David Paton


David Paton is a Scottish bassist, guitarist and singer. He first achieved success in the mid-1970s as lead vocalist and bassist of Pilot, who scored hits with "Magic", "January", "Just a Smile" and "Call Me Round" before splitting in 1977. Paton is also known for his work in the original lineup of The Alan Parsons Project, and for working with acts such as Kate Bush, Camel and Elton John.

Biography

Paton grew up in the south-eastern suburb of Gilmerton, Edinburgh, where he attended Liberton High School. His first band was called The Beachcombers and they signed a recording contract in 1968 with CBS Records. They changed their name for The Boots and published their first single, "The Animal In Me". This was soon followed by "Keep Your Lovelight Burning", but after about two years, the band split because of money problems in 1970. He then replaced a guitarist in the Bay City Rollers, for a short period of time but never recorded with them. After leaving them in October 1970, he became a member of another band called Fresh, which changed their name for Chrystian and published a single, "Nursery Lane", in 1971. While still playing with the band, he took a job as a musician in a nightclub called Tiffanys where he met Ian Bairnson.
In 1973, Paton was a co-founder of Pilot. With Ian Bairnson, Billy Lyall and Stuart Tosh, they recorded several demos with EMI Records and recorded their first album From the Album of the Same Name which was published in 1974. On it was included their first major hit, "Magic" and Bairnson, who was still not an official member of the band, joined them after the recording of the first album. They released their second album Second Flight in 1975, and its single January topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks, ironically beginning on 1 February. and it was followed in 1976 by their third, Morin Heights which was recorded at Le Studio in Morin Heights in Quebec, Canada, and produced by Roy Thomas Baker. The same year, he and Bairnson started working with producer Alan Parsons and published a first album under the name Alan Parsons Project, Tales of Mystery & Imagination. Paton played bass and sang with the band until the 1986 album Stereotomy as he continued to work with other artists as a session musician. He also played on the first two albums by Kate Bush in 1978, The Kick Inside and Lionheart.
In the 1980s, Paton was known for his work with Camel and Elton John in studio albums and touring around the world. Other credits include bass guitar and backing vocals for several albums by Fish, as well as Rick Wakeman in the 1990s, such as The Classical Connection, African Bach, Softsword, The Classical Connection 2 and Prayers. In 1984, he was a member of Keats. In 1985, he participated to the original score for the movie Ladyhawke which was written, composed and played by Andrew Powell and produced by Alan Parsons.
His first solo album was released in 1991, titled Passions Cry, and second album No Ties No Strings was released in 2003. No Ties No Strings was a re-recording of his never released album from 1980.
Paton also appeared solo in the Countdown Spectacular 2 concert series in Australia, between August and September 2007, as a performer and musical director.

Discography

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