Andy Pratt (singer-songwriter)

Andy Pratt
Pratt performing live at the Greenbelt festival in 2006
Background information
Born	(1947-01-25) January 25, 1947 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genres	Rock soft rock folk rock experimental religious
Occupation(s)	Musician singer songwriter composer
Instruments	Vocals guitars bass guitars piano accordion sitar tabla clavinet
Years active	1969–present
Labels	Polydor Epic Columbia Nemperor Atlantic Aztec GMI Spark Music ItsAboutMusic.com

Andy Pratt (born January 25, 1947) is an American rock singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. In the 1970s, he made a number of experimental records, of which "Avenging Annie" was a commercial hit.^[1] Avenging Annie was first heard as a bootleg tape that circulated in SE New England about the summer of 1969 when there was no commercial edition available. Because of this, Pratt recorded the song commercially a few years later. The tempo and flavor changed and may have accounted for the disappointing sales, as fans did not get the recording they might have wanted. Afterwards, Pratt moved to a more commercial approach with the album Resolution, of which Rolling Stone magazine wrote, "By reviving the dream of rock as an art and then re-inventing it, Pratt has forever changed the face of rock".^[2] Pratt converted to Christianity in the late 1970s and continued to make records and perform at major Christian pop music festivals.

Pratt has released over twenty studio albums.

Early life

Andy Pratt was born into a wealthy Boston family and attended Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts where his father Edwin H. Baker Pratt served as headmaster.^[3] Pratt was awarded a BA in English literature in 1968 from Harvard College.^[4] In 1969 he released his debut album, Records Are Like Life, which was neither a critical nor a commercial success.^[3]

During these years, Pratt worked with various Boston-area bands and toured in Europe. Using his family wealth, he helped to finance Aengus Studios to help advance his recording career.^[3]

Career

In 1973 Pratt signed with Columbia Records. He released Andy Pratt in 1973, which had modest commercial success.^[4] In 1973 he released the single "Avenging Annie", which peaked at number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100,^[1] spending ten weeks on the chart.^[5] The song was re-recorded by The Who singer Roger Daltrey for his album One of the Boys in 1977. Pratt's original version of the single became the B side of Bruce Springsteen's 'Blinded by the Light' on a CBS promotional disc,^[6] and was used on the soundtrack to the film Velvet Goldmine in 1998.^[3]

Columbia released Pratt after an American tour, and he signed with Nemperor Records.^[3] Bee Gees producer Arif Mardin was recruited for a more commercial approach on 1976's Resolution. This was followed by Shiver in the Night in 1977. In 1979 Pratt released the religious pop album Motives, which was said to "[signal] his conversion to Christianity."^[3]

In 1982 Pratt released the mini album Fun in the First World produced by Leroy Radcliffe and released on Boston's Enzone Records. The mini album was later included on The Age of Goodbye. Although Pratt's religious tendencies negatively affected some of his mainstream work, he used his vision here to produce a successful science-fiction epic in the title track.^[7] On the strength of this recording, Pratt got a deal offer from Lamborghini Records in London. Pratt's album was shelved, but in Europe the Lamborghini recordings were briefly available on the album 'Not Just For Dancing' on EMI/Aztec Records in Holland and Megadisc in Denmark.^[6]

Pratt moved to Europe in 1987, but returned to Boston in 2004 and started a new band with Sal Baglio and John Troy.^[3] That same year, Not Just for Dancing (recorded with Stephen Hague), Fun in the First World and Heaven & Earth were re-released on a single CD.^[3] In 2006, Pratt signed a deal with Ran Song Express Publishing to publish his memoirs, Shiver in the Night,^[8] and the book was released in November of the same year.^[4]

In 2015 Pratt released an album, Do You Remember Me?, which was recorded and produced with Fernando Perdomo and contained a new version of "Avenging Annie".^[6]

Personal life

After the death of his father in 1975, Pratt enrolled in Boston's "Life Institute" in a search for the meaning of life.^[4] In 1978 he settled in The Netherlands where he married his third wife Frederike, a Dutch Journalist, in 1988. He lived in The Netherlands and Belgium until 1996, where he was employed as a social and pastoral worker. He divorced in 2004 and returned to the Boston area.^[3]

Discography

References

External links

• Andy Pratt on It's About Music
• Andy Pratt on Sound Cloud
• Andy Pratt on IMDb