Eric Woolfson


1945 - 2009

Musician and song-writer. Born in Charing Cross (Glasgow) and raised in Pollokshields, Woolfson was educated at the High School of Glasgow. He was inspired to become a musician by his uncle, who played the piano. Woolfson taught himself to play and, after a brief period as a chartered accountant, moved to London in 1963 to follow his musical interests.

Despite not being a well-known name, Woolfson went on to become one of the most successful musicians in Britain, with worldwide sales of more than 50 million records as the lead singer, songwriter, lyricist, manager and co-founder of the Alan Parsons Project (in 1975). He wrote songs for artists and bands as diverse as Marianne Faithfull, Frank Ifield, Marmalade and the Rolling Stones. Woolfson went on to become an independent record producer, working with artists including Dave Berry, the Equals and the Tremeloes, and then managed the likes of singer Carl Douglas, who had just had a hit with Kung Fu Fighting.

His work included dozens of songs, ten albums for the Alan Parsons Project, five musicals Freudiana (1990), Gaudi (1994), Gambler (1996), Dancing Shadows (2007) and Edgar Allan Poe (2009). Woolfson was also an early supporter of the Social Democratic Party, becoming close friends with David Owen, one of its founders.

He died in London, was buried in Cathcart cemetery and will be remembered as an enormously successful musician, who managed to remain almost anonymous


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