Roger Glover's Butterfly Ball and performed with Chris Barber . In 1991 he was heard on Pete York's album Superblues . Eddie Hardin brought him into the studio to record the children's musical Wind in the Willows . He assisted John Entwistle's studio quartet Rigor Mortis and helped Eberhard Schoener in Munich . In 1997 he went on tour with Long John Baldry . He also continued to work as a composer; he composed The Heat Is On for Noosha Fox together with Florrie Palmer in 1979 ( Agnetha Fältskog recorded a cover version of the song in 1983 ).
His solo works were not well received by the critics: neither Live in the Studio (1984) nor the single Mr. Ashton Sings Big Red and Other Love Songs (1995) sparked enthusiasm among the critics. The last single came out in 1996: The Big Freedom Dance is a tribute to John Lennon .
In the late 1990s he suffered more and more from cancer. In order to earn enough, he had to turn to painting. For example, the cover of Wind in the Willows is from him.
In 2001 Tony Ashton succumbed to cancer.
| Surname | tape | year |
|---|---|---|
| Smile | The Remo Four | 1966 |
| Ashton, Gardner & Dyke | Ashton, Gardner & Dyke | 1969 |
| The Worst Of Ashton, Gardner & Dyke | Ashton, Gardner & Dyke | 1970 |
| What A Bloody Long Day It's Been | Ashton, Gardner & Dyke | 1972 |
| It's only a movie | Family | 1973 |
| The First Of The Big Bands | Tony Ashton & Jon Lord | 1974 |
| Malice In Wonderland | Paice Ashton Lord | 1976 |
| Live in the studio | Tony Ashton | 1984 |
| BBC Live In Concert | Paice Ashton Lord | 1992, recorded live in 1977 |
| BBC Live In Concert | Tony Ashton & Jon Lord | 1993, recorded live in 1974 |
| Mr. Ashton Sings Big Red & Other Love Songs | Tony Ashton | 1995 |
| The Big Freedom Dance | Tony Ashton | 1996 |
Web links
- Tony Ashton on MusicBrainz (English)
- Tony Ashton at Discogs (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ashton, Tony |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British rock singer and keyboarder |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 1, 1946 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Blackburn |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 28, 2001 |
| Place of death | London |