John Farrar

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The cover of Farrar's self-titled album.
The cover of Farrar's self-titled album.

John Farrar (Fâr/ə/) is an acclaimed music producer, songwriter, singer and guitarist who is best known for his work with Olivia Newton-John. Farrar is a former member of the group The Shadows.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born on 8 November 1946 in Melbourne Australia, John Farrar is notable for his writing and production many of pop singer Olivia Newton-John's number one singles.

He began playing guitar when he was twelve and by sixteen had begun playing with local rock bands.

Shortly after Farrar joined the Strangers, they became the house band for the Australian version of American Bandstand, The GO Show. Both Farrar's future wife, Pat Carroll, and Olivia Newton-John appeared on The Go Show as singers. Pat Carroll was Australia's Queen of Pop for 4 years, touring Australia as one of Brian de Courcey's stable of Rock singers and establishing a strong following of Australian fans who slavishly copied her elegant dress style and distinctive hairstyle, while purchasing her 45 rpm singles which are collectors' items today. Contrary to international perception, Pat Carroll was an established star in her own right when 14 year old Newton-John won a talent contest prize of a trip to England, which she initially postponed until she had gained more experience in the pop music industry. Carroll did indeed travel to England and ultimately sing in a duo with Newton-John, but Carroll was an exemplary professional and Newton-John an ingenue who gained from her partner's experience.

After returning from a tour with Newton-John, Carroll dated and married Farrar. Following her marriage, Carroll ceased to pursue her headliner status and settled into occasionally reprising her duo work with Newton-John and back-up singing, mainly in session work for Farrar/Newton-John productions. The newlyweds moved to England where Farrar became a member of Marvin, Welch & Farrar, a vocal-harmony group comprised of former members of The Shadows. Marvin, Welch & Farrar put out two albums, a self-titled album released in 1971 and Second Opinion which was released in 1972. A third album featured just Hank Marvin and Farrar. The Shadows reformed soon after this time in order to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest and John Farrar joined them as second lead guitar and vocalist. Two years earlier Farrar had appeared on the same show as a backing guitarist and vocalist for Cliff Richard. Farrar appeared on a number of Shadows albums in this period, "Rocking with Curly Leads", "Specs Appeal" and "Live at the Paris Olympia" in particular owe much to his distinctive talent as arranger. Also during this time, Bruce Welch and Farrar began working on singles for Newton-John and found considerable success with her cover of Bob Dylan's If Not For You. With Newton-John's signing with MCA Records, Farrar began a prolific songwriting and production career with the successful vocalist. His participation in Newton-John's career produced a stream of gold and platinum hits. His discography reflects an artist with a wide range of styles, from You're the One That I Want to Physical.

In the mid-1990s, he collaborated with Newton-John and lyricist Tim Rice for the musical score of Cliff Richard's musical Heathcliff based on the Emily Brontë novel Wuthering Heights.

[edit] Discography

[edit] As a performer

[edit] Solo

  • John Farrar
  • With Rainine on My Mind
  • John and Mary

[edit] Marvin, Welch & Farrar

  • Marvin, Welch & Farrar
  • Second Opinion
  • Hank Marvin and John Farrar
  • Best of Marvin, Welch and Farrar

[edit] The Shadows

  • Rockin’ With Curly Leads
  • Specs Appeal
  • Live at Paris Olympia
  • Tasty
  • Dakota
  • Shadows in the 70’s
  • Run, Billy, Run
  • It’ll Be Me, Babe
  • John Peel session

[edit] The Strangers

  • Best of The Strangers
  • Bobby & Laurie
  • Colin Cook & The Strangers
  • Let’s Go With The Strangers
  • Colin Cook and The Strangers

[edit] As a songwriter and producer

[edit] With Olivia Newton-John

[edit] Production credits

[edit] Hit records

  • "If Not for You"
  • "Let Me Be There" #6 Pop; #10 Country
  • 1974 "If You Love Me, Let Me Know" #5 Pop; #1 Country
  • 1975 "Have You Never Been Mellow" #1 Pop
  • 1975 "Have You Never Been Mellow (LP)" #1 Pop on the LP chart
  • 1975 "Please Mr. Please" #3 Pop
  • "Something Better to Do" #13 Pop
  • 1976 "Come on Over" #1 Country; #23 Pop
  • 1976 "Don't Stop Believin'" #33 Pop
  • 1978 "Grease (soundtrack)" Multi-platinum
  • 1978 "You're the One That I Want" #1 Pop US; #1 Pop UK
  • 1978 "Hopelessly Devoted To You" #3 Pop US; #2 Pop UK
  • 1978 "A Little More Love"; #3 Pop
  • 1978 "Deeper Than the Night" #11 Pop
  • 1980 "Xanadu (soundtrack)" #1 Pop on the LP chart; platinum
  • 1980 "Magic": #1 Pop August
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