Bill Aitken profile picture

Bill Aitken

About Me

In the 1960s, Bill Aitken was the founder member of “The Pathfinders”, a popular Glasgow band who later recorded on the Beatles’ Apple label under the name “White Trash”. He played on the same club & dance-hall circuit as Lulu (& the Luvvers), The Marmalade, The Average White Band, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Maggie Bell and Frankie Miller. In the 1970s, Bill was a recording engineer and producer at BBC radio and as a freelance. He worked on recording sessions and live broadcasts with many top music business names, including; Duane Eddy, Don Everly, Gene Pitney, The Kinks, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Queen, Yes, Genesis, Thin Lizzy, Roxy Music, David Bowie, Annie Lennox, Sting, The Police.... to name a few.... During this time, Bill recorded many live music sessions for the John Peel show, and, uniquely, performed his own compositions on the same show. Later, he was a producer at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, working on a variety of radio, tv and film productions. He also worked on a number of Radio 3 Operas with top classical music composers, conductors and producers including; Lord Benjamin Britten, Sir Peter Pears, Sir Edward Downes and Ernest Warburton (BBC Head of Music) - and in Drama & Light Entertainment with many top artistes and writers, including; Ronnie Barker, Douglas Adams, Sir Ian Holm and Dame Judi Dench. Bill has now returned to gigging – performing own material, and also re-creations of classic rock tracks from the 50s to the 80s.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/23/2006
Band Members: * HELP KIDS WITH AIDS!..... * TAKE A FREE DOWNLOAD! * MAKE A DIFFERENCE!....... The final track "Forevermore" of my album is available for free download on Peter Gabriel's we7.com website. Cut and paste the following link to get the free download .................... http://www.we7.com/public/trackDetails?trackId=109553&ut m_source=source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=emailF riendLink .................................... I am donating 100% of my income generated by this song to help TAC (Treatment Action Campaign) a charity set up to help people with AIDS in Africa. More info on this charity is available on.......... http://www.tac.org.za ......... EVERY FREE DOWNLOAD OF "FOREVERMORE" FROM WE7 EARNS A CHARITY DONATION FOR TAC AND COSTS YOU NOTHING! PLEASE SUPPORT THIS CHARITY BY TAKING A FREE DOWNLOAD FROM WE7......... Get a free download of Parts 1 & 2 of my album on... www.myspace.com/thefirstofmaypart1 and.................................... www.myspace.com/thefirstofmaypart2
Influences:
Sounds Like: MAY MORNING CELEBRATIONS - DAWN - MAGDALEN COLLEGE CHAPEL TOWER - OXFORD UNIVERSITYFrom the top of the chapel tower of Magdalen College, Oxford, as the dawn breaks on the First of May, the college choir sing hymns in the sunrise. Te adoremus, O Jesu.. the boys carol in Latin - high, pure voices trailing like a river mist a hundred and forty feet above the onlookers below. The picture of the choirboys shows detail from a romantic rendition of this scene in a work by the Victorian artist, William Holman Hunt. This ceremony, although re-introduced in the nineteenth century, probably has its roots in pre-Christian worship. The custom of greeting the sun on May Morning from a high place with a hymn is thought to be a relic of Druidical custom. Each year, this event draws large crowds of students and townsfolk, who make their way, before dawn, down the high (Oxford High Street), and across the plain, a road junction leading to Magdalen Bridge, which spans the River Cherwell. The river bank near the tower becomes cluttered with scores of punts full of enthusiasts jostling for the best position from which to hear the voices in the sky. (see the picture by Rena Gardiner above). Sublime soprano voices melt into the dawn, as thousands of revellers fall silent below. Many wear elegant ball gowns and tuxedos, rumpled from a wild night of drink and dancing at a college ball. Some sport carnival costume, fairy wings, masks, trailing ivy wreaths, togas, smears and sprinkles of glitter. Others appear bundled up, still bleary from bed, but game - even at six in the morning. Oxford city centre is mobbed with maypoles, street theatre, baroque music, jazz, barber shop quartets, Punch & Judy, parade floats and mobile discos; and Morris Men are everywhere, seeking out often reluctant maidens from the crowd to participate in what appear to be throwbacks to ancient fertility rites. Every year, over 10,000 people gather on the First of May, unperturbed by the incongruous mix of cassocked choirboys and pagan rites; mystical music and drunken carnage.
Record Label: www.we7.com

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