Rich Dodson (born July 1, 1947) is a Canadian musician and songwriter who is the guitarist, vocalist and a founding member of the rock trio The Stampeders. He is best known for penning the group's biggest hit, " Sweet City Woman", which hit number 1 in Canada and number 8 on the US ''

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'' in 1971. He also wrote other notable hits for the band such as "Wild Eyes" (1972), "Devil You" (1971), "Johnny Lightning" (1974) and "Carry Me" (1971). Dodson has stated that his influences come from instrumental bands of the 1960s such as

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson (musician), Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar acro ...

and

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the bac ...

, as well as Lovin' Spoonful and The Zombies. On stage, he is known for playing his self-designed Fender double neck guitar. Dodson left the Stampeders in 1978 to pursue his interests in music production and built his own 24-track recording studio called Marigold Studios. There he produced his own solo material as well as producing and engineering "Fate Stay with Me" (1987) for

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...

. In that same year, he began his nationally distributed independent record label called Marigold Productions. Dodson went on to have a successful solo career with three top-ten hits in Canada including "Lookin' Back" (1981), "She's Comin' Back/Your Own Kind of Music" (1985), and "Cruel Emotion" (1986). In 1994, Dodson released his solo songs on an album called ''Secret Hits'' on Aquarius Records. In 1992, Dodson re-united with his Stampeders bandmates. The band continue to tour Canada doing fairs, festivals, casinos and theatres. In 1994, Dodson was inducted into the SOCAN Hall of Fame for composing "Sweet City Woman" and "Carry Me". In February 2006, Dodson was inducted into the

Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame () is a Canadian non-profit organization, founded in 1998 by Frank Davies, that inducts Canadians into their ''Hall of Fame'' within three different categories: songwriters, songs, and those others who have m ...

with "Sweet City Woman". His daughter, Holly Dodson, is a singer-songwriter, vocalist, and key member in Canadian synth-pop trio Parallels.

Discography

Singles

Stampeders songs written by Dodson

*"Morning Magic" (1967) *"Be a Woman" (1968) *"Crosswalk" (1969) *"Carry Me" (1971) *" Sweet City Woman" (1971) *"Devil You" (1971) *"Monday Morning Choo Choo" (1972) *"Wild Eyes" (1972) *"Johnny Lightning" (1973) *"Running Wild" (1974) *"Ramona" (1974) *"San Diego" (1976) *"Baby with You" (1984) *"Oh Belinda" (1996) *"Hometown Boy" (1997)

References

External links

The Stampeders
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodson, Rich 1947 births Living people Canadian male singers Canadian rock guitarists Canadian male guitarists Canadian male songwriters Musicians from Calgary Musicians from Greater Sudbury Singers from Ontario Writers from Calgary Writers from Greater Sudbury Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year winners Singers from Alberta