David C. Lawson (born 25 April 1945) is an English keyboardist and contemporary composer who in the 1970s was a member of UK progressive rock band Greenslade.
Biography
Early years and Greenslade
Lawson was born in Alton, Hampshire, England on 25 April 1945. His father was the manager of a grocery shop in Yateley.[1][2]
Lawson was educated at Lyndhurst, Charterhouse and Tonbridge School, where he received his first formal music training. He studied the music with the Royal Air Force School of Music, developing his performance skills, mostly on piano. He also studied clarinet, flute and soprano saxophone. He studied privately with the noted jazz pianist and composer Stan Tracey. After five years with the RAF, he studied piano again with Tracey.[1]
Greenslade
During the 1970s Lawson was a member of Greenslade, an English progressive rock band which formed in the autumn of 1972.[3] They 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).
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.[5]
The band announced their disbandment in early 1976, due to management problems, 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. In the late 1970's he played mellotron on a BBC live broadcast of David Bedford's Instructions for Angels.[citation needed] 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. Lawson also played with Curved Air and in 1982, whilst recording with Bill Wyman, was invited to play with Foreigner.[3]
Later years
Lawson played on the soundtrack of the film The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) and later played with John Williams and the LSO for the films Star Wars (1977), Superman (1978) and The Fury (1978). 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.[5] 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 a number of successful feature films and television programs.[3]
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.
1981: Music Machine – Alan Hawkshaw / Brian Bennett / Dave Lawson
1981: Current Affairs – Dave Lawson / John Cameron
1989: The Paradise Club (six tracks) – Dave Lawson / Snake Davis and the Charmers / Carmel / Stan Tracey Big Band & others (BBC soundtrack album, REB 764)
1997: Shades of Green (1972–75) – Greenslade
1999: BBC on Air – Greenslade: Highland HL380 (promotional only)