| Ross Ryan | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ross Edwin Ryan |
| Born | December 13, 1950 |
| Origin | Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, USA |
| Genres | Rock and roll, folk |
| Occupations | Singer, songwriter, producer, Web Designer |
| Instruments | Singing, guitar |
| Years active | 1972—present |
| Website | [1] |
Ross Ryan is an Australian singer-songwriter and producer who is best known for his signature tune "I Am Pegasus" .
Contents |
Ross Ryan was born December 13, 1950 in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, USA. The family moved to Albany, Western Australia in 1959. Ryan Was involved with music at his high school, Albany High, playing the lead in the musical, The Music Man and producing a radio program for the local station 6VA entitled "High School Half Hour." He also joined a number of local bands starting with The Sett and ending with Saffron.
Ryan moved to Perth and undertook an electronics course. This led to a job as an audio operator at television station STW 9. Using the facilities at the station, Ryan recorded his first album "Homemovies." The local Perth radio station 6PM began to play tracks from the album.
After seeing one of Ryan's performances in 1972, Al Maricic, a freelance advertising agent approached him to discuss the possibility of managing him. Maricic got him regular gigs at Gramps Wine Bar and at university and college campuses. Ryan got his break when the proposed support act, comedian Joe Martin, pulled out of the tour in Darwin and Maricic got Ryan on the bill for the Perth concert for Roy Orbison. Ryan performed to 4,000 Roy Orbison fans, soliciting so much praise that the promoter booked him for the remainder of the tour.[1]
Noted EMI producer, Peter Dawkins took a strong interest after reading concert reviews, especially in Sydney. Ryan consequently signed with EMI and commenced work on the first album which was released in 1973. "A Poem You Can Keep" was produced by Peter Dawkins, arranged by Peter Martin and engineered by Martin Benge. The album was released on Capital Records in America as part of a promotion for EMI. The single, "I Don't Want To Know About It" won Record of the Year at the Australian Record Federation Awards for 1973. Ryan was also awarded Best New Talent.[2]
Ryan continued to perform live with campus tours, performances at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, with the Hector Crawford Orchestra, the Sydney Opera House and the Sunbury Pop Festival.[3] He also toured as the support act for international acts such as The Hollies, Helen Reddy, Roberta Flack, Michael Franks, Roger Miller and Dr. Hook.
In November, 1973 a new single from Ryan's forthcoming album was released. "I Am Pegasus," which became his biggest selling single, reached No. 9 nationally, staying in the charts well into 1974. Over a period of six months, the single reached No. 1 in almost every state, but not at the same time. "My Name Means Horse" was released in February 1974 and was Ryan's most successful album going triple gold and reaching No. 3 nationally.[4] The album won Most Popular Australian Album at the 1974 TV Week Awards.[5] The Prime Minister of Australia, Gough Whitlam, presented Ryan's first gold record to him. Ryan represented Australia at Expo '74 in Spokane, Washington, USA, with Judy Stone and Rolf Harris.
Over the next few years, Ryan made guest appearances on television shows from The Paul Hogan Show to Hey Hey It's Saturday. He hosted his own television program entitled "Rock Show" and continued to release singles and albums including 'After The Applause' 1975 and 'Smiling For The Camera' 1976. Towards the end of 1977, EMI released a 'best of' album; 'I Thought This Might Happen 1973 - 77.' This marked the end of Ryan's collaboration with EMI. In 1978, Ryan, with Mike Meade, hosted, wrote and acted in twenty half-hour comedy shows for the ABC series entitled 'Give 'Em Heaps.'
Ryan continued to write and release a number of independent singles and a number of his songs were covered by artists such as John Farnham who recorded 'I Must Stay.' Slim Dusty recorded 'Isa' which was also used in the film 'Slim Dusty: The Movie.'[6] In 1990, Ryan wrote a very successful review 'Les Boys' with comedians Rod Quantock, Lynda Gibson and Geoff Brooks.
Establishing G.I. Recorders with Broc O' Conner in the early 1990s, Ryan began producing material for both new and established acts in a range of musical styles including blues with Spectrum, country with Paul Wookey, traditional Irish with The Wren Boys and the award winning country album, 'Only Burning Me' by Dale Jurner. EMI, through its budget label, Axis Records released a CD entitled 'The Greats of Ross 1973 - 1990,' which included recent unreleased material and old favorites.
A new album, 'One Person Queue' was released in October, 2003. In addition to his own solo shows across Australia, Ryan supported Carole King during her Australian tour and under the touring name of 'Idol and Idle' played a number of gigs with Australian Idol judge, Mark Holden. "I Am Pegasus' was deemed a national anthem by ABC TV's 2003 series 'Love Is In The Air.[7][8]
In 2006, Aztec Music released for the first time on CD the 'My Name Means Horse' album. Plans for future releases include CD versions of the EMI albums, 'A Poem You Can Keep,' 'After The Applause' and 'Smiling For the Camera.'
The Difficult Third Compilation, a Best of CD, was released in 2008. Distributed through Aztec Music, the CD also includes a couple of new tracks.