Producer
Producer
Here is a list of tracks produced or co-produced by Richard Niles. Many of the tracks are also written and arranged by him. Styles range from pop to soul to orchestral to latin to rock to jazz. Enjoy!
Laurence Juber “Standard Time” album
Co-Producer: Laurence Juber (1978)
When Laurence was guitarist for Wings, Paul McCartney asked him to record some songs from the MPL catalogue. We had a lot of fun in Air Studios, London with this de-rangement of Harry Warren’s timeless classic, and Laurence’s incredible solo!
Pat Metheny Group
“American Garage” album
Co-Producer: Pat Metheny (1979)
In 1979, I saw the Pat Metheny Group play at the Santa Monica Civic in LA. Backstage, Pat said they were recording their first album without Manfred Eicher as their producer. Pat had already booked Longview Farm to record, but asked if I would co-produce, since I’d been producing records in London. I found a great engineer, Kent Nebergall, and we recorded and mixed these amazing tunes in a week. It was his most commercially successful album to date, and an artistic joy working with four masters.
Showstoppers '81
“The (Disco) Sound of Music” single
Co-Producer: Jeff Calvert (1981)
Disco music was still big. I knew a brilliant studio singer, Sharon Campbell, who could do a perfect imitation of Julie Andrews. I arranged it for a stellar studio band and orchestra. I hired jazz phenomenon Chris Hunter to do the sax solos. Also featured was Sarah Brightman who sang the duet on “I am Sixteen Going on Seventeen with the wonderful Nick Curtis.
Richard Niles Quintet “1981” album (1981)
My first guitar album, featuring Chris Hunter (sx), Peter Van Hooke (dr), Dill Katz (fretless bass), Mitch Dalton (gtr). I wrote this tune while producing Pat Metheny’s “American Garage” album. Recorded at Red Bus Studios, engineered by the great Steve Taylor.
Claire Hammil “24 Hours From Tulsa” album (1982)
Morrissey-Mullen
“It’s About Time” album (1983)
The Warriors
“Behind the Mask” album
Co-producer: 'Bluey' Maunick (1983)
Hubbard Cubbard
“Hubbard’s Cubbard” album (1983)
Dusty Springfield
“Sometimes Like Butterflies” album (1985)
Hubbard Cubbard
“Nip It In The Bud” album (1985)
Perri
“Prove to Me” soundtrack
Co-Producer: Raymond Jones (1988)
Clive Griffin
“Step By Step” album (1989)
Bandzilla
“Blue Movies” album (1989)
Silje
“Tell Me Where You're Going” album (1990)
Silje & Morten Harkett
“Where You Are” single (1990)
Pet Shop Boys
“Overture to Performance” single
Co-producer: Pet Shop Boys (1991)
I conducted eighty-five musicians through a medley of unusual versions of “It’s A Sin”, “Being Boring”, “Let’s Make Lots Of Money”, “So Hard”, “Suburbia”, “What Have I Done To Deserve This”, “How Do You Expect To Be Taken Seriously” and “West End Girls” - each song performed in a different Hollywood-related style.
When I was invited to see the concert, a single spotlight focused on a red velvet couch—for the entire eight and a half minutes of the “Overture.” No dancers. I was confused, but Tennant explained, “It’s the beginning of the show. People are talking. We wanted them to settle down and listen to the music. The spotlight on the couch gets their interest, as if something’s about to happen. It shuts them up. By the end, something HAS happened. They’ve settled down and listened to this great music!”
Valeriya
“The Taiga Symphony” album
Co-producer, Co-writer:
Alexandr Shulgin (1992)
I have become very skilled in getting non-English speaking natives to sing in English!
Silje
“Cow on the Highway” album (1991)
Osny Melo
“End of the Line” album (1992)
The Michael Ruff Band
“The Michael Ruff Band” album (1992)
Mayumi
“The Art of Romance” album (1992)
I wrote English language lyrics, and also enlisted other lyricists like Neville Farmer and Pat Kane. I got singers Silje, Pat Kane (from Hue & Cry), and Richard Darbyshire (from Living In a Box).
A great budget gave me the best players and studios. Hits & Happiness!
Richard Darbyshire was the frontman from the hit group Living in a Box, and one of the most gifted singer songwriters I have ever known.
Hue & Cry
“Showtime” album (1993)
Pet Shop Boys with BANDZILLA singles Co-producer: Pet Shop Boys (1995)
“Can You Forgive Her” was a PSB song (one of my favorites). Neil asked me to do a Vegas-y, swing version of it and I obliged happily. It features a truly masterful alto sax solo from Nigel Hitchcock. It was always fun to work with PSB, and these tracks were even FUNNER!
Pet Shop Boys “Somewhere” single (1997)
Richard Niles “Santa Rita” album (1999)
Richard Niles “Club Deranged” album (2000)
Katherine Gang “Laughing at Lonely” album (2006)
Younee “True To You” album
(2009)
Elly’s Band album
(2010)
Paul McCartney “Blue Sway” single
Co-producer: Paul McCartney (2011)
Paul had a great number of solo tracks, some songs for films, and some Wings tracks for a project. Because they were unfinished tracks, he called the project Cold Cuts, He asked me to step in as producer/arranger to finish them for him. He said that he had been looking for someone with the arranging and orchestration skills he had relied on with George Martin. But Martin was busy and suggested McCartney find someone else. Paul had recently been working with Trevor Horn, and loved “Slave to the Rhythm”. When Paul asked about me, Trevor said, “Oh yeah. Richard’s great. Mad, but great!”
We worked for the next six months, often in his windmill studio in Rye, Sussex. This is the only one of the 16 tracks we worked on that I know was released – on “McCartney II”. Once again, I used my string section led by Gavyn Wright, and booked Paul’s favorite sax player, Dick Morrisey. I was thinking of the Henry Mancini track “Slow Hot Wind” when I wrote the harmonized counter-melody. But the track was still quite empty, and based on the title, I wrote a lot of blues licks, thinking of the string section as a big Stratocaster!
Bandzilla ft. Elaine Gibbs
“Last Vegas” single (2013)
We turned it around, with the video (!) in a week. But by the time it was finished, the producer had changed his mind! That’s Hollywood for you!
Bandzilla
“Bandzilla Rises!!!” album
ft. Randy Brecker, Leo Sayer
Co-producer: John Thirkell (2016)
It became possible with the kindness of my co-producer John Thirkell, who had played with Bandzilla since the beginning and played trumpet on almost every session I worked on. Nigel Hitchcock played all the saxes, except for Tini Thomsen who played Baritone. Mark Nightingale played all the trombones.
The featured singers here are astounding – Kim Chandler, Randy Brecker, Julia Sokolowska, Daisy Chute, Leo Sayer, Baskerville Jones, Lamont Dozier Jr., Paola Vera, and myself! Here are two tracks, but this is one impossible album!!!
Alexander Niles
“Alex Plays Alex” album
ft. Claire Martin, Blake Aaron,
Martin Taylor
(2019)
The album features guest performances from acclaimed jazz artists Martin Taylor, Danny Gottlieb, Nigel Hitchcock, Ian Palmer, Laurence Cottle, Blake Aaron, John Thirkell, and Claire Martin. File under ‘proud dad’ but, as Grammy-winner Danny Gottlieb said, “Alex is an amazing, special talent.”
Richard Niles
“Niles Smiles” album
Co-producer: John Thirkell (2023)
Richard Niles
“Adventures for Cello and Piano” album
ft. Dennis Karmazyn, Clive Dunstall, Ian Palmer, Mark Egan (2024)
I then got greedy and decided to do two tracks with bass and drums – a funky arrangement of “Debussy’s “Claire de Lune”, and a jazzy TV theme called “Only the Beginning”. And I got even luckier when drummer Ian Palmer and bassist Mark Egan agreed to do it!
Thanks to all the nice things people have said, and I hope it’s only the beginning!
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