Peter Eden was born on 1943 and is a British former record producer and record label executive, best known for his work in the mid-1960s with Donovan, and later with jazz musicians such as John Surman.
10 Facts About Peter Eden
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Peter Eden turned professional in the early 1960s, and became a backing musician for such singers as Susan Maughan and Mike Sarne.
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Peter Eden liked Donovan's songs, and agreed with local songwriter Geoff Stephens that they should manage him and produce his records.
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Donovan was signed by Pye Records, and Peter Eden co-produced his first single, "Catch the Wind", which reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart in 1965, and the albums What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid and Fairytale.
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Peter Eden had a particular interest in British jazz music, and started promoting it within the progressive music scene and in British colleges, working with musicians such as John Surman, Mike Gibbs, Mike Westbrook, Mike Osborne, Norma Winstone, and Alan Skidmore.
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In 1969, while still helping to run the Dawn label at the time of Mungo Jerry's success on the label, Peter Eden set up his own independent label, Turtle Records, releasing three progressive jazz albums by Mike Osborne, John Taylor, and Howard Riley.
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Increasingly disillusioned with the recording industry, Peter Eden scaled down his music business involvement, and started to run his own record store in Southend-on-Sea.
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Peter Eden continued to manage and produce the folk-rock band Heron, and undertook other occasional production work, including in 1974 the album Milky Way Moses by Finnish band Tasavallan Presidentti.
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Also in the mid-1970s, Peter Eden wrote and produced the music and stories for the children's television series Animal Kwackers, occasionally appearing in costume on the show as the drummer, Bongo.
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Peter Eden helped put together bands in the town, and curated the compilation album, The Best Of British Rockabilly Volume 1, as well as two compilations of Southend Rock.