Keep an eye on One Tree, Parsons will be there

MUMBAI: Having a huge hit single can be something of a mixed blessing. ���Eye in the Sky���, unarguably the Alan Parsons Project���s most popular track, is what most people know the band by. It���s still a favourite at local pubs; one of the few songs that remains pleasing in spite of being a tad overplayed. And yet, the band���s dedicated fans know that ���Eye in the Sky��� is just a tiny part of The Project���s rich musical legacy.

While stopping short of the instrumental excesses of many of its progressive rock contemporaries, Alan Parsons Project was definitely among the vanguard of the movement. The band debuted in 1976 with ���Tales of Mystery and Imagination���, inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe. The next record, I Robot, released a year later, was again a concept album built around the works of Isaac Asimov.

The progressive element in Parsons��� music seems natural considering he spent his early career at an EMI tape duplication facility where he heard the master tape of The Beatles��� ���Sgt Pepper���s Lonely Hearts Club Band���. He says, ���I couldn���t wait to find out the secrets behind the album.

It left me totally in awe of the talent of The Beatles of course, and also the work behind the scenes in the studio���. Parsons was something of a child prodigy, mastering the piano, guitar and the flute at a very young age and so joining the music industry seemed an obvious choice.

Even before he began his career as an artist, Parsons had already carved a place for himself in music history as a recording engineer on Pink Floyd���s ���The Dark Side of The Moon���. Parsons says: ���I couldn't have asked for a better grounding in recording.��� He also produced the biggest hits for British singer-songwriter Al Stewart ��� ���Year of The Cat��� and ���Time Passages���.

The mainstays of the Alan Parsons Project included Parsons himself and Eric Woolfson. The duo spawned several concept albums through the 1980s. After the split of the band, Parsons has continued releasing albums under his own name and began touring as ���The Alan Parsons Live Project���.

His current influences are electronic music from the likes of The Crystal Method, Shpongle, The Nortec Collective and Uberzone. His most recent album, ���A Valid Path���, features a guest appearance by Pink Floyd���s guitarist David Gilmour. And now, Indian audiences can hear Alan Parsons��� magic firsthand as he kickstarts the One Tree Music Festival.

Alan Parsons Live Project will be performing live at the Johnnie Walker One Tree Music Festival in Mumbai on February 2, 2007.

ravi.balakrishnan@timesgroup.com