Brian Charles Chatton (born 19 July 1948 in

Farnworth Farnworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southeast of Bolton, 4.3 miles south-west of Bury (7 km), and northwest of Manchester. Historically in Lancashire, Farnworth lies on the River I ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

, England) is an English keyboardist, author and songwriter. He played with bands like the Warriors with singer

Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...

and then formed another group named Hickory with drummer and singer

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

, they changed their name for

Flaming Youth Flaming Youth can refer to: * ''Flaming Youth'' (novel), a 1923 novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams * ''Flaming Youth'' (film), a 1923 film based on the novel starring Colleen Moore and Milton Sills * Flaming Youth (band) Flaming Youth were a Britis ...

. Then he joined ex-bassist of

The Nice The Nice were an English progressive rock band active in the late 1960s. They blended rock, jazz and classical music and were keyboardist Keith Emerson's first commercially successful band. The group was formed in 1967 by Emerson, Lee Jack ...

Lee Jackson Lee Jackson is the name of: * Lee Jackson (blues musician) (1921–1979), American Chicago blues musician *Lee Jackson (bassist) (born 1943), English musician *Lee Jackson (composer) (born 1963), American video game composer *Lee Jackson (rugby lea ...

, when the latter formed the second lineup of a band called Jackson Heights.

Biography

Early years

Chatton was born in

, England. From 1950 to 1965, the family lived in

Kearsley Kearsley ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 14,212. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies northwest of Manchester, southwest of Bury and south of Bol ...

. From 1961, Chatton was in The Three Jets with lead guitarist Barry Reynolds (b. 27 October 1949, Bolton, Lancashire, England) and drummer Johnny Pickup. From November 1965 to 1967, Chatton was in the Warriors, with

on vocals, his brother Tony Anderson on vocals and harmonica, Rod Hill and Mike Brereton on guitars, Dave Foster on bass (later in

Badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united ...

with ex-Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye) and future King Crimson drummer Ian Wallace. Jon would eventually join

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

. When Chatton and Anderson moved to London, Chatton met

and they formed a band to back John Walker of

The Walker Brothers The Walker Brothers were an American pop group of the 1960s and 1970s which included Noel Scott Engel (eventually known professionally as Scott Walker), John Walker (born John Joseph Maus, but using the name Walker since his teens) and Gary L ...

. Leaving Walker, the pair formed their own band, Hickory, which then evolved into

1970s

He played keyboards in Jackson Heights from their second album on. Around 1974, he was in Snafu for a short period, alongside

Micky Moody Michael Joseph "Micky" Moody (born 30 August 1950) is an English guitarist, and a former member of the rock bands Juicy Lucy and Whitesnake. He was also a founder-member of Snafu. Together with his former Whitesnake colleague Bernie Marsden ...

and Colin Gibson. He appeared on their third album, ''

All Funked Up ''All Funked Up'' is the third album by British rock/R&B band Snafu, released on Capitol in 1975. The band's line-up for this album included keyboardist Brian Chatton, who had previously played with the Warriors, Flaming Youth, and Jackson Heig ...

'', released 1975. He was on the first '' Rock Follies'' album in 1976. He joined a band put together by Chas Chandler (Animals) and backed

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer. He was previously the lead vocalist of R&B and rock band the Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, po ...

for 8 months, which included dates with both Santana, and Journey at Wembley Stadium. He also wrote the music for Eric's lyrics for a movie featuring Terence Stamp, called "Les Human." He did various sessions in London, playing with Ginger Baker. 3–5-year touring, recording and touring with John Miles band. Toured in America for first time. Roger Glover (Deep Purple) Mike Giles (King Crimson) Jack Green (Marc Bolan/Pretty Things) played on 4 of Jack's albums. Nico McBrain, Pat Travers, Iron Maiden, John Porter, Shep Pettibone (Producer – Pet Shop Boys) In July 1979, Chatton joined Anderson,

Allan Holdsworth Allan Holdsworth (6 August 1946 – 15 April 2017) was a British jazz fusion and progressive rock guitarist and composer. Holdsworth was known for his esoteric and idiosyncratic usage of advanced music theory concepts, especially with respe ...

Jack Bruce John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and ‍bassist ‍of British rock band Cream. After the group disban ...

and

Adrian Tilbrook Back Door were a British jazz-rock trio, formed in 1971. Band members * Colin Hodgkinson (born 14 October 1945, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England) – bass guitar, vocals * Ron Aspery (born Ronald Aspery, 9 June 1946, Middlesbrough, Yor ...

for a one-off performance in London as The All-Star Rock Band.

1980s

He wrote "Take My Love and Run" for The Hollies, their last Polydor single, released in 1981. He also appeared with The Hollies when they promoted the single on TV. He wrote further material for the band's next album, ''What Goes Around''. He toured with

Meatloaf Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat that has been combined with other ingredients and formed into the shape of a loaf, then baked or smoked. The final shape is either hand-formed on a baking tray, or pan-formed by cooking it in a loaf pan. It ...

in 1984. He co-wrote the title track of ''

Madness, Money & Music ''Madness, Money & Music'' is the third album by singer Sheena Easton. It was released in 1982 and produced by Christopher Neil. The album includes the singles "I Wouldn't Beg for Water" (US number 64) and "Machinery" (US number 57, UK number 38 ...

'',

Sheena Easton Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress. Easton came into the public eye in an episode of the first British musical reality television programme '' The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to ...

's third album. In the 1980s, he was in Boys Don't Cry, who had a hit single with "

I Wanna Be a Cowboy "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" is a single by British pop- rock group Boys Don't Cry. The song was written by four of the band members— Brian Chatton, Nick Richards, Nico Ramsden and Jeff Seopardi—and was released in July 1985 as the first new sing ...

". They also included their own version of "Take My Love and Run" on certain versions of their first full-length album. They released three albums during the 80s and reformed to release new material in 2014.

Other work

He later collaborated on the ''Uzlot'' project with Jon Anderson. It stood for over 30 years and then material from this was re-worked and included on Anderson's ''1000 Hands'' solo album, which was released in March 2019. He wrote 7 of the 11 songs =, played some keyboards and sang some backing vocals. Guests on 1000 Hands playing Brian's material include:

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and " ...

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the ''Moder ...

Jean Luc Ponty Jean-Luc Ponty (born 29 September 1942) is a French jazz violinist and composer. Early life Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano. At sixteen, he was admitt ...

, Steve Howe, Alan White,

Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist ...

and many more. He has also worked with

BB King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

Robin Gibb Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his o ...

Keith Emerson Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 1944 – 11 March 2016) was an English keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became ...

, Alan White,

Brian Auger Brian Albert Gordon Auger (born 18 July 1939) is an English jazz rock and rock music keyboardist who specialises in the Hammond organ. Auger has worked with Rod Stewart, Tony Williams, Jimi Hendrix, John McLaughlin, Sonny Boy Williamson, ...

Albert Lee Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943) is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked, both in the studio and on tour, with many famous musicians from a wide range of genres. He has also mai ...

. He has also written music for TV and many adverts featured around the world.

Recent years

He now lives in California and self published his autobiography, ''Rolling with Rock Royalty'', in 2020. Promotional work for the book also involves former Yes keyboardist, Tony Kaye.

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

and Emily Chatton are his daughters.

Lists of collaborators

*B.B. King *

*Meat Loaf+Neverland Express1985 *

The Hollies The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the ban ...

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and African rhythms and pio ...

* Tony Kaye * Alan White *

Chris Squire Christopher Russell Edward Squire (4March 1948 – 27June 2015) was an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Yes. He was the longest-serving original member, having ...

* Peter Frampton * Ian Wallace *Steve Holley *Pauli Cerra *

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...

*Laurence Juber * Tim Bogert *Raymond Gomez *Kevin Eubanks (Tonight Show) *Don Peake * Carmine Appice * Steve Lilliwhite *

Mel Collins Melvyn Desmond Collins (born 5 September 1947, Isle of Man) is a British saxophonist, flautist and session musician. Collins has played in several progressive rock groups, having been a member of King Crimson on two occasions (the first from ...

Ian Paice Ian Anderson Paice (born 29 June 1948) is an English musician, best known as the drummer and last remaining original member of the rock band Deep Purple. He is often cited as one of the greatest drummers of all-time. He remains the only memb ...

* Denny Laine *

Cozy Powell Cozy Powell (born Colin Trevor Flooks; 29 December 1947 – 5 April 1998) was an English rock drummer who made his name with major rock bands and artists such as The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Gary Moore, Robert Plant, ...

Richie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar ...

Alvin Lee Alvin Lee (born Graham Anthony Barnes; 19 December 1944 – 6 March 2013) was an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lead guitarist of the blues rock band Ten Years After. Early life He w ...

*Barry Barlow *Boz Burrell *

Mick Ralphs Michael Geoffrey Ralphs (born 31 March 1944, Herefordshire) is an English musician, vocalist and songwriter, who was a founding member of rock bands Mott the Hoople and Bad Company. Career Ralphs began his career as a teenager, playing with ...

* Chris DeBurgh *Mo Foster *

BJ Cole Brian John Cole is an English pedal steel guitarist, who has long been active as a session and solo musician. Coming to prominence in the early 1970s with the band Cochise, Cole has played in many styles, ranging from mainstream pop and rock to ...

* Clive Bunker *

Julian Colbeck Julian Colbeck (born 1952) is CEO of Keyfax NewMedia and partner with Alan Parsons in "Alan Parsons' The Art & Science of Sound Recording". Formerly a professional keyboard player for over 25 years, Julian is also the author of numerous music-r ...

*Deon Estus (Wham) *Roger Glover (Deep Purple) *Mike Giles (King Crimson) *Jack Green (Marc Bolan/Pretty Things) played on 4 of Jack's albums. *Dave Carlock (TUBES, Pink), *Nico McBrain (Pat Travers, Iron Maiden) *John Porter *Shep Pettibone (Producer – Pet Shop Boys) *Pat Travers (3 albums & live work) *John Miles (Tina Turner, Joe Cocker) *Mike Slamer *Chester Thompson (Genesis) *Andy MacKay (Roxy Music) *

Lemmy Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he w ...

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Oscars and four Grammys, and has been nominated for two Emmys and a Tony. Zimmer was also named on the list of Top 100 Living ...

*Mike & Tim Franklyn (Bruce Hornsby, Joe Walsh) *Danny Lehrman *Rob Vukelich studio owner / engineer / producer Several solo projects + Uzlot with Jon Anderson *John Altman *James Zota Baker ( War / Edgar Winter / Amanda Haley ) *Irvin Magic Kramer (Ray Charles) *Ted Springman (Tony Kaye) *Scott Moyer (session musician) *Clem Burke (Blondie)

Discography

Solo

*''Playing for Time'' (1981), as Chatton, with Phil Collins among others *''Spellbound'' (1989)Brian Chatton – ''Spellbound''
Discogs.com, Retrieved 18 February 2017. *''Chatton Classic Covers – Chapter One'' (2000) *''Industrial Variety'', library music

The Warriors

- Single : *''You Came Along/Don't Make Me Blue'' (1964) - Albums : *''Bolton Club'' (2003) *''The Lost Demos'' (2020)

Flaming Youth

- Singles : *''Guide Me, Orion/From Now On (Immortal Invisible)'' (1969) *''Man, Woman And Child/Drifting'' (1969) *''From Now On (Immortal Invisible)/Space Child'' (1969) *''Guide me, Orion/Earthglow/Pulsar/From now on ( Immortal Invisible )'' (1969) - Album : *''Ark 2'' (1969)

Jackson Heights

*''The Fifth Avenue Bus'' (1972) *''Ragamuffin's Fool'' (1973) *''Bump 'n' Grind'' (1973)

Snafu

*''

'' (1975; CD reissue 2000)

Rock Follies

*'' Rock Follies'' (1976)

John Miles

*''

More Miles Per Hour ''More Miles Per Hour'' was the fourth solo album released by John Miles in 1979. As with ''Zaragon'', the album didn't manage to crack the top 40 in the U.K and the singles from the album failed to chart. For this album, Miles reunited with pr ...

'' (1979) *''Sympathy'' (1980) *'' Miles High'' (1981)

Boys Don't Cry

*''Don't Talk to Strangers'' (EP) (1983), before he was an official member *''Boys Don't Cry'' (1986) *''Who the Am Dam Do You Think We Am?'' (1987) *''White Punks on Rap'' (2009), with unreleased songs from 1983 to 1999 *''Hear It Is'' (2014)

Sessions

* Andy Mackay, '' In Search of Eddie Riff'' (1974) * Alan Hull, ''

Squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a ...

'' (1975) * Brian Parrish, ''Love on My Mind'' (1976) *

Pat Travers Patrick Henry Travers (born April 12, 1954) is a Canadian rock guitarist, keyboardist and singer who began his recording career in the mid-1970s. Early life Travers was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. Soon after picking up the guitar at ag ...

, ''Pat Travers'' (1976) *Vapour Trails, ''Vapour Trails'' (1979) *Jack Green, ''Humanesque'' (1980) *Jack Green, ''Reverse Logic'' (1981) *

, ''What Goes Around'' (1983) *

, ''Best Revenge'' (1986) *

, ''Halfway to Somewhere'' (1995) *

, '' 1000 Hands: Chapter One'' (2019)

References

External links

Official website

''Rolling with Rock Royalty''
Chatton's autobiography {{DEFAULTSORT:Chatton, Brian 1948 births Living people English keyboardists English rock keyboardists English male songwriters English expatriates in the United States People from Farnworth Flaming Youth (band) members