16 Facts About Gus Dudgeon

Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, "Your Song".

The Guinness Book of Records cites Gus Dudgeon as being the first person to use sampling in music production.

Gus Dudgeon was a founding member of the Music Producers Guild.

Angus Boyd Dudgeon was born on 30 September 1942 in Woking, Surrey, England.

Gus Dudgeon helped in the auditions for Tom Jones and the Rolling Stones.

Gus Dudgeon rose to co-produce Ten Years After's debut album in 1967.

At the urging of producers Denny Cordell and Andrew Loog Oldham, Gus Dudgeon moved into production, setting up Tuesday Productions in 1968.

However, Gus Dudgeon was sometimes critical of his and Elton John's work, and is quoted in Elizabeth Rosenthal's His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John as castigating 1974's Caribou, saying that "the sound is the worst, the songs are nowhere, the sleeve came out wrong, the lyrics weren't that good, the singing wasn't all there, the playing wasn't great and the production is just plain lousy".

Gus Dudgeon went on to produce Michael Chapman's first three albums, Rainmaker, Fully Qualified Survivor, and Wrecked Again.

Gus Dudgeon was credited by Bowie as the voice of the gnome on The Laughing Gnome.

In 1972, Gus Dudgeon produced Joan Armatrading's debut, Whatever's for Us, written by Armatrading and her then collaborator Pam Nestor.

Gus Dudgeon produced two singles for the duo, "Lonely Lady" and "Together in Words And Music".

Gus Dudgeon produced two highly successful albums for Elkie Brooks: Pearls and Pearls II, the former peaking at No 2 and remaining in the UK Albums Chart for 79 weeks.

In 1980, Gus Dudgeon started working with Mary Wilson of the Supremes on her second solo album.

Gus Dudgeon worked with a variety of acts, including Shooting Star, Audience, Chris Rea, Ralph McTell, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Lindisfarne, Judith Durham, Fairport Convention, the Sinceros, the Beach Boys, Solution, Voyager, Steeleye Span and Angie Gold.

In 1989, Gus Dudgeon produced the debut solo album by Thomas Anders.