Sandy Roberton

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Alexander William "Sandy" Roberton (7 July 1942 – 25 July 2022) was a British record producer and music business owner. His 60-year career spanned record production, artist management, record label ownership, and producer management.

Summary[edit]

After a brief early career as a recording artist in the mid-1960s, Roberton moved into music publishing, running the London offices of Chess Records and promoting songs from their music publishing companies Arc, Regent and Jewel. With record producer Mike Vernon, he helped to set up publishing for the Blue Horizon record label during the British blues boom that saw acts like John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Chicken Shack and Fleetwood Mac achieve success. In 1968 he established his own record production and artist management company, September Productions. In the folk rock era of the 1970s he managed and produced bands such as The Liverpool Scene, Steeleye Span and Plainsong. In 1977 he established his own record label, Rockburgh Records, and released some 40 albums and singles by various artists, including four solo albums by singer Iain Matthews, formerly of Fairport Convention and Matthews Southern Comfort.

In 1980, Roberton moved into producer management and established his Worlds End Management company in London, which claimed to be the first of its kind to represent the interests of producers, mixers, and sound engineers. He was also credited with establishing the 'points' system, whereby his clients would receive royalties for the work they did on producing artists' records. In 1985 he moved the company's base to Los Angeles. He became a US citizen in 2004 and ran his business there until his death, along the way founding two more record labels, Beverly Martel and IAMSOUND. Over the course of four decades, Worlds End became the leading management company in its field, with more than 75 producers on its books during the 1990s and early 2000s.

Early years[edit]

Roberton was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 7 July 1942. His parents emigrated to Africa when he was six years old.^[1] His father, Robert, was a tractor technician involved in the British Government's post-war Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme in East Africa. In consequence, he was raised firstly in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), and latterly in Kenya, where as a teenager he had his first taste of the local music scene in a group called Les Hombres.^[2] Roberton recalled in 1978, "It was a really professional band. We actually did gigs and had amps and a PA."^[3]

Roberton moved to London in 1963 to pursue a career in the burgeoning music business. He took day jobs at Olivetti typewriters and the department store C&A,^[4] and his nights were spent developing his singing career. He began playing in the Dive Bar at the King's Head pub in Soho, where he was often joined on stage by an old school bandmate, Rick Tykiff. They were signed up to a record deal by record producer Tom Springfield, brother of singer Dusty Springfield, and recorded several singles in 1965 as 'Rick and Sandy' for the Decca and Mercury labels, including "Half as Much", "I Remember Baby" and "Lost My Girl".^[5] The last two songs were produced and arranged by songwriter Les Reed, who later wrote hits for Tom Jones, including "It's Not Unusual" and "Delilah".^[6]

Tykiff departed, and in 1966 Roberton began a solo career and released a cover of Neil Diamond's 'Solitary Man'^[7] on Columbia under the name Sandy. A cover of Bob Dylan's 'Baby You've Been On My Mind', backed by a group called Fleur De Lys, followed in 1967 and was released on Polydor under the name Lucien Alexander.^[8][9]

By then, Roberton was working in music publishing. He was running the London office of Chess Records' publishing companies Arc Music,^[a] Regent Music^[b] and Jewel Music^[c] through the offices of music publishers Chappell & Co.^[d] in Mayfair. Their writers included Blues greats Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley.^[16] He also ran the London office of Bill Lowery's company Lowery Music,^[e] whose writers included Joe South, Tommy Roe, Mac Davis, and Billy Joe Royal.

Roberton's job mostly consisted of convincing UK artists to record songs from the catalogues of these companies. Georgie Fame's cover of Billy Stewart's 'Sitting In The Park', which went to number 12 in the UK music charts in December 1966,^[19] was one of his achievements. The Jewel Music song 'It Ain't Right' by Little Walter was one of several Blues covers used on John Mayall's 1966 album Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton.^[20]

This album resulted in a life-long connection between Roberton and producer Mike Vernon. It led to Roberton leaving Chappell and joining Vernon and his brother Richard at Blue Horizon, a specialist blues label that Mike Vernon had started in 1965.^[21] They set up two Blue Horizon music publishing companies, Goodie Two Shoes Music and Uncle Doris Music.^[22] The label became synonymous with the cream of British blues in the late 1960s and released music by Chicken Shack, Duster Bennett, Christine Perfect (later Christine McVie) and Fleetwood Mac, including Fleetwood Mac's debut album in 1968.^[23]

In 1967, Roberton moved into music production and produced two singles^[f] by The Chocolate Watch Band,^[g] an English band featuring Gary Osborne, who later wrote hits for Elton John in the early 1980s.

September Productions[edit]

In 1968, Roberton formed his own music production and artist management company, September Productions Ltd. One of his first signings was The Liverpool Scene, a poetry and music collective from Liverpool featuring poet Adrian Henri and guitarist Andy Roberts, with Mike Evans,^[25] Mike Hart, Percy Jones and Brian Dodson. Roberton co-produced their first album, Amazing Adventures of, along with DJ John Peel, who had featured their music on his BBC radio shows.^[26]

In two years under Roberton's management, Liverpool Scene released four albums^[h] on the RCA label ; played on the same day as Bob Dylan at the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival in front of 150,000 fans; toured on a three-act bill with Blodwyn Pig and Led Zeppelin, which included playing at the Royal Albert Hall in London;^[28] and finally broke up in May 1970 after a financially disastrous US tour.^[29]

A first solo album by guitarist Andy Roberts, Home Grown,^[30] produced by Roberton and recorded during Roberts' final days with Liverpool Scene, was released on RCA in March 1970.^[i] A second album, Everyone,^[32] by his post-Liverpool Scene band Everyone, was released on the B & C record label^[j] in 1971, in a deal Roberton negotiated when the RCA relationship came to an end. In a magazine interview in 2013, Roberton said that when his relationship with RCA ended, he had been approached by Lee Gopthal, co-owner of Trojan Records, who wanted to move into different areas of music and sign his own acts. ^[34]

By the time the Everyone album was released the band no longer existed,^[k] and Roberton and Roberts had begun working with singer Iain Matthews, whose debut solo LP, If You Saw Thro' My Eyes, the first of a three-album deal with Vertigo Records, was released in May 1971.^[36] Roberton was brought in as producer, uncredited, at Roberts' suggestion when the original producer began missing recording sessions.^[37] This was the beginning of a long relationship with Matthews, in which Roberton produced the third album of the Vertigo deal, Journeys From Gospel Oak (recorded in November 1972^[38] but not released until 1974).^[39] He produced four more Matthews solo albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s on his own record label, Rockburgh Records.

In his early days as a producer, Roberton's preferred recording studio was Sound Techniques in Old Church Street, Chelsea, an 18th-century former dairy that had been turned into a studio in 1965 by sound engineers Geoff Frost and John Wood.^[40] The September Productions stable of artists included Scottish folk singer Shelagh McDonald, singer Keith Christmas, and flautist Harold McNair, all of whom had albums produced by Roberton and released on B & C in the early 1970s. Among the others were English folk rock band Decameron, Spirogyra, American singer Marc Ellington, and artists on the 1970s folk scene including Tim Hart and Maddy Prior, Gay and Terry Woods; and in the early 1980s, singer John Martyn, who he managed and produced.^[41]

His biggest breakthrough was with Steeleye Span, the British folk rock band formed by Ashley Hutchings following his departure from Fairport Convention in November 1969.^[42] Roberton produced their first three albums: Hark! The Village Wait released on RCA in 1970,^[43] Please to See the King released on the B & C label in 1971,^[44] and Ten Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again released on Pegasus in 1971.^[45] Roberton became one of the best-known producers for the best of British folk rock bands, along with John Wood, Joe Boyd, and Tony Cox. He also co-produced with Ashley Hutchings the album No Roses^[46] by Shirley Collins and The Albion Country Band, which was nominated as 'Folk Album Of The Year' in August 1971 by Melody Maker journalist Karl Dallas.^[47]

Roberton also managed and produced folk rock/country rock band Plainsong, which was formed at the end of 1971 by Andy Roberts and Iain Matthews with pianist and bass player David Richards and guitarist Bobby Ronga.^[48] The band's debut album, produced by Roberton, In Search of Amelia Earhart, received critical acclaim when it was released in October 1972. Record Mirror called it "The Contemporary Folk Record of the Year";^[49] and rock journalist Charles Shaar Murray, reviewing the album in New Musical Express, described it as "one of the classic albums of 1972".^[50][l]

The album did not sell well. The band broke up acrimoniously at the end of December 1972 and Matthews and Roberts pursued separate careers as solo artists. Matthews signed with Elektra Records and went to California to work with former Monkee-turned-record producer Mike Nesmith.^[52] Roberts recorded two solo albums with Sandy Roberton as producer which were released in 1973 on the Elektra label, Urban Cowboy^[53] and Andy Roberts And The Great Stampede.^[54]

Matthews and Roberton worked together again in 1973 and co-produced the album If It Was So Simple by Longdancer,^[55] a folk rock band that included Dave Stewart. Stewart found fame in the 1980s with singer Annie Lennox in The Eurythmics.

Rockburgh Records[edit]

In 1977 Roberton formed his own record label, Rockburgh Records. The name was derived from a combination of Rock 'n' Roll and Edinburgh, his place of birth. Rockburgh Records existed from 1977 to 1981, and released over 40 albums and singles by a roster of artists which included The Woods Band (Gay and Terry Woods), British singer-songwriter Allan Taylor, Australian rock band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, former Dr. Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson, and Iain Matthews.

Roberton produced four albums for Iain Matthews in the late 70s/early 80s: Stealin' Home (1978), Siamese Friends (1979), Spot of Interference (1980) and Shook (1984). 'Shake It' from Stealin' Home reached no.13 in the US Billboard Hot 100 in February 1979^[56] giving Matthews his first hit single since topping the UK charts in 1970 with Matthews Southern Comfort's cover of 'Woodstock'.^[57] All four albums were remastered in 2005 by BGO Records as part of a series of Iain Matthews re-releases; and again in March 2022, with demos, outtakes and live recordings, as part of a 6-CD box set from Cherry Red Records, I Can't Fade Away: The Rockburgh Years (1978-1984).^[58]

In 1980, Roberton and Matthews released a 27-track, double album compilation of Matthews material, Discreet Repeat,^[59] which included tracks from the Rockburgh albums they had made together and Matthews' earlier solo 1970s albums, plus some tracks from the Plainsong 'Amelia' album. A shorter version of this compilation was released on CD by Line Records in 1988.^[60]

Worlds End Management[edit]

In the early 1980s, Roberton's involvement as a record producer ended and his focus shifted to working with and managing other record producers. The last of the 55 albums he is credited with producing was Well Kept Secret^[61][m] by John Martyn, whose management Roberton had taken over in 1980.^[63] It was the second of two John Martyn albums released on WEA, the first being 1981's Glorious Fool produced by Phil Collins, and commercially his most successful.^[64]

Roberton founded the Worlds End Management Company in Chelsea, London, in 1980 with business partner Paul Brown. The name came from the area of Chelsea in which they had their offices.^[66] The company billed itself as "probably the first full service company to ever solely represent record producers, mixers and sound engineers". One of the first clients managed by Worlds End was British record producer Tim Palmer, who Roberton first encountered as a tape operator in the 1980s.^[67] Palmer became Roberton's client for nearly 40 years, along with such artists as Robert Plant, David Bowie, Tears For Fears, Pearl Jam.

Worlds End's base moved to Los Angeles in 1985. Roberton became sole owner,^[68] and the company represented successful producers such as The Matrix, the songwriting collective consisting of Lauren Christy, Graham Edwards and Scott Spock, that had a big hit in 2002 with Avril Lavigne's debut studio album Let's Go. He later worked with artists such as Britney Spears, Shakira, Korn and Liz Phair.^[69]

In 2007 Roberton set up the independent record label Beverly Martel, which released music by acts such as The Philistines Jr., Amelia Carey, the High Divers and Josh Difford.^[70] In 2007, with his daughter Niki, he co-founded the IAMSOUND record label that helped to launch the careers of artists such as Florence and the Machine, Lord Huron, Nikki Lane and Charli XCX.^[71]

Over four decades, Worlds End became a leading management company, with over 75 producers on its books during the 1990s and early 2000s. By the time of Roberton's death in 2022, it represented producers and mixers who included Tim Palmer, Stephen Lipson, Larry Klein, Brad Wood, Stephen Hague and Ted Hutt.^[72]

Personal life[edit]

Roberton married Dinah (née Cullen), his former PA at music publishers Chappell & Co, in November 1968. They had two children, Christian and Nicola.

Roberton died in London on 25 July 2022, aged 80, after a short battle with cancer. He was survived by his wife,

Both of Roberton's children established successful careers in the entertainment industry. His son Christian^[n] is President of Technicolour Creative Studios,^[o] the largest visual effects company in the world. His daughter Nicola, better known as Niki Roberton, joined RCA Records in September 2022.^[75][p] and is Senior Vice President, Creative.

Tributes[edit]

Tributes were paid to Sandy Roberton when news of his death spread across the music industry in July 2022. He was described in Billboard as a "trailblazing manager of producers and engineers",^[77] as "an influential manager who helped pioneer the concept of representing music production clients",^[78] and as "one of the music industry's most significant unsung, behind-the-scenes heroes."^[79]

Among the accolades were the following from veteran musician and songwriter Andy Roberts, record producer and mixing engineer Tim Palmer, songwriter Lauren Christy from The Matrix; and record producer Stephen Lipson.

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Recommended reading[edit]

• Ian Clayton: In Search Of Plainsong, Route Publishing, 2022; ISBN 978-1901927-87-0
• Iain Matthews with Ian Clayton: Thro' My Eyes: A Memoir, Route Publishing, 2018; ISBN 978-1901927-75-7
• Clinton Heylin: What We Did Instead Of Holidays: A History Of Fairport Convention And Its Extended Folk-Rock Family. Route Publishing, 2018; ISBN 978-1901927-73-3