Eric Woolfson - The other side of Alan Parsons Project

While the name Alan Parsons Project has been universally known since the mid-70s, the same can't be said of Eric Woolfson, whose role, as he himself proudly asserts in this in-depth interview, was more than pivotal to the band's worldwide success. Lyricist, composer, keyboardist and vocalist for APP, today Eric devotes himself with renewed success to musical theatre, a genre in which he revisits and expands on many of the themes explored in the legendary concept albums he made with Parsons.

You've been on the music scene since the 60s. How much has the music world changed since then?

The music world is completely different now. Setting aside the issues connected with illegal downloads on the internet, there are at least two significant differences for me, as a writer.

In the 60s, it was rare for an artist in the Top 20 to write their own material, so as a songwriter there were plenty of opportunities to place your songs, whereas nowadays there's perhaps only one artist in the Top 20 who doesn't write or directly control their own material, so the opportunities are a fraction of what they used to be.

The other difference is that in the 60s record companies were happy to gamble on a new work to produce a single that would cost two or three hundred pounds all told. Since the advent of MTV, every release by an artist costs a fortune, and record companies are not at all willing to take risks, nor frankly can they afford to. All in all, the music business is moving in ever smaller circles as far as new artists are concerned.

It's a common belief that the music industry is going through an irreversible crisis. Do you share this view?

Of course, for the reasons we've discussed, and because nowadays it seems the only way for an artist to earn reasonable amounts of money is through live appearances, from which in most cases record companies don't directly benefit. The upside for new artists is that, thanks to the internet, it's now obviously possible to bypass record companies entirely and get your product straight to consumers. However, this only makes things worse. What everyone needs is a healthy music business, with money available for developing new artists. And that, quite simply, isn't happening.

What's your opinion of online music stores, like the iTunes Music Store?

I believe the record industry's gravest disaster can be traced precisely to the rise of online music stores. It's hard to imagine any other business with the potential to sell its product without needing to manufacture and ship physical units, simply by pressing a button to sell it to buyers and make money.

It should have been the greatest cost saving, with the greatest revenue increase, any industry could ever have seen. But the music world neglected to protect its copyrights, and the executives who allowed unrestricted access via the internet have a lot of questions to answer for. It's ironic that the industry, now on its knees, should have to celebrate what was actually its greatest period of prosperity.

Don't you feel a bit of nostalgia for the vinyl era, with its magnificent cover art for instance, and, in general, a greater attention to artistic aspects?

Aside from the obvious fact that a vinyl record sleeve lends far greater scope to the creativity of the artwork and to promotion at the point of sale, I'm not one of those who considers vinyl superior. The recent remastering and re-release of the Alan Parsons Project catalogue has definitively convinced me that the digital medium is superior, and that the magic of hearing the final studio mix was lost the very moment the product was mastered onto vinyl. Fortunately it can be rediscovered in digital formats. Incidentally, for vinyl enthusiasts, Sony/BMG will be releasing the original album "Eye in the Sky" on vinyl, as part of a new series.

Do you own an iPod?

I have an iPod Classic, but I still haven't read the instruction manual! Anyway, I didn't get it to actually listen to music. I'm hoping to store my music composition notebooks on it, for reference purposes.

Can you tell us how your collaboration with Alan Parsons began?

Alan and I were working in different studios at Abbey Road, in the early '70s, and being of similar height (I'm 6'6", while he's 6'5"), our heads and shoulders towered over almost everyone else there. We started talking while queuing up in the canteen, and things developed quickly from there.

I'm afraid not many people know exactly what your role was within Alan Parsons Project. Would you like to describe it to our readers?

To begin with, I was the manager of Alan Parsons in his role as sound engineer-producer. I glimpsed a possibility of combining my skills as a manager-songwriter-lyricist with his, as sound engineer-producer, allowing us to make records the way Stanley Kubrick or Alfred Hitchcock made their films, in which the directors, rather than the actors, were the focal point.

As I was picturing this entity, I thought it would be wrong to put my own name forward, since Alan was already known for his work with Pink Floyd. His name was credited on their records. My own personal contribution, however, consisted of writing all the lyrics and more than 95% of the music, as well as playing keyboards and singing (lead vocals on "Time", "Eye in the Sky", "Don't Answer Me", etc.).

You've often created albums with brilliant crossovers between music, literature and painting: from Edgar Allan Poe and Isaac Asimov to Gaudi, even Freud's psychoanalysis. Personally, I've always regarded these albums as the classic tip of the iceberg…

I like your image, and you're quite right. There's a lot of depth in all the themes I've tackled, and one example of this is my new musical "POE", which delves into the life and work of this extraordinary genius, but without using any music from APP's first album, "Tales of Mystery and Imagination". I could have created more works inspired by my heroes, but, especially in the early days, we were limited by the fact that an album was defined in our contracts as something roughly 40 minutes long, which was obviously quite frustrating. The move into theatrical musicals gave me a bigger canvas to work with, if only because a stage musical usually runs at least two hours.

Do you consider yourself more of a writer or a musician?

A writer, no question.

Since APP ended you've worked — with great success — on musicals. How does writing for a musical differ from composing songs for an album?

On the creative side there isn't much difference between writing a concept album and a musical. As I mentioned above, there's a difference in length, but conceptually I don't find major differences. So for me it was a very natural transition.

When I was working in the '60s as a staff writer at Southern Music, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice were operating in a similar role too, and we had similar problems getting our work noticed. The prevailing demand from chart artists was for "a three-minute piece", meaning something that told the whole story and was entirely self-contained, whereas I, Andrew and Tim tended to write songs that revolved around an external central theme. Andrew and Tim realised very early on that they needed to create a vehicle for their writing, and wisely developed the stage musical. I created my own particular vehicle some years later, with The Alan Parsons Project, but I later realised they were right: their stage musical was a far more fitting environment for my talent.

It should also be said that at the end of the day, once you've made a studio album, what you're left with is a two-dimensional stereo recording, whereas the end result in a stage musical is a multidimensional experience, far more rewarding and fulfilling for the composer, whose work underpins the piece.

Looking back, do you have any regrets? Are you still in touch with Alan?

Certainly I've made plenty of mistakes that, with hindsight, I could have avoided. I've often said that my decision to use the name "The Alan Parsons Project" was at the same time the worst but also the best decision of my life. I've come to realise that my original instinct was right, and I've grown used to enjoying the benefits of success without the intrusion of fame or celebrity, aspects that are particularly beneficial for my family, who laugh whenever I try to describe myself as "a rock legend"!

Alan now lives in the United States and our paths have gone in very different directions. We have, however, both contributed to the new remastered and expanded editions of the APP catalogue.

Today it seems that 70s rock is going through a new, interesting phase. More generally, we're seeing old bands return to the stage, with an incredible response from fans. A few examples: Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Police, Asia, the Eagles, and soon Ultravox too. How do you explain this phenomenon?

The simple truth is that these artists emerged in a golden age for music, and, with a few exceptions, nothing better has been produced since, so it doesn't surprise me that audiences can still appreciate their talent.

By the way, is it true that you could have been a member of Led Zeppelin?

No! It is true, though, that back in the early 60s, when I was a session pianist and an independent producer, I used to look for work at a place on Denmark Street, alongside Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, with whom I occasionally did some sessions. The group I almost ended up joining became 10CC, and at one point I had great hopes of working with them, but their management wasn't able to guarantee me a weekly wage. So I was forced to move from Manchester to London to carry on with my career.

Is there any chance of hearing a new album written by the legendary Woolfson-Parsons duo one day?

First of all, as I've already explained, songwriting was never something we actually did together, and although Alan is credited as co-writer, that was only for contractual reasons, and doesn't exactly reflect creative reality. Our creative relationship reached a natural conclusion around 1990. Still, it's been an interesting experience for me to revisit the work we did together, digging through the archives for extra material for the expanded releases, and we found a few previously unheard gems that had been left out at the time, such as "No Answers Only Questions" (on "Vulture Culture" and on "Essential Compilation"). These albums represent our finest work together, and I think they hold up well over time and are complete works in every respect.

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