Biography
The Alan Parsons Project was the collective reference to several lineups of a British progressive rock team, active between 1975 and 1990, whose rosters consisted of Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson surrounded by a varying number of session musicians and some relatively consistent band members such as guitarist Ian Bairnson, arranger Andrew Powell, bassist and vocalist David Paton, drummer Stuart Elliott, and vocalist Lenny Zakatek. Behind the revolving line-up and the regular sidemen, the true core of the Project was the duo of Parsons and Woolfson. Parsons was an audio engineer and producer by profession, but also a musician and a composer. A songwriter by profession, Woolfson was also a composer, a pianist, and a singer. Almost all songs on the Project’s albums are credited to “Woolfson/Parsons”. Noted contributors to the Project were, David Patton, Stuart Elliott, Stuart Tosh, John Miles, Lesley Duncan, Gary Brooker, and many more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alan_Parsons_Project
Album & Cover
Eve is the fourth studio album by The Alan Parsons Project. Eve’s focus is on the strengths and characteristics of women, and the problems they face in the world of men. The album had originally been intended to focus on “great women in history”, but evolved into a wider concept, https://www.the-alan-parsons-project.com/eve. The album features several songs from a misogynist point of view, unusual for an Alan Parsons Project album and is the first album with singer Chris Rainbow. Billboard reviewed the album as another epic rock tale from storyteller Parsons who has previously rhapsodized about robots and pyramids. This time out he breathes new life into the Adam & Eve tale. Side one is devoted to the fall from a man’s point of view while side two emphasizes the woman’s feelings. Parsons effectively achieves the dichotomy by using a male voice (Lenny Zakatek, David Paton, Dave Townsend, Chris Rainbow) on some songs and a female voice (Clare Taylor) on others. As expected, the music is professional with both rockers and ballads exhibiting orchestral and electronic influences. Production is superb. Best cuts: “Winding Me Up,” “If I Could Change Your Mind,” “Secret Garden,” “You Lie Down With Dogs.”
The cover art features two women wearing veils, with their faces partially in shadow. The image wraps around from left side of the front cover to the back. Two of the women are shown on the front cover, with the third on the back. On the shaded part of each woman’s face, the shadows and veils partially conceal disfiguring scars and sores. The women were models who were hired for the photo shoot.
Cover Location: Hipgnosis Studio, London, UK. & Ruelle De La Fonderie, South-western France.
Who Did What: Photography – A. Powell
Label: Arista AL9504(US), Arista SPART 1100(UK)
Source: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art, The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue: Aubrey Powell
Tracklist
| Side One Lucifer You Lie Down With Dogs I’d Rather Be A Man You Won’t Be There Winding Me Up |
Side Two Damned If I Do Don’t Hold Back Secret Garden If I Could Change Your Mind |
Credits
Drums [And Percussions] – Stuart Elliott
Engineer – Alan Parsons
Executive-Producer – Eric Woolfson
Guitar [Acoustic And Electric] – Ian Bairnson
Instrumentation By [Contributions] – Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson
Keyboards – Duncan Mackay, Eric Woolfson
Mastered By – Wally Traugott
Orchestra – The Orchestra Of The Munich Chamber Opera
Orchestra [And Choir Arranged And Conducted By] – Andrew Powell
Orchestra [Co-ordinator] – Curtis Briggs
Producer – Alan Parsons
Vocals – Chris Rainbow, Clare Torry, Dave Townsend, David Paton, Lenny Zakatek, Lesley Duncan
Written-By – Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson
