Paul Brett (born 20 June 1947 in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) is an English

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

. He played

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the feature ...

with

Strawbs Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock. They are best known ...

(although he was never actually a member), The Overlanders, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown,

Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, at various times also known as "Velvet Opera", was a British rock band active in the late 1960s. Members of the band, Richard Hudson, John Ford and Paul Brett, would later become members of The Strawbs, Hudson Ford ...

, The Velvet Opera,

Tintern Abbey Tintern Abbey ( cy, Abaty Tyndyrn ) was founded on 9 May 1131 by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow. It is situated adjacent to the village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye, which at this location forms the bo ...

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

Roy Harper Roy Harper may refer to: * Roy Harper (character), DC Comics character *Roy Harper (footballer) (born 1929), Australian footballer *Roy Harper (referee) (died 1969), English football referee * Roy Harper (singer) (born 1941), English musician * Roy ...

Al Stewart Alastair Ian Stewart (born 5 September 1945) is a Scottish born singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock so ...

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002), known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the " King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Sco ...

. He switched to

twelve-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

in the 1970s. His first twelve-string guitar suite, ''Earth Birth'', was released on his own

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed d ...

, Phoenix Future, and was produced by artist Ralph Steadman of '' Fear and Loathing'' fame. Critical acclaim led to Brett being signed on a four-album deal with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

. His

K-tel K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including ''The Super Hits'' series, ''The Dynamic ...

''Romantic Guitar'' album went

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

in the UK, but Brett stopped recording soon afterwards. He started recording again in 2000, with long-time friend and fellow twelve-string guitarist, John Joyce. Brett wrote for music magazines ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'', ''

Sound International In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

'' and '' International Musician'' and continued working in the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, trai ...

in the later part of his career. He now writes a regular column for '' Acoustic'', a magazine specializing in

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

s. He is also the Associate Editor and Features Writer for ''Music Maker'' and ''Live in London'' magazines. He has appeared on

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced t ...

's '' Antiques Road Show'' and ''

Flog It ''Flog It!'' is a BBC television series that has been broadcast since 27 May 2002, presented by Paul Martin (although the first five episodes were presented by Mark Harnden). Description The show follows a similar formula to ''Antiques Roadsho ...

'' in the mid-2000s. Brett has worked as a guitar designer for Vintage Guitars in the UK, including The Viator 6 and 12 string travel guitars, The Gemini, The Viaten tenor guitar, and the Paul Brett signature 6 and 12 string guitars. Released in 2017 was the Statesboro' 12 string which is a tribute to the blues musician,

Blind Willie McTell Blind Willie McTell (born William Samuel McTier; May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959) was a Piedmont blues and ragtime singer and guitarist. He played with a fluid, syncopated fingerstyle guitar technique, common among many exponents of Piedmont ...

Discography

With other groups

- ''Sophisticated Beggar'' LP (Strike Records) *

- "Electric Los Angeles Sunset" single, '' Zero She Flies'' LP * Arthur Brown - "Devil's Grip" / "Give Him a Flower" single *

- "Vacuum Cleaner" / "Beeside" single *

- "Volcano" and "Mary Jane" singles *The Velvet Opera - "Anna Dance Square" and "Black Jack Davy" singles, ''Ride a Hustler's Dream'' LP *

- ''Magic Shoemaker'' LP *

- ''

Dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

'' and ''Classic Strawbs'' LPs

Solo material

*(as Paul Brett Sage): ( Pye / Dawn Records) *:''Paul Brett Sage'' (1970) *:''Jubilation Foundry'' (1971) *:''Schizophrenia'' (1972) * Emergence (2014) Paul Brett Sage *Eclectic (2017) Paul Brett Sage *( Bradley's Records) ''Paul Brett'' (1973), ''Clocks'' (1974) *(Phoenix Future) ''Phoenix Future'' (1975) *(

) ''Earth Birth'' (1977) - ''Interlife'' (1978) - ''Eclipse'' (1979) - ''Guitar Trek'' (1980) *(

) ''Romantic Guitar'' (1980) - ''Themes'' - ''Themes 2'' ''Great Themes'' *(Eclipse) ''Guitar For All Seasons'' never released, but 1000 copies pressed. *(Music Manifold) ''Music Manifold'' *(Albion Music) ''Transmissions'' *Brett & Joyce (Fretdancer) ''Acoustic Power'' (2001) *''Collecting Vintage Acoustic Guitars'' DVD (Fretdancer, 2006) *''12 String Guitar & Beyond'' DVD (Fretdancer, 2007) *''Songs from The Compleat Angler'' CD (Fretdancer, 2009)

Other work

Brett has also performed as a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

with The Ivy League, The Flower Pot Men,

Carter & Lewis John Carter & Ken Lewis are English songwriters, who wrote many hits in the 1960s for various pop bands. They were published by Southern Music, and operated out of their recording studios in London's Denmark Street. Personnel details * Jo ...

, Hudson Ford, Johnny Joyce, Michel Polnareff, Max Bygraves,

The Cyril Stapleton Orchestra Cyril Stapleton (31 December 1914 – 25 February 1974) was an English violinist and jazz bandleader. Biography Born Horace Cyril Stapleton in Mapperley, Nottingham, England, Stapleton began playing violin at the age of seven, and played on lo ...

, Ralph McTell,

Neil Christian Neil Christian (born Christopher Tidmarsh, 14 February 1943 – 4 January 2010) Related session musicians * Paul Brett * Jimmy Page * Ritchie Blackmore *Nicky Hopkins * Albert Lee * Mick Abrahams * Carlo Little See also *One-hit wonders in t ...

, Status Quo, Paul King, Barclay James Harvest, Tom Newman and The Overlanders.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brett, Paul 1947 births Living people English rock guitarists English session musicians Progressive rock guitarists People from Fulham Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera members