Biography
George Martin typically comes to mind first whenever orchestral contributions to the Beatles are discussed, given his long tenure as their producer and close collaborator. Richard Hewson, by contrast, also supplied important input during the group’s final period while simultaneously lending his skills to an extensive catalog of pop, rock, folk, and film-music projects.
Hewson trained at the Guildhall School of Music, an institution George Martin had attended a generation earlier. Although his formal studies centered on classical repertoire, Hewson maintained a deep affinity for jazz and big-band swing; he performed guitar in a trio alongside Peter Asher—formerly of Peter & Gordon and brother of actress Jane Asher, whose relationship with Paul McCartney spanned most of the 1960s. The trio’s rehearsals at the Asher residence introduced Hewson to McCartney on a social level. Years afterward, when McCartney needed an orchestral part for Mary Hopkin’s single “Those Were the Days,” he instructed Peter Asher (then an Apple Records executive) to locate an arranger; Asher enlisted Hewson, who has acknowledged that the assignment constituted his initial professional engagement after leaving music school.
The resulting track became a major success, distinguished by its economical yet memorable scoring that prominently featured the Hungarian dulcimer known as the cembalon. Hewson subsequently handled the orchestral duties for Hopkin’s debut album Post Card as well as her follow-up single “Goodbye,” on which he deployed a twelve-viola string section; he likewise supplied the orchestral arrangements for James Taylor’s first Apple release. In 1970 he was commissioned to orchestrate several selections for the Beatles’ Let It Be album, among them “The Long and Winding Road” and “I Me Mine.” In a Good Day Sunshine magazine conversation with Matt Hurwitz, Hewson recounted that producer Phil Spector urged him to assemble the expansive ensemble ultimately heard on “The Long and Winding Road”—an approach the Beatles themselves disliked yet which the public embraced.
Hewson’s expanding résumé of high-profile clients and hit records soon generated assignments beyond Apple’s sphere. His earliest film-scoring opportunity arrived with David Puttnam’s production Melody (also released as S.W.A.L.K.), featuring Mark Lester, Tracy Hyde, and Jack Wild; for the picture he composed incidental cues and prepared orchestral treatments of three Bee Gees songs.
During spring 1971 McCartney again called on Hewson, this time to create instrumental orchestral-and-choral versions of the then-unreleased Ram album. The sessions, completed in June 1971 and archived under Hewson’s name, eventually surfaced six years later as the Thrillington album credited to Percy Thrillington. In 1972 McCartney, now fronting Wings, recruited Hewson once more to furnish orchestral parts for the single “My Love.” By the mid-1970s Hewson was routinely engaged as conductor and arranger for an array of rock acts, among them Island Records outfit Bronco, Supertramp (commencing with Crime of the Century), Al Stewart (Past, Present & Future), Renaissance (Ashes Are Burning, Scheherazade & Other Stories), Carly Simon (“Nobody Does It Better”), Ray Thomas (From Mighty Oaks), and Diana Ross (Baby, It’s Me).
Concurrently he began issuing his own home-recorded material under pseudonyms such as the RAH Band and Key West, scoring dance-chart successes with “The Crunch” and “Looks Like I’m in Love Again,” respectively. In the ensuing decades Hewson has continued collaborating with artists that include Nick Drake, Clifford T. Ward, Hank Marvin, former Renaissance vocalist Annie Haslam, Colm Wilkinson, Cliff Richard, and Elliott Murphy; he also served as arranger and conductor for the 1980 soundtrack of the film Xanadu, which starred Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly. Together with George Martin and Paul Buckmaster—best known for “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”—Hewson stands among the most prominent classically trained figures active in pop and rock.
Hewson trained at the Guildhall School of Music, an institution George Martin had attended a generation earlier. Although his formal studies centered on classical repertoire, Hewson maintained a deep affinity for jazz and big-band swing; he performed guitar in a trio alongside Peter Asher—formerly of Peter & Gordon and brother of actress Jane Asher, whose relationship with Paul McCartney spanned most of the 1960s. The trio’s rehearsals at the Asher residence introduced Hewson to McCartney on a social level. Years afterward, when McCartney needed an orchestral part for Mary Hopkin’s single “Those Were the Days,” he instructed Peter Asher (then an Apple Records executive) to locate an arranger; Asher enlisted Hewson, who has acknowledged that the assignment constituted his initial professional engagement after leaving music school.
The resulting track became a major success, distinguished by its economical yet memorable scoring that prominently featured the Hungarian dulcimer known as the cembalon. Hewson subsequently handled the orchestral duties for Hopkin’s debut album Post Card as well as her follow-up single “Goodbye,” on which he deployed a twelve-viola string section; he likewise supplied the orchestral arrangements for James Taylor’s first Apple release. In 1970 he was commissioned to orchestrate several selections for the Beatles’ Let It Be album, among them “The Long and Winding Road” and “I Me Mine.” In a Good Day Sunshine magazine conversation with Matt Hurwitz, Hewson recounted that producer Phil Spector urged him to assemble the expansive ensemble ultimately heard on “The Long and Winding Road”—an approach the Beatles themselves disliked yet which the public embraced.
Hewson’s expanding résumé of high-profile clients and hit records soon generated assignments beyond Apple’s sphere. His earliest film-scoring opportunity arrived with David Puttnam’s production Melody (also released as S.W.A.L.K.), featuring Mark Lester, Tracy Hyde, and Jack Wild; for the picture he composed incidental cues and prepared orchestral treatments of three Bee Gees songs.
During spring 1971 McCartney again called on Hewson, this time to create instrumental orchestral-and-choral versions of the then-unreleased Ram album. The sessions, completed in June 1971 and archived under Hewson’s name, eventually surfaced six years later as the Thrillington album credited to Percy Thrillington. In 1972 McCartney, now fronting Wings, recruited Hewson once more to furnish orchestral parts for the single “My Love.” By the mid-1970s Hewson was routinely engaged as conductor and arranger for an array of rock acts, among them Island Records outfit Bronco, Supertramp (commencing with Crime of the Century), Al Stewart (Past, Present & Future), Renaissance (Ashes Are Burning, Scheherazade & Other Stories), Carly Simon (“Nobody Does It Better”), Ray Thomas (From Mighty Oaks), and Diana Ross (Baby, It’s Me).
Concurrently he began issuing his own home-recorded material under pseudonyms such as the RAH Band and Key West, scoring dance-chart successes with “The Crunch” and “Looks Like I’m in Love Again,” respectively. In the ensuing decades Hewson has continued collaborating with artists that include Nick Drake, Clifford T. Ward, Hank Marvin, former Renaissance vocalist Annie Haslam, Colm Wilkinson, Cliff Richard, and Elliott Murphy; he also served as arranger and conductor for the 1980 soundtrack of the film Xanadu, which starred Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly. Together with George Martin and Paul Buckmaster—best known for “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”—Hewson stands among the most prominent classically trained figures active in pop and rock.