Oswald Russell "Ossie" Byrne (1926 – December 1983) was an Australian

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 ...

, best known for producing the early recordings of

The Bee Gees ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, including their first international hit, "

New York Mining Disaster 1941 "New York Mining Disaster 1941" is the debut American single by the British-Australian pop group the Bee Gees, released on 14 April 1967. It was written by Barry Gibb, Barry and Robin Gibb. Aside from a moderately successful reissue of their Austr ...

". The youngest of nine children, he was born into a musical family in Queanbeyan,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. He learned to play cornet and

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

in his youth and joined a Salvation Army band. He fought with the

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, being injured and losing an eye in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

. After the war he played with local groups in Canberra and Sydney, as well as working as a finance officer, and in the mid-1950s he moved to

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wa ...

where he built a small recording studio in his house. In 1961 he recorded a local group, the Del-Fi's, whose recordings had some success, and in 1965 he moved to

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges Riv ...

, Sydney and set up a new studio behind a butcher's shop. Ossie Byrne and The Bee Gees
/ref> Record releases by the Bee Gees in Australia had been relatively unsuccessful commercially at that time, but Byrne was a fan and, in 1966, offered the group almost unlimited recording time to develop their sound. He also became the group's co-manager. At the same time, he worked as producer with successful Australian pop singer Ronnie Burns. In November 1966 the Bee Gees had their first major success, " Spicks and Specks". The group decided to develop their career in England, and Byrne accompanied them. Arriving in England in February 1967, the group immediately won a recording contract with

Robert Stigwood Robert Colin Stigwood (16 April 1934 – 4 January 2016) was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer and impresario, best known for managing Cream (band), Cream, Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees, theatrical productions ...

, and Byrne recorded the single "New York Mining Disaster 1941" with them at the

IBC Studios The IBC Recording Studios were independent recording studios located at 35 Portland Place in London, England. In the 1960s and 1970s, the studios become internationally famous after being used by recording artists like the Kinks, the Who, Bee Gee ...

in Portland Place. It became a hit in the UK, and internationally, and Byrne then produced the group's album, ''

Bee Gees' 1st ''Bee Gees' 1st'' is the third studio album by English group Bee Gees, and their first international full-length recording after two albums distributed only in Australia and New Zealand. ''Bee Gees' 1st'' was the group's debut album for the UK P ...

'' (although the group had released two albums previously in Australia).Biography by Bruce Eder at Allmusic.com
/ref> After that album, Byrne did not work with the Bee Gees again, as the group developed their own independent skills. Byrne remained in London, and produced the only album by

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

band

Eclection Eclection were a British-based folk rock band, originally formed in 1967 in London by Norwegian-born Georg Kajanus (then known as Georg Hultgreen), Canadian Michael Rosen, Australians Trevor Lucas and Kerrilee Male, and Briton Gerry Conway. The ...

in 1968, and the first album by

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

band

Cressida Cressida (; also Criseida, Cresseid or Criseyde) is a character who appears in many Medieval and Renaissance retellings of the story of the Trojan War. She is a Trojan woman, the daughter of Calchas, a Greek seer. She falls in love with Troilus, ...

in 1969. Byrne opened a studio called Village Way recorders in Rayners Lane in Harrow North London which he owned till his death at which time he left it in his will to Paul Layton of the New Seekers. When he went into hospital for his last illness, the studio called in engineer/producer Paul "Doc" Stewart to keep the studio running. Stewart in turn, with the help of Roy Williams of Nervous Records and Steve Rispin made Village way the leading centre for Neo rockabilly and psychobilly until Ossie's death at which point they moved to Tin Pan Alley studios in Denmark Street. Byrne died in London in 1983, of cancer. The Bee Gees dedicated their 1987 album, '' E.S.P.'', to his memory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, Ossie 1926 births 1983 deaths Australian record producers People from Queanbeyan Deaths from cancer in England Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II 20th-century Australian musicians Musicians from New South Wales