Alan Shacklock
Birth name Alan Albert Shacklock Born (1950-06-20 ) 20 June 1950 (age 74) Kingsbury , North London , EnglandGenres Occupations Musician songwriter record producer Instruments Guitar keyboards drums vocals Labels Various Member of Babe Ruth Formerly of The Strangers / The Juniors (UK) The Hi-Numbers The Favourite Sons The Gods Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds Shacklock Website alanshacklock .com
Musical artist
Alan Albert Shacklock (born 20 June 1950[ 1] is an English musician, composer, arranger and recording producer, who lives and works in Nashville , Tennessee . His 1972 song "The Mexican " as performed by Babe Ruth is considered influential in the early development of b-boying and hip-hop culture.[ 2]
Life and career
Alan Shacklock was born in London and began playing guitar as a child. His first band was The Juniors, which included the Rolling Stones ' guitarist Mick Taylor and Jethro Tull bassist John Glascock . He then joined Chris Farlowe 's Thunderbirds. Shacklock later completed classical guitar and lute studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London ,[ 2] [ 3] graduating with a master's degree in music.[ 4]
Well-noted for never being seen without a hat, in 1969 Shacklock played in a band called the Gods , and in 1971 formed the band Babe Ruth . He worked as the group's songwriter and producer from 1971 to 1975, and then left to work as a solo songwriter and record producer. He has received four Grammy Award nominations, and has produced a number of silver, gold and platinum recordings for artists, including Mike Oldfield , Bonnie Tyler , Jeff Beck (of the Yardbirds ), Meat Loaf , the Alarm , the Look , Roger Daltrey (of the Who ), JoBoxers and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber .[ 3]
Shacklock has also produced music for films, including Quicksilver (starring Kevin Bacon ), Doc Hollywood (starring Michael J. Fox ) and Buddy's Song (starring Chesney Hawkes and Roger Daltrey ). He composed original scores for the BBC /PBS wildlife documentaries Puffins and One Man's Island for The Natural World .[ 5] The scores were performed by the London Symphony and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras , and premiered at the Royal Festival Hall in London. In 1994, Shacklock also composed the original score for the FIFA World Cup . With Sir George Martin , he was a founder of the British Record Producers Guild.[ 4]
The band Babe Ruth reunited in 2006 and produced a new album of songs, Que Pasa , written by Shacklock, followed by concert dates in 2010.[ 6]
Awards
Shacklock received EMI 's Songwriter of the Year Award for the number one Christian hit "The True Believers", released in 1995 by Christian artist Phil Keaggy .[ 4]
References
External links