David Paton
Paton in 2017 in Magdeburg, Germany
Paton in 2017 in Magdeburg, Germany
Background information
Born (1949-10-29) 29 October 1949
Edinburgh, Scotland
GenresPop, rock
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Bass, guitar, vocals
Years activeLate 1960s–present
Websitedavidpatonsongs.com

David Paton (/ˈpeɪtən/; born 29 October 1949)[1] is a Scottish bassist, guitarist and singer. He first achieved success in the mid-1970s as lead vocalist and bassist of Pilot, who scored hits with "Magic", "January", "Just a Smile" and "Call Me Round" before splitting in 1977. Paton is also known for his work in the original lineup of The Alan Parsons Project (1975-1985), and for working with acts such as Kate Bush, Camel and Elton John.

Biography

Early life

David Paton, Countdown Spectacular 2, Australia, 2007
Albert Hammond & David Paton 2018, Live in Schneeberg, Germany

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland,[1] Paton grew up in the south-eastern suburb of Gilmerton, Edinburgh, where he attended Liberton High School. At the age of 11 he got his first guitar, which he learned to play as an autodidact.[2] His first band was called 'The Beachcombers' and they signed a recording contract in 1968 with CBS Records. They changed their name to The Boots and published their first single, "The Animal In Me".[3] This was soon followed by "Keep Your Lovelight Burning".[4] Because of financial problems, the band split up in 1970.

Career

Paton initially joined the Bay City Rollers for a short period of time but never recorded with them. He joined in 1968, as their bassist, when bassist Alan Longmuir switched to full-time guitarist. After leaving them in October 1970, Longmuir switched back to bass, and Paton became a member of another band called 'Fresh', which changed their name to Christyan and released a single, "Nursery Lane", in 1971.[5] While still playing with the band, he took a job as a musician in a nightclub called Tiffanys where he met Ian Bairnson.

Pilot

In 1973, Paton was a co-founder of Pilot. With Ian Bairnson, Billy Lyall and Stuart Tosh, they recorded several demos with EMI Records and recorded their first album From the Album of the Same Name which was published in 1974.[6] On it was included their first major hit, "Magic" [7] and Bairnson, who was still not an official member of the band, joined them after the recording of the first album. They released their second album Second Flight in 1975, and its single "January" topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks, ironically beginning week ending 1 February.[8] and it was followed in 1976 by their third, Morin Heights which was recorded at Le Studio in Morin Heights in Quebec, Canada, and produced by Roy Thomas Baker.

The Alan Parsons Project

The same year, he and Bairnson started working with producer Alan Parsons and published a first album under the name Alan Parsons Project, Tales of Mystery & Imagination. Paton played bass and sang with the band until the 1986 album Stereotomy as he continued to work with other artists as a session musician. He briefly returned to sing and play acoustic guitar at the Project's only live appearance in 1990 for the Night of the Proms, while Laurence Cottle played bass guitar as he'd done on Gaudi and Freudiana. Paton wasn't asked to participate in any further Parsons albums or tours.

Solo

His first solo album was released in 1991, titled Passions Cry (under the name of Davie Paton), and the second album Fragments in 1996, that was also under the same name. In 1980, Paton already recorded an album with the title No Ties No Strings at the Abbey Road Studios, which was never released.[9] In 2003, however, the album The Search was released, which was a new recording of the "lost album" from 1980. In the following years, David Paton released other solo albums.

Later works

He also played on the first two albums by Kate Bush in 1978, The Kick Inside and Lionheart.

In the 1980s, Paton was known for his work with Camel and Elton John in studio albums and touring around the world. Other credits include bass guitar and backing vocals for several albums by Fish, as well as Rick Wakeman in the 1990s, such as The Classical Connection, African Bach, Softsword, The Classical Connection 2 and Prayers. In 1984, he was a member of Keats.[10] In 1985, he participated to the original score for the movie Ladyhawke which was written, composed and played by Andrew Powell and produced by Alan Parsons.

Paton also appeared solo in the Countdown Spectacular 2 concert series in Australia, between August and September 2007, as a performer and musical director.[11][12]

In 2014, Paton, Bairnson and also Stuart Tosh re-released as the full band Pilot an album called A Pilot Project,[13] which contains exclusively tracks from the Alan Parsons Project. That same year, on 6 September 2014, David Paton, Ian Bairnson and Stuart Tosh played Midfest in Edinburgh for the first time in 39 years with the original line-up (minus the late Billy Lyall).[14]

In 2016 and 2017, Paton, along with Ian Bairnson, was back live as Band Pilot, primarily in Japan, the UK and Germany. They were supported by Kenny Hutchison (keyboards, vocals), Calais Brown (guitar, vocals), Dave Stewart (drums, vocals) and Irvin Duguid (keyboards, vocals).

In 2019, David Paton sort of single-handedly released a follow-up to A Pilot Project, The Traveller - Another Pilot Project.[15] With a few exceptions, he recorded all the instruments himself. In 2020, Paton's next solo album 2020 was released.

In July 2021, Pilot (Paton and Bairnson) released The Magic EP, featuring 4 completely re-recorded older songs: Magic, January, Just A Smile and Over The Moon. The latter was completely rearranged for this purpose. On 21 March 2022, the long-announced follow-up album The Magic Collection was released, on which the EP tracks are also included.

The publication of his book Magic: The David Paton Story is planned for 30 June 2023.

Discography

Solo

Title Year
Passions Cry 1991
Fragments 1996
The Search 2003
Fellow Man 2007
The Studio Diary Songs 2009
Under the Sun 2012
2020 2020

With David Paton & Friends

Title Year
Originals 2007

With Boots

Singles

Title Year
The Animal in Me 1968
Keep Your Lovelight Burning 1968

With Pilot

Studio albums

Year Album
1974 From the Album of the Same Name
1975 Second Flight
1976 Morin Heights
1977 Two's a Crowd
2002 Blue Yonder
2014 A Pilot Project
2019 The Traveller - Another Pilot Project
2021 The Magic EP
2022 The Magic Collection

Singles

Year Title
1974 "Just a Smile"
"Magic"
"Ra-Ta-Ta"
1975 "January"
"Call Me Round"
"Just a Smile" (new version)
"Lady Luck"
1976 "Running Water"
"Canada"
"Penny in My Pocket"
1977 "Get Up and Go"
"Monday Tuesday"

With The Alan Parsons Project

Studio albums

Title Year
Tales of Mystery and Imagination 1976
I Robot 1977
Pyramid 1978
Eve 1979
The Turn of a Friendly Card 1980
Eye in the Sky 1982
Ammonia Avenue 1984
Vulture Culture 1985
Stereotomy 1985

With Kate Bush

Studio Albums

Title Year
The Kick Inside 1978
Lionheart 1978

With Camel

Title Year
The Single Factor 1982
Stationary Traveller 1984
Dust and Dreams 1991
On the Road 1982 1994
Harbour of Tears 1996

With Keats

Single

A-Side B-Side Year
Turn Your Heart Around Ask No Questions 1984

Studio albums

Title Year
Keats 1984

With Rick Wakeman

Single

A-Side B-Side Year
Don't Fly Away After Prayers 1991

EP

Titles Year
Welcome a Star

The Lord's Prayer
Await The Hour

 1996

Studio albums

Title Year
Time Machine 1988
The Classical Connection 1991
African Bach 1991
Softsword 1991
The Classical Connection 2 1993
Prayers 1993
Rock & Pop Legends: Rick Wakeman 1995
Almost Live in Europe 1995
The New Gospels 1996
Can You Hear Me? 1996
Orisons 1996

With Fish

Studio albums

Title Year
Internal Exile 1991
Songs from the Mirror 1993
Suits 1994

Live albums

Title Year
Derek Dick & His Amazing Electric Bear 1991
There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Fish 1992
For Whom the Bells Toll 1993
Toiling in the Reeperbahn 1993
Uncle Fish & The Fish Creepers 1993
Acoustic Session 1994
Sushi 1994
Lucky Bastards 1994
Fortunes of War 1998
The Complete BBC Sessions 1999

Singles

Title Year
Lady Let It Lie 1994
Out of My Life 1994
Black Canal 1994

With Sadie Paton

Singles

Title Year
Don't Touch Me 2012
Love Song 2018

With Eric Woolfson

Studio album

Title Year
Eric Woolfson sings The Alan Parsons Project That Never Was 2009

References

  1. 1 2 "David Paton News - The Edinburgh Echo". Davidpaton.com. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  2. ↑ David Paton (Pilot) Interview (5/13/23) on YouTube
  3. ↑ "The Boots (5) - The Animal In Me (Ricordati Di Me) (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. June 1968. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  4. ↑ "The Boots (5) - Keep Your Lovelight Burning (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. November 1968. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  5. ↑ "Christyan - Nursery Lane / Desperate Dan - Decca - UK - F 13275". 45cat.com. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "Pilot - From The Album Of The Same Name". Discogs.com. 12 December 1974. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  7. ↑ Pilot - 'Superpop', 28-08-76 (7 songs live) on YouTube
  8. ↑ "Pilot". Official Charts. 2 November 1974. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  9. ↑ "New Music". davidpatonsongs.com. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  10. ↑ "Keats Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  11. ↑ "The Countdown Spectacular returns for 2007". thedwarf.com.au. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  12. ↑ David Paton PILOT January Countdown Spectacular 2 LIVE 2007 ABC1 on YouTube
  13. ↑ Official website of A Pilot Project
  14. ↑ "Midfest 2014 festival Sat, 06 Sep 2014". loudmemories.com. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  15. ↑ Official website of Another Pilot Project
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