John Burgess (record producer)

John Edward Burgess (8 March 1932 – 13 March 2014)[1] was a British record producer and production company executive. In the 1960s he produced hit records by Adam Faith, Freddie and the Dreamers, Manfred Mann, and others.

John Burgess
Birth name	John Edward Burgess
Born	(1932-03-08)8 March 1932 London, England
Died	13 March 2014(2014-03-13) (aged 82)
Genres	Pop music
Occupation(s)	Record producer
Associated acts	Adam Faith Freddie and the Dreamers Manfred Mann etc.

Biography

Born in London, Burgess started working in the promotion and publicity section of EMI in 1951.[2] When the company took over Capitol Records, he was responsible for promoting its artists including Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee and Dean Martin.[3] By the mid-1950s, he had become assistant to record producer Norman Newell.[4]

In 1959, as Newell was unavailable for the recording session,[5] Burgess was given responsibility for producing then-unknown Adam Faith's fourth single, "What Do You Want?". Arranged by John Barry, it rose to number one on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in December 1959.[6] The record company wished to stick to a successful formula, and so Burgess was retained as producer for Faith's follow-up record, "Poor Me", also a number one UK hit, and then for subsequent releases by the singer until the mid-1960s. He also produced many of the recordings by the John Barry Seven, including their hit single "The James Bond Theme" in 1962.[5]

From 1963, Burgess produced a series of UK hits by Freddie and the Dreamers, including "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody" and "I'm Telling You Now", which hit number one on the American Billboard Hot 100 in 1965.[7] Burgess was also impressed by a jazz and R&B-influenced band known variously as the Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers or the Manfreds. Changing the band's name to that of their leader, Manfred Mann,[8] Burgess produced their early UK hits including "5-4-3-2-1", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", and "Pretty Flamingo".[9] He turned down the opportunity to record The High Numbers (later The Who),[10] but produced hit records by Peter and Gordon, David and Jonathan, Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers, Paul Jones, Matt Monro, The Congregation, The Pipkins, and early singles by The Sweet.[11][12] Burgess also produced albums of the musicals Barnum and Guys and Dolls.[2]

In 1965, together with George Martin and Ron Richards of EMI, and Peter Sullivan of Decca, he helped set up Associated Independent Recording (AIR), one of the earliest independent record production companies.[13] From 1969, he was the managing director of AIR Studios in London, and, in 1979, became the managing director of AIR Studios in Montserrat, in the West Indies.[2]

Burgess died in March 2014, aged 82.[1][14]

References

1. England and Wales, Death Index, 2007-2017, Ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2019
2. Andy Gregory (ed.), The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002, p.71
3. Neville Farmer, "A New Era at AIR", Billboard, 6 March 1993, pp.A3-A10
4. Gordon Thompson, Please Please Me: Sixties British Pop, Inside Out, Oxford University Press, 2008, p.54
5. Geoff Leonard and Pete Walker, "Adam Faith - a biography", JohnBarry.org.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2019
6. "Record-Breakers and Trivia". EveryHit.com. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
7. "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Company. 77 (15): 26. April 10, 1965. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
8. "John Burgess", Every UK Number 1. Retrieved 28 April 2019
9. Sam Leighty, "Manfred Mann", Perfect Sound Forever, April 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2019
10. "The High Numbers Turned Down By EMI!", Real Rock and Blues. Retrieved 28 April 2019
11. John Burgess, Credits, Discogs.com. Retrieved 28 April 2019
12. John Burgess, 45cat.com. Retrieved 28 April 2019
13. "4 Top British A&R Men Form Production Concern", Billboard, 4 September 1965, p.18
14. Letter by Barry Noble, Tales from the Woods #78, April 2014, p.35

External links

• Biography by Eugene Chadbourne, Allmusic.com