The record
producer David Mackay took over the
production of Cilla Black's music at EMI after she parted company with the
legendary George Martin in 1973. He then produced a series of 1970s singles
for Cilla including the hit Baby We Can't Go Wrong,
as well as two of Cilla's
most prolific studio albums i.e. In My Life and It Makes Me Feel Good.
Born and bred in
Sydney (Australia), David began his musical career at a very young
age in the local theatre and radio. It was also during this time
and through his radio work that he became aware of Cilla's
significant impact on the sixties pop scene.
"When a new Cilla Black
record came out [wow] you just couldn't wait to hear it...I
followed all those early records just bought every record I could
find." - David Mackay
It wasn't long till
David was head-hunted by EMI Australia who, realising his
potential, quickly escalated his position from Recording Engineer
to eventual "Head of A&R". He soon established himself with an
impressive reputation, responsible for producing 30 hits and
discovering some of Australia's hottest acts. Needless to say this
didn't go un-noticed with EMI England transferring him to work at
the legendary Abbey Road studios in London.
David was soon to
find himself working with the likes of Cliff Richard and regularly
spotting many of the British acts he was so conscious of in
Australia eg. The Beatles and of course Cilla Black. It was then
to his surprise that in 1974 he found himself thrust into the
production of a new Cilla album entitled In My Life. The
musical partnership began.
Although not his
favourite album for the fact it was so rushed - In My Life
showcased a new vocal style which David felt continued in the vein
of Step Inside Love [he considered this to be her best
work]. The new sound was an all in attempt to keep Cilla's music
in tune with what the current pop market demanded. However, it
wasn't until the next project It Makes Me Feel Good that
David was really given the chance to develop this style properly.
"I'd just try to find
songs she'd relate to. She's very good at listening and very open.
She'd listen to songs and ideas and we'd discuss lyrics and
content. She and Bobby and I would sit around for hours playing
songs and finding the ones she'd feel comfortable with." -
David Mackay
It Makes Me Feel
Good was in his eyes his best work with Cilla and by far the
project with the most memories attached. It was also to be quite
significant as it was the only album to involve sessions in the
USA. For this, David flew out beforehand to Los Angeles scouting
for suitable song material and musicians. On both counts he
succeeded with some acclaimed musicians now involved e.g. Lee
Rittenour (guitarist) who had worked with Carly Simon, Barbra
Streisand etc, Herbie Flowers (bassist) who'd worked with Elton
John, David Bowie, Harry Nilsson etc and Alan Tarney from The
Shadows. On Cilla and Bobby's arrival the trio began sifting
through the song material and soon after began recording.
There is no doubt
that although eluding commercial success this album still to this
day rates as probably her best work of this decade. The sessions
also yielded what became David's favourite Mackay/Black
collaboration which was Cilla's cover of the Nilsson hit I'll
Take a Tango.
"She was very involved in
this. The idea was getting her away from the pressure of the UK
and it really worked and there was an atmosphere which went
through the whole album." -
David Mackay
David later left
the stables of EMI to independently set up his own company June
Productions Ltd. He also diversified into the medium of
television, arranging and producing themes such as Coca-Cola's
I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing as well as scores for BBC
shows
Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Carla Lane's Bread and As
Time Goes By. Furthermore, the Auf Wiedersehen Pet project
spurred a hit single
That's Livin' Alright by Joe Fagin which won him an Ivor
Novello Award & a BAFTA nomination.
To date David has
left his Midas touch on some pretty amazing projects which have
included sessions with some of the industry's greatest recording
artists like Cliff, Bonnie Tyler, Billy Ocean, The Bee Gees, The
New Seekers, Eric Clapton, Demis Roussos, Harry Nilsson, Dusty
Springfield and of course Cilla.
On the 7
November 2002, this site
caught up with David Mackay who although
busy working at the time on his latest
musical production
125th Street kindly took time-out to do the below video
interview:
[
Video
clips in Real Video quality. Download the player from real.com
]
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