Ron Richards (born Ronald Richard Pratley; 22 January 1929 – 30 April 2009) was a British record producer, manager and promoter, best known for discovering

the Hollies The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in Manchester 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. Singer Allan Clarke and ...

.Lastingtribute.co.uk

Early life

Richards was born in London to Mary Lipscombe and an unknown Irish jockey, and was adopted at an early age. He became a proficient pianist as a child and, after being

conscripted Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

, played the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

for the

Central Band of the Royal Air Force The Central Band of the Royal Air Force is an Royal Air Force, RAF regular band and is part of Royal Air Force Music Services. The motto of the band is ''Aere Invicti'' (Latin for "Invincible with the Brass"). History The Central Band of the R ...

Career

Richards started working as a

song plugger A song plugger or song demonstrator is an individual who promotes music to musicians, record labels, and customers. Song pluggers work for a music publishing company or operate independently. The function of the role has evolved as advances in mu ...

in London's Tin Pan Alley in 1952, and discovered songwriter Jerry Lordan. He later worked at

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

imprint as an assistant to producer

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

, who recognised his potential as a producer. Richards discovered

, and signed them to a recording contract with Parlophone in 1963. He produced most of the Hollies' music between 1963 and 1979, during which time they had seventeen Top 10 hit singles in the UK, as well as worldwide success. At first, Martin was not greatly involved with Parlophone's new signing,

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, and Richards was assigned to produce their first session in June 1962, which included drummer

Pete Best Randolph Peter Best (; born 24 November 1941) is an English retired musician who was the drummer for the Beatles from 1960 to 1962. He was dismissed shortly before the band achieved worldwide fame and is one of several people referred to as a ...

. It was Richards who originally considered Best unsuitable for recording work, although he was not very impressed by Best's replacement,

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

. Richards hired session drummer Andy White, and Richards and Martin produced the Beatles' first single "

Love Me Do "Love Me Do" is the debut single by the English rock band the Beatles, backed by " P.S. I Love You". When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1962, it peaked at number 17. It was released in the United States i ...

". Richards had suggested the Beatles' first record should be "

How Do You Do It? "How Do You Do It?" is a song, written by Mitch Murray. It was recorded by Liverpudlian band Gerry and the Pacemakers, and became their debut single. This reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 11 April 1963, where it stayed for three w ...

" penned by

Mitch Murray Mitch Murray (born Lionel Michael Stitcher; 30 January 1940) is an English songwriter, record producer and author. He has won two Ivor Novello Awards, including the Jimmy Kennedy Award. Murray has written, or co-written, songs that have produ ...

and, after Martin took control of the Beatles' sessions, Richards worked with

Gerry and the Pacemakers Gerry and the Pacemakers were an English beat group prominent in the 1960s Merseybeat scene. In common with the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein and recorded by George Martin. Their early successes helped make ...

, who were the first act to go to No. 1 with each of their first three singles, "How Do You Do It?", " I Like It" and, using Martin's string arrangement, "

You'll Never Walk Alone "You'll Never Walk Alone" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical '' Carousel''. In the second act of the musical, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the protagonist Julie Jordan, sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" to comfort and e ...

". In August 1965, Richards joined Martin in leaving EMI to start

Associated Independent Recording Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producers George Martin, John Burgess (record producer), John Burgess, Ron Richards (producer), Ron Richards, and Peter Sullivan (rec ...

. Working for

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Alvin Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous rev ...

, Richards was also the musical director for P.J. Proby, and together they worked on the ''Proby'' albums. Richards is mentioned in the Beatles' bootleg recordings during the session for " Think For Yourself". After George Martin makes a few mistakes,

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

joked about getting Richards to produce ''

Rubber Soul ''Rubber Soul'' is the sixth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles. It was released on 3 December 1965 in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label, accompanied by the non-album double A-side single "We Can Work It Ou ...

'' instead. The exact words were, "I wonder if Ron Richards is free tomorrow?" followed by laughs. One of the songs on ''Rubber Soul'' is George Harrison's "

If I Needed Someone "If I Needed Someone" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by George Harrison, the group's lead guitarist. It was released in December 1965 on their album ''Rubber Soul'', except in North America, where it appeared on the J ...

". On the same day that the ''Rubber Soul'' LP came out in Britain (3 December 1965), a cover of that song was released by the Hollies - produced by Ron Richards.

Personal life

Ron Richards who was married in 1954 to Ellen Fraser, had two sons and a daughter. He died in

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, on 30 April 2009, and his funeral was held on 15 May in

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 cens ...

References

External links

Obituary
in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Ron 1929 births 2009 deaths English record producers Musicians from London The Hollies EMI The Beatles English people of Irish descent English adoptees