Stuart Colman
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Record Producer/Musician/Broadcaster/Writer: STUART COLMAN
Stuart Colman was born December 19th. 1944 into a well-known musical family from Harrogate in Northern England. He took up piano and bass guitar, and enjoyed his first taste of success when he joined Pinkerton's Assorted Colours in 1966. Three years later the group evolved into The Flying Machine and their first single under that name, Smile A Little Smile For Me, made the U.S. Top Five, selling over two million copies. In 1976 Colman jointly organized a march to the BBC, protesting about the lack of rock & roll music on Radio One. To his surprise the Beeb took him on as a presenter, headlining his own weekly show on BBC Radio One. Following the popularity of the programme, Epic Records brought Colman in to take over the production reins with rockabilly icon, Shakin’ Stevens. There were hits straight away with Hot Dog and Marie Marie followed by a string of # 1’s including This Old House, Green Door and Oh Julie. His success story then crossed over into the global market place, where combined sales with Stevens alone went on to top a remarkable 35 million units. During this extremely busy period he was called upon to produce a wide range of artists, ranging from The Shadows to Paul Kennerley, and Claire Hamill to The Revillos. In 1982 Colman was voted the top singles producer of the year by Music Week magazine.
Meanwhile as a broadcaster Stuart Colman was also hosting the highly-regarded Echoes on BBC Radio London, a unique forum with a guest list that included Sir Paul McCartney, Dr. John, Robert Plant and Steve Miller. He was also in demand as a journalist writing a weekly column for the Melody Maker, as well as authoring a best-selling book, They Kept On Rockin'. Colman extended his chart successes by creating hits for Kim Wilde, The Jets and Alvin Stardust, and he made albums with his boyhood idols, Phil Everly and Little Richard. Following his love of comedy recordings, Colman was asked by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton to produce the inaugural Comic Relief record, and Living Doll, featuring TV heroes The Young Ones along with pop legend Cliff Richard, became another international # 1.
In 1986 Colman opened his own Master Rock recording studio in London, fitting the A room out with the very first Focusrite recording console, and the B room with a state-of the-art Solid State Logic. Apart from his own productions with Jeff Beck, The Inmates and Jane Harrison, the studio played host to Elton John, U2, Eric Clapton and Soul 11 Soul. Still pursuing his broadcasting career, Colman then joined London’s newly-launched Capital Gold where he played his beloved rock & roll at the weekends and anchored the evening slot during the week. At the same time he was producing many major TV music specials for Central Television, where he worked with the likes of Natalie Cole, T’Pau, Nona Hendryx and Meatloaf.
In 1995, geared by his love of American music, Colman decided to move with his family to Nashville where he went on to record with a wide variety of artists including Victoria Shaw, Nanci Griffith, The Crickets and Linda Gail Lewis. He began by arranging and producing the country demo of the Faith Hill smash This Kiss, then co-produced with Jim Ed Norman the original version of the Garth and Trisha duet, Where Your Road Leads by Victoria Shaw and Billy Dean. He delivered a well-received Texas-Swing album by the late Don Walser for Sire Records, as well as producing a fresh batch of tracks on the Osmond Brothers, a country album by Canadian diva Tracy Fidler, and the debut recordings by Brazilian newcomer, Leandro Beling.
In 2002 Colman was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus and he was subjected to an intense course of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. Thanks to the finest hospital treatment and his own sheer will power he recovered rapidly. However the experience cost him his marriage and he became, as he puts it, a born-again-bachelor. Even during this time he kept himself busy writing liner notes for a great many CD's including a critically-acclaimed boxed set of Don Gibson recordings for Bear Family, and at the same time he maintained his long-running column for the monthly rock & roll magazine, Now Dig This. Since his recovery, Colman has appeared in a movie depicting the life and times of the legendary Jack Clement, and he has also reunited with Shakin' Stevens playing bass on tours throughout Europe. Here in 2007 Colman has returned to the studios of Nashville directing his energies into developing a set of new artists including Kentucky-born Sulcer Evans, singer/songwriter, Seth Matthews, and British emigree, John e. Earl.
Stuart Colman productions (* Nashville recordings): Rowan Atkinson, Jeff Bates *, Jeff Beck, Leandro Beling *, Big Town Playboys, 'Billy,' J.T. Blanton *, Etta Britt *, Elkie Brooks, Kate Bush, Chevalier Brothers, Natalie Cole, Walter Colman, Brian Copsey & the Commotions, Adam Couldwell, The Crickets *, Buddy Curtess & The Grasshoppers, Roger Daltrey, Nigel Dixon, Marshall Doktors, John E. Earl *, Duane Eddy, Dave Edmunds, Sulcer Evans *, Phil Everly, Tracy Fidler *, Connie Francis *, Billy Fury, Pippa Gee, Crystal Gayle *, Boy George, Gary Glitter, Jaki Graham, Nanci Griffith *, Claire Hamill, Jane Harrison, Nick Haverson, Nona Hendryx, Tim Hensley *, Ray Herndon *, The Inmates, The Jets, The Jordanaires *, Paul Kennerley, Ben E. King, Pierre LeRue, Linda Gail Lewis *, George Lively *, Little Richard, Massai, Seth Matthews *, The McGann Brothers, Meatloaf, Mel & Kim, Memphis, Mud, The Nashville Playboys *, Nine Parts Devil *, Kara Noble, Jamie O’Neal *, The Osmonds *, Pet Shop Boys, 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper, Lisa Purcell *, The Ray-Vons, Mike Read, Rene & Yvette, The Reverb Brothers, The Revillos, Cliff Richard, Ricky & the Cufflinks, The Rockolas, Pete Sayers, Shades, The Shadows, Rich Sharp, Victoria Shaw *, The Shillelagh Sisters, Showaddywaddy, Sonia *, Alvin Stardust, Shakin' Stevens, Gavin Stanley, Ricky Stone, The Stroke, Studdmen, Billy Swan, Tommy J, T'Pau, Ruby Turner, The Two Iguanas *, Vindaloo Summer Special, Don Walser *, Hank Wangford, Ben Waters, Geraint Watkins, Teddy Wilburn *, Kim Wilde, Wade Wisdom *, The Young Ones.
Session players & vocalists used by Stuart Colman: P P Arnold, Sam Brown, James Burton, Paul Carrack, Gene Chrisman, Buddy Emmons, Glen D. Hardin, Eric Heatherly, Jim Horn, Plas Johnson, The Jordanaires, Jackie Kelso, Larry Knechtel, Mark Knopfler, Albert Lee, Chuck Leavell, Hank Levine, Steve Nieve, Billy Preston, James Stroud, Steve Turner, Ronnie Tutt, Kenny Vaughan, Jnr. Walker, Bobby Wood, Jonathan Yudkin. {Category: Record Producers} §
