Paul Granville Samwell-Smith (born Paul Smith, 8 May 1943, in Richmond, Surrey, England) is an English musician and record producer. He was a founding member and the bassist of the 1960s English rock band

the Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samw ...

, which launched leading guitarists Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page to fame. As a youth, Samwell-Smith attended Hampton School with Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty. While in the Yardbirds, he co-produced and

engineered Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more specializ ...

much of their music, working with record producers such as

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind scores of hit singles for acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Choco ...

, Simon Napier-Bell and Giorgio Gomelsky. Samwell-Smith was a major contributor to the original tracks written by the Yardbirds during his tenure with the band. He left the group in June 1966 to pursue a career as a record producer.

The Yardbirds

In late May 1963, he formed the Yardbirds with Keith Relf,

Anthony Topham Anthony "Top" Topham (born 3 July 1947, Southall, Middlesex) is an English musician and artist. He is best known as a blues guitarist and also for being the first lead guitarist of The Yardbirds. Topham left the band before they achieved mains ...

, Chris Dreja, and Jim McCarty. During this period his primary instrument was a short-scale Epiphone Rivoli bass. He played on the UK albums, '' Five Live Yardbirds'' and '' Yardbirds'' (also known as '' Roger the Engineer'') and on the US albums ''

For Your Love "For Your Love" is a rock song written by Graham Gouldman and recorded by English group the Yardbirds. Released in March 1965, it was their first top ten hit in both the UK and the US. The song was a departure from the group's blues roots ...

'', '' Having a Rave Up'', and '' Over Under Sideways Down'' (which was ''Roger the Engineer'' retitled for the US market), all released on Epic Records. He provided background vocals on many songs like "

Good Morning Little School Girl "Good Morning, School Girl" is a blues standard that has been identified as an influential part of the blues canon. Pre-war Chicago blues vocalist and harmonica pioneer John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson first recorded it in 1937. Subsequently, a ...

", "

", " Heart Full of Soul", "

Evil Hearted You "Evil Hearted You" is a 1965 song by English rock group the Yardbirds. It was written by future 10cc member Graham Gouldman, who also wrote the group's two prior singles, "For Your Love" and "Heart Full of Soul". It reached No. 3 on the main ...

", and more. He composed the Gregorian chant arrangements and lyrics of the songs "Still I'm Sad" and "Turn Into Earth". While in the Yardbirds he started working on the technical side in the studio. In 1966, becoming tired of touring and wanting to focus on production, he left the Yardbirds and was replaced by Jimmy Page. The last Yardbirds album he played on was ''Roger the Engineer''. Regarding Samwell-Smith's years with the Yardbirds, a 2020 article in

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original arti ...

opined: "As a bassist, Paul Samwell-Smith was solid and occasionally prominently inventive. No doubt, had he stuck to that he’d have been feted as an influence by many." In the early 1980s, Samwell-Smith played in the Yardbirds reunion band

Box of Frogs Box of Frogs were an English rock music, rock band formed in 1983 by former members of the Yardbirds, who released their first album in 1984. The core group consisted of Chris Dreja, Paul Samwell-Smith, and Jim McCarty. Vocals on their eponym ...

with original Yardbird members Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty. The Box of Frogs did not tour because Chris Dreja was busy with his photography and Samwell-Smith was busy in the recording studio. He was inducted to the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music an ...

as a member of the Yardbirds in 1992.

Records and film

Producer

He went on to become a successful producer with credits including

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...

' albums '' Tea for the Tillerman'' (1970), ''

Teaser and the Firecat ''Teaser and the Firecat'' is the fifth studio album by Cat Stevens, released in October 1971. At the Australian 1972 King of Pop Awards the album won Biggest Selling LP. Overview The album contains 10 songs, including the hits "Morning Has B ...

'' (1971) and '' Catch Bull at Four'' (1972). An article in

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

praised Samwell-Smith's "deft, understated touch" on these recordings as a primary reason for their commercial success, and commented: "The chamber ensemble palette Samwell-Smith employed, consisting mainly of acoustic guitars, piano, upright bass and hand percussion, and the refined arrangements he crafted, perfectly complement the interior landscapes that Stevens was exploring. Stevens had the pure, raw talent, certainly, but it was Samwell-Smith who seemed to understand how best to transmute and position that talent for maximum artistic impact." Samwell-Smith also produced recordings for Jethro Tull, Carly Simon,

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

, Murray Head, Chris de Burgh, Beverley Craven, Toto Coelo,

Illusion An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may ...

and

Claire Hamill Josephine Claire Hamill (born 4 August 1954) is an English singer-songwriter. In addition to her solo career, she has collaborated with Wishbone Ash and Yes's Steve Howe. Life and career Claire Hamill was born in Port Clarence, County Durham ...

. Other production credits include two of

Amazing Blondel Amazing Blondel are an England, English acoustic progressive folk band, containing Eddie Baird, John Gladwin, and Terry Wincott. They released a number of LPs for Island Records in the early 1970s. They are sometimes categorised as psychedelic ...

's albums for

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, an ...

; the first and second albums by All About Eve for Mercury; and "

American Tune "American Tune" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the third single from his third studio album, '' There Goes Rhymin' Simon'' (1973), released on Columbia Records. The song, a meditation on the American experience, is ...

" (1973 single) with Paul Simon.

Film

Paul Samwell-Smith was the musical producer for the film ''

Harold and Maude ''Harold and Maude'' is a 1971 American romantic black comedy–drama film directed by Hal Ashby and released by Paramount Pictures. It incorporates elements of dark humor and existentialist drama. The plot follows the exploits of Harold Chase ...

'' in 1971, with music written by

, which became a cult classic. In addition, two decades later, he produced ''

Postcards from the Edge ''Postcards from the Edge'' is a semi-autobiographical novel by Carrie Fisher, first published in 1987. It was later adapted by Fisher herself into a motion picture Postcards from the Edge (film), of the same name, which was directed by Mike Ni ...

'' in 1990, as a music sound recording and recording supervisor.

References

External links