Norman William Paramor (15 May 1914 – 9 September 1979),
known professionally as Norrie Paramor, was a British
record producer
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
,
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
,
arranger
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
,
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
,
bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...
, and
orchestral conductor
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duties ...
. He is best known for his work with
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
and
the Shadows
The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...
, both together and separately, steering their early careers and producing and arranging most of their material from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. Paramor was a composer of studio albums, theatrical productions, and film scores.
Producer
Although the term "producer" was not in circulation at the time Paramor started producing records (the usual term being Artiste and Repertoire Manager, or
A&R man), he effectively began this role in 1952 when he became Recording Director for
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
's
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
.
As well as being producer for Cliff Richard and the Shadows, he produced records for
Ruby Murray
Ruby Florence Murray (29 March 1935 – 17 December 1996) was a Northern Irish singer. One of the most popular singers in the British Isles in the 1950s, she scored ten hits in the UK Singles Chart between 1954 and 1959. She also made pop chart ...
,
Eddie Calvert
Albert Edward "Eddie" Calvert (15 March 1922 – 7 August 1978) was an English trumpeter, who enjoyed his greatest success in the 1950s. Between 1953 and 1958, Calvert achieved seven instrumental hits on the UK Singles Chart, including two ch ...
,
Michael Holliday
Norman Alexander Milne, known professionally as Michael Holliday (26 November 1924 – 29 October 1963) was a British singer, who was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
He had a number of chart hits in the UK, including two number one si ...
,
Helen Shapiro,
Frank Ifield
Francis Edward Ifield OAM (born 30 November 1937) is a British-Australian country music singer and guitarist who often incorporated yodelling into his music. After living in Australia, Ifield returned to the United Kingdom in November 1959 wher ...
,
Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan (born Frank Fruim Abelson; 3 February 1928 – 17 September 1999) was an English singer and actor who recorded more than 80 easy listening and traditional pop singles in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after his ...
,
the Mudlarks
The Mudlarks were an English pop vocal group of the late 1950s and early 1960s. They had two Top 10 UK hit singles in 1958.
Career
The Mudlarks were a family group from Luton, Bedfordshire, England, originally comprising Fred Mudd (1933–2007), ...
,
the Avons
The Avons were a British pop vocal group. Originally composed of Valerie Murtagh (born 1936, Willesden, London) and Elaine Murtagh, (born 1940, County Cork, Ireland) and known as 'The Avon Sisters', they added Raymond S. Adams (born 1938, Jersey, C ...
, and
Ricky Valance, among others. Per ''
The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles
''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (originally known as ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' and ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums'') was a music reference book originally published in the United Kingdom by the publishing arm of t ...
'', Paramor and
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...
his opposite number at EMI sister label
Parlophone
Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...
jointly held the record for having produced the most
UK Number 1 hit singles until Martin produced "
Candle in the Wind 97" for Sir
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
, 18 years after Paramor died.
This ignores
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' second single "
Please Please Me
''Please Please Me'' is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Produced by George Martin, it was released on EMI's Parlophone label on 22 March 1963 in the United Kingdom, following the success of the band's first two s ...
", produced by Martin, which was recognised as a number one hit by every other publicly available chart of the time, but not by ''
Record Retailer
''Record Retailer'' was the only music trade newspaper for the UK record industry. It was founded in August 1959 as a monthly newspaper covering both labels and dealers. Its founding editor was Roy Parker (who died on 27 December 1964). The title ...
'' and therefore not by ''British Hit Singles'', which uses that chart as its source from 1960.
[
In the late 1960s he left EMI to form his own production company.]
Composer
In 1955, he formed Norman Paramor & His Orchestra and in 1956 they recorded one of the biggest-selling albums from the Capitol of the World import series, released by another subsidiary of EMI, Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
: ''In London in Love'', featuring the soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
Patricia Clarke, who was used in many subsequent selling albums. This became his trademark orchestral signature sound, and was featured on ''Autumn'', ''Amor Amor'', ''In London'', ''In Love Again'', ''Warm and Willing'', ''My Fair Lady'', and ''Moods'', among others.
Paramor also composed music for films, including ''Serious Charge
''Serious Charge'' (also known in US release as ''A Touch of Hell'') is a 1959 British film, directed by Terence Young, produced and co-written by Mickey Delamar (with Guy Elmes). It was adapted from a stage play written by Philip King. The fi ...
'' (1959), ''Expresso Bongo
''Expresso Bongo'' is a 1958 West End musical and a satire of the music industry. It was first produced on the stage at the Saville Theatre, London, on 23 April 1958. Its book was written by Wolf Mankowitz and Julian More, with music by Davi ...
'' (1959), '' The Young Ones'' (1961), ''No My Darling Daughter
''No My Darling Daughter'' is a 1961 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and featuring Michael Redgrave, Michael Craig, Roger Livesey, James Westmoreland (credited as Rad Fulton), and Juliet Mills. It was based on the play ''Handful o ...
'' (1961), ''The Frightened City
''The Frightened City'' is a 1961 British neo-noir gangster film about extortion rackets and gang warfare in the West End of London. It stars Herbert Lom, John Gregson and a pre-Bond Sean Connery, who plays a burglar called Paddy Damion. He ...
'' (1961), ''A Pair of Briefs
''A Pair of Briefs'' is a 1962 black and white British courtroom comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Michael Craig, Mary Peach, Brenda De Banzie and James Robertson Justice. The screenplay concerns a newly qualified female barri ...
'' (1962), ''Two and Two Make Six
''Two and Two Make Six'', also known as ''A Change of Heart'' and ''The Girl Swappers'', is a 1962 black and white British romantic comedy film directed by Freddie Francis and starring George Chakiris and Janette Scott.
Unusually, the two women ...
'' (1962), ''The Wild and the Willing
''The Wild and the Willing'' is a 1962 British romantic drama film, directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Virginia Maskell, Paul Rogers, and Samantha Eggar. It is the film debuts of Ian McShane, John Hurt, and Samantha Eggar. It depicts a grou ...
'' (1962), ''The Fast Lady
''The Fast Lady'' is a 1962 British comedy film, directed by Ken Annakin. The screenplay was written by Henry Blyth and Jack Davies, based on the 1925 novel of the same name by Keble Howard. Don Sharp directed second unit.
"The Fast Lady" is th ...
'' (1963), '' Doctor in Distress'' (1963), '' Father Came Too!'' (1963), and ''My Lover, My Son
''My Lover, My Son'' is a 1970 American-British coproduction drama film directed by John Newland. It tells the story of a mother played by Romy Schneider clinging to her maturing son. The film is based on Edward Grierson's 1952 novel ''Reputati ...
'' (1970). He co-wrote the 1962 hit song "Let's Talk About Love" for Helen Shapiro.
In 1962, Paramor was the subject of "A Tribute to Norrie Paramor" by David Frost
Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ' ...
on the satirical British television programme ''That Was the Week That Was
''That Was the Week That Was'', informally ''TWTWTW'' or ''TW3'', is a satirical television comedy programme that aired on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced, and directed by Ned Sherrin and Jack (aka John) Duncan, and pre ...
'' for, the sketch claimed, taking undeserved songwriting credits and royalties, "writing ordinary tunes with ordinary words" and " akingeverything ordinary."
In 1968, he was the musical director for the Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
, staged at the Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
, the first to be broadcast in colour. He also conducted the UK entry that year, "Congratulations
Congratulations may refer to:
Film and television
*'' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'', 2005 television programme to commemorate its fiftieth anniversary
Music Albums
* ''Congratulations'' (album), an album by ...
", performed by Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
.
In 1970, he became the resident conductor for BBC Midland Radio Orchestra
A radio orchestra (or broadcast orchestra) is an orchestra employed by a radio network (and sometimes television networks) in order to provide programming as well as sometimes perform incidental or theme music for various shows on the network. In ...
, a post he held until his death.[ In 1977, Paramor and his orchestra recorded with the Shadows for a final time, on the track "Return to the Alamo".
]
Death
Paramor died on 9 September 1979 at the age of 65, a fortnight after Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
had returned to the top of the UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
with " We Don't Talk Anymore", his first number one single in more than ten years. Paramor and Richard had worked together professionally from 1958 to 1972.
See also
*''Just We Two
''Just We Two'' is the title of a recording by the Norrie Paramor and his Orchestra, released 1956 in Australia on Columbia LP record 330S-1076 and 1959 in the United States on Capitol LP record T10111.
For this album Paramor used a smaller gro ...
'', recording by Norrie Paramor and his orchestra
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paramor, Norrie
1914 births
1979 deaths
Deaths from cancer in England
English conductors (music)
British male conductors (music)
English music arrangers
English record producers
English songwriters
Eurovision Song Contest conductors
20th-century British conductors (music)
20th-century English musicians
20th-century British male musicians
British male songwriters