Donald George Evan Richardson (2 March 1928 – 6 March 2008) was a musical arranger, producer, bandleader and promoter in New Zealand. As a songwriter, his songs became hits for some well, known New Zealand artists, including

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

for Shane.

Background

He was born Donald George Evan Richardson in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

on 2 March 1928. He went to school at

Rongotai College Rongotai College is a state single-sex boys' secondary school in the southeastern suburb of Rongotai, Wellington, New Zealand. Serving Years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18), the school has students as of . About 55 percent of the students are of Eu ...

. In his young years, he was something of a prodigy, playing the saxophone. As a teenager, Richardson joined an outfit called the Kiwi Review as a saxophonist.''Blue Smoke: The Lost Dawn of New Zealand Popular Music 1918–1964'', By Chris Bourk
203–204
/ref> In the 1960s, he became a prominent musical arranger. His arrangements became hits for artists such as

Allison Durbin Allison Ann Giles, who performed as Allison Durbin (born 24 May 1950), is a former New Zealand Australian singer, known for her success in the late 1960s and 1970s as a teen idol. She is a relative of Canadian-born actress and lyric soprano Dean ...

Mr Lee Grant Bogdan Kominowski (born 22 April 1945) is a New Zealand singer and actor. He is also known by his stage name, Mr. Lee Grant. He has had a successful singing and acting career, having starred in stage shows such as ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' and ...

, and Craig Scott.''The Dominion Post'', 13 March 200
Donald George Evan, Popular character in Kiwi music
/ref> He was also very well known in Wellington as a bandleader. He also got recognition as a promoter.

Career

1950s

During the mid 1950s, he was leading The Don Richardson Band. The band was made up of Richardson on sax, Mike Gibbs on trumpet, Johnny Williams on sax. Vern Clare on drums, Graeme Saker on double bass, and Bob Barcham on piano.

1960s

He did the arrangements for the single by Tony And The Initials, "End Of Summer" backed with "Again - Off Again". This was released on the W & G label in 1963. In 1969, the single "

, which was produced by Peter Dawkins, and arranged by him became a number one hit, staying in that position for six weeks.

1970s

He did the arrangements for Eliza Keil's album ''Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head'', which was released on the

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

label in 1970. In 1971, he did the arrangements for the a single by Abe Phillips who died later that year. The song "Don't Think You Remember Me", which had the backing of

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the New Zealand Government, per the New Zealand Symphony ...

was described in an article as being "hauntingly beautiful". Also that year, he worked with producer Peter Dawkins on a

Bunny Walters Bunny Te Kokiri Miha Waahi Walters (31 May 1953 – 14 December 2016) was a New Zealand singer who had a number of New Zealand hits during the 1970s. He is best known for the hits "Brandy" and "Take the Money and Run". Walters represented New Z ...

single, "Can't Keep You Out Of My Heart" as musical director. He produced the single "Life On Mars" backed for

Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television and radio personality, comedian, musician, composer, writer, and actor. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-creator and ...

, which was released in 1972.Discog
Steve Allen (4) – Life On Mars
/ref>

Death

He died just after his 80th birthday. The death was possibly as a result of choking during dinner. This resulted in a coma and he died in Wellington Hospital on 6 March 2008. He was aged 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Don Musicians from Wellington City New Zealand music arrangers 2008 deaths 1928 births