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| - David Axelrod (born April 17, 1936, Los Angeles) is an American composer, arranger and producer, across a wide range of musical genres.
His father was active in radical labour union politics, and Axelrod was raised in South Central Los Angeles, where he grew up listening to R&B and jazz music. After a stint as a boxer, he found studio work in the booming film and television industry, and was soon in demand as a drummer, producer and arranger. He produced his first album in 1959, saxophonist Harold Land’s The Fox, which was seen as a landmark record showing that West Coast musicians could play top quality hard-edged jazz.
In late 1963, he joined Capitol Records as a producer and A&R man, and encouraged the label to develop their black artists. He began working with Lou Rawls, producing his successful Live album and a succession of gold albums and hit singles including "Love Is A Hurting Thing", "Your Good Thing Is About To End" and "Dead End Street", which Axelrod wrote and produced. He also began working with Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, one of the most successful jazz crossover artists of the 1960s. Axelrod produced Adderley’s 1967 album Live At the Club, which spawned one of the biggest jazz hits of the period, the funky "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”, written by the band’s pianist Joe Zawinul, which reached # 11 in the US pop charts.
Around this time Axelrod also began working with a regular group of leading session musicians, notably Howard Roberts (guitar), Carol Kaye (bass) and Earl Palmer (drums), first using them on records by David McCallum and then used to fill out two records that were released by the Electric Prunes, Mass In F Minor and Release Of An Oath. The Electic Prunes disbanded during the recording sessions and Axelrod's team completed the albums. These used sweeping strings, booming sound and heavy beats in a way that was unique for the time and became highly influential many years later. Axelrod’s success also encouraged Capitol to allow him to produce solo albums, the first two of which, Song Of Innocence (1968) and Songs Of Experience (1969), were homages to the mystical poetry and paintings of William Blake. His third solo album, Earth Rot (1970), warned of the impact of environmental pollution and degradation.
At the same time, Axelrod continued to work with Adderley and Rawls, and with the South African singer Letta Mbulu, bandleader David Rose, and unsuccessful psychedelic groups Common People and Hardwater. In 1970, he left Capitol and over the next few years issued a rock version of the Messiah and further solo albums, as well as continuing to work with Adderley on several albums until the latter’s death in 1975. His approach fell out of fashion for a while, and three solo albums he recorded in the 1980s went unreleased.
His work as arranger and composer began to be rediscovered in the early 1990s, and to be sampled by artists such as DJ Shadow and Lauryn Hill. (en)
- David Axelrod (né le 17 Avril 1936, à Los Angeles) est un compositeur, arrangeur et producteur américain, dans de nombreux genres musicaux.
David Axelrod a grandi à Los Angeles en écoutant de la musique R&B et du jazz. Après avoir trouvé un métier dans un studio de l'industrie du film et de la télévision, il est rapidement demandé en tant que batteur, producteur et arrangeur. Il produit son premier album en 1959, The Fox, avec le saxophoniste Harold Land.
Lorsqu'en 1963 il rejoint Capitol Records, il pousse le label à promouvoir les artistes noirs. Après avoir travaillé, entre autres, avec Lou Rawls, il produit l'album Live At the Club (1967) de Cannonball Adderley, incluant l'un des plus grands succès du jazz de l'époque, "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", écrit par le pianiste du groupe, Joe Zawinul.
Le succès de David Axelrod encourage Capitol à le laisser produire ses propres albums, dont les premiers sont Song of Innocence (1968) et Songs Of Experience (1969), un hommage à l'oeuvre de William Blake. Son troisième album, Earth Rot (1970), dénonce la pollution et la dégradation de l'environnement.
En 1970, il quitte Capitol pour fonder son propre label ; sur les années qui suivent sortent d'autres albums solo, ainsi qu'une version rock du Messie, tout en continuant à travailler avec Cannonball Adderley sur plusieurs albums jusqu'à sa mort en 1975.
Quand on redécouvre ce compositeur et arrangeur dans le début des années 1990, des artistes comme Diamond D et Buckwild du D.I.T.C, DJ Shadow et Lauryn Hill samplent ses albums. En 1993, il sort son premier album depuis plus de dix ans, Requiem: Holocaust, alors que plusieurs compilations de ses albums précédents font aussi leur apparition.
David Axelrod signe chez Blue Note Records en 2005. (fr)
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