Birth name David C. Lawson Genres Rock, progressive rock | Years active 1971–present Name Dave Lawson | |
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Born 25 April 1945 (age 78)
Alton, Hampshire, England ( 1945-04-25 ) Occupation(s) Keyboardist, sound designer, composer for film and television Instruments Vocals, piano, keyboards Associated acts Web, Samurai, Episode Six, The Alan Bown Set, Greenslade, Stackridge Role Keyboardist · davelawson.org Music groups Greenslade, Stackridge (1975 – 1976) Record labels Warner Bros. Records, Mercury Records, Vertigo Records, The Rocket Record Company Albums Bedside Manners Are Extra, Spyglass Guest, Greenslade, Mr Mick, Do the Stanley Similar People Dave Greenslade, Tony Reeves, Martin Briley, Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch | ||
Dave Lawson (born David C. Lawson, 25 April 1945 in Alton, Hampshire, England), is an English keyboardist and contemporary composer who, in the 1970s, was a member of UK progressive rock band Greenslade.
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Early years and Greenslade
In the 1970s Lawson was a member of Greenslade, an English progressive rock band which formed in the autumn of 1972. The band made their live debut at Frankfurt's Zoom Club in November 1972 with a line-up of Dave Greenslade (keyboards), Tony Reeves (bass guitar and double bass), Andrew McCulloch (drums and percussion) and Lawson (keyboards and vocals).
The band recorded four studio albums:
In the band Lawson largely shared composition with Dave Greenslade, generally writing the lyrics for Greenslade's music, but also contributing music of his own. In contrast to Dave Greenslade's preference for Hammond organ, mellotron and piano, Lawson proved to be a pioneer of analogue synthesizers.
The band announced their disbandment in early 1976, due to management problem, and Lawson then worked as a session musician, before touring with Roy Harper and later Stackridge, for which band he appeared on the 1976 album Mr. Mick. He was invited to join the band of Ian Gillan who had recently left Deep Purple but had to decline. He also recorded with Chris Squire and Alan White, who were taking a break from the band Yes, alongside Jimmy Page in a project titled XYZ (UK band). Lawson also played with Curved Air and in 1982, whilst recording with Bill Wyman, was invited to play with Foreigner.
Later years
Lawson played on the soundtrack of the film The Man Who Fell To Earth and later played with John Williams and the LSO for the films Star Wars, Superman and The Fury. In Star Wars Lawson can be heard playing the ARP 2600 to conjure the sounds of an electric tuba in the famous Tatooine cantina scene. He was a session musician for Peggy Lee, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. Lawson has worked as music associate, performer and programmer with such Hollywood film composers such as George Fenton, John Williams and Trevor Jones. He has also composed for an number of successful feature films and television programs.
He has become particularly noted for his work on so-called "fusion scores" such as those for the feature films Angel Heart and Mississippi Burning. He also worked on Steven Spielberg's We're Back! and on Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, each of which won Golden Reel Awards from the Association of Motion Picture Sound Editors.
In 1988–89 he composed the theme music for the BBC series The Paradise Club, the music for which was later issued as a soundtrack album, with contributions by Stan Tracey Big Band, Carmel and Snake Davis, amongst others.
Lawson has also composed and co-composed, with Ronnie Bond and David Dundas, music for many cinema and television advertisements including those for British Gas, Coco Pops, Philips, Le Coq, Bird's Custard, Braun, Blueband, Britannia, Philip Morris, Accurist, Atari, Dixel, Dulux, Roxy, Mintguard, Bonjour, Ellermans, Wilkinson Sword, Foster Grant, Alpine, Wash'n Dye, Arctic Lite, Yves Saint Laurent.
Current activities
Lawson currently has an extensive sound design studio with one of the largest privately owned synclavier and synthesizer systems in Europe.