Bob Pridden
- Audio engineer
- roadie
- record producer
Bob Pridden (born 1946) is an English audio engineer, roadie, and record producer, best known for his long-standing position as principal sound engineer for the rock band the Who. He has also worked with a number of other rock musicians and with individual members of the Who on solo projects.[1]
Biography
Bob Pridden was born in 1946 in Ickenham, England, and married Lady Maria Noel.
Pridden grew up only a few miles from the West London neighbourhoods in which Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle lived. His first job was working with the John Barry Seven. He became a roadie for the Who after talking to John Wolff, then the bands main roadie and driver. He made his debut as roadie at a gig in Streatham, London on 15 December 1966, and was promoted to sound engineer in 1969. He has provided the stage mix for every Who concert ever since. According to Pete Townshend in 2007, Pridden and the rest of the band "all converged just before the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. So we have worked together for 40 years.",[2] although he missed the first two trips to the US, finally going for the Herman Hermits tour which started in July 1967.
Career
Pridden is commonly credited for having created on-stage "wedge" monitors in the late '60s; previously, onstage performers had no way to hear themselves singing, so during the 1968 American tour he began placing a speaker cabinet on its side in front of the band. However, the band preferred stage side monitors for a long period, so he helped to develop these with the WEM company, even loaning the bands stage PA to other acts at both the 1969 and 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. Pridden then requested a slanted speaker cabinet that sat on the floor and tilted upwards toward the performer. Since that time, onstage "wedge" monitors have become standard equipment at virtually every live performance of any scale worldwide.[3][4]
Pridden has worked both on stage and in the studio with many other of classic rock's major names, as well as with younger acts. He is credited on several of the Who's albums including Live at Leeds, and produced the 1973 Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert.[5] Pridden served as on stage sound engineer from the Who's 1969 tour onwards, and also for David Bowie and Paul McCartney at Live Aid in 1985.
Many of the Who's songs, especially songs from Who's Next and Quadrophenia, need to have pre-recorded tapes when performed live. Pridden once said, "I don't trust machines. Machines go wrong. My heart pounds before I press the button hoping for it to work." Daltrey also said, "Bob has had the tape recorder thrown at him many a time - especially when the thing'd break!."[6]
Pridden is unusual in the music business for having attained recognition for his technical rather than musical input, and is rare in the fact that his name is known when most roadies and engineers are not. Although over sixty years old, he continued to tour with the Who, mixing many of their later live CD/DVD releases, and in 2006 he co-produced Roger Daltrey's vocals on the Who's album Endless Wire.[7][8] Pridden eventually retired from his post as The Who's onstage sound man in 2016.[9]
See also
- The Who's influence on sound
- Marshall Amplification
References
- ^ "Bob Pridden". Discogs.com. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
- ^ "Article from Pete Townshend's Blog". Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
- ^ Billboard, p. 56, 6 November 1971
- ^ "PA and Foldback Introduction | The Who Equipment | The Who's PA & Foldback | Whotabs". Thewho.net. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
- ^ Murphy, Stephen (September 2002). "The Who 2002 North American Tour" (PDF). Smurphco.com. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ^ Classic Albums: The Who – Who's Next - Eagle Rock (2001)
- ^ "The Who plan new release for June" - TODAYshow.com
- ^ "The Who rock Super Bowl XLIV halftime" Archived 18 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine - Broadcast Engineering
- ^ "'That's when They Were on Fire': Inside the Who's 'Live at Leeds'".
External links
- Bob Pridden at IMDb
- v
- t
- e
- My Generation / The Who Sings My Generation
- A Quick One / Happy Jack
- The Who Sell Out
- Tommy
- Who's Next
- Quadrophenia
- The Who by Numbers
- Who Are You
- Face Dances
- It's Hard
- Endless Wire
- Who
- Live at Leeds
- Who's Last
- Join Together
- Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970
- BBC Sessions
- Blues to the Bush
- Live at the Royal Albert Hall
- Live from Toronto
- View from a Backstage Pass
- Greatest Hits Live
- Live at Hull 1970
- Quadrophenia Live in London
- Live at the Fillmore East 1968
- Tommy
- The Kids Are Alright
- Quadrophenia
- Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who
- Magic Bus: The Who on Tour
- Direct Hits
- Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy
- Odds & Sods
- The Story of The Who
- Phases
- Hooligans
- Who's Greatest Hits
- Rarities Volume I & Volume II
- The Singles
- The Who Collection
- Who's Missing
- Two's Missing
- Who's Better, Who's Best
- Thirty Years of Maximum R&B
- My Generation: The Very Best of The Who
- 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection
- Encore Series
- The Ultimate Collection
- Then and Now
- The 1st Singles Box
- Greatest Hits
- The Who Hits 50!
- Ready Steady Who
- Won't Get Fooled Again
- Wire & Glass
- Tommy
- The Kids Are Alright
- Quadrophenia
- Who's Better, Who's Best
- Thirty Years of Maximum R&B Live
- Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970
- The Who & Special Guests: Live at the Royal Albert Hall
- The Who Special Edition EP
- Live in Boston
- Tommy and Quadrophenia Live
- The Vegas Job
- Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who
- The Who at Kilburn: 1977
- Quadrophenia Live in London
- Lambert & Stamp
performances
- 1962–1963 performances
- Tommy Tour
- The Who by Numbers Tour
- 1979 tour (1979 Cincinnati human crush)
- 1980 tour
- 2000 tour
- 2001 The Concert for New York City appearance
- 2003 The 46664 Concert appearance
- 2006–2007 tour
- Quadrophenia and More
- The Who Hits 50!
- Back to the Who Tour 51!
- 2017 Tommy & More
- Moving On! Tour
- Mitch Mitchell
- Julian Covey
- Chris Townson
- Scot Halpin
- John "Rabbit" Bundrick
- Tim Gorman
- Steve "Boltz" Bolton
- Simon Phillips
- Jon Carin
- Steve White
- Brian Kehew
- J. J. Blair
- Danny Thompson
- Simon Townshend
- Jon Button
- Loren Gold
- Frank Simes
- Pino Palladino
- Reggie Grisham
- Morgan Nicholls
- Chris Stainton
- Scott Devours
- Zak Starkey
- Songs
- Awards and nominations
- Band members
- Musical equipment
- The Boy Who Heard Music
- Lifehouse
- The Who's Tommy
- Rock Is Dead—Long Live Rock!
- The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard
- Who Covers Who?
- "A Tale of Two Springfields"
- "In Concert"
- Double O
- The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
- No Plan B
- Kim McLagan
- Richard Barnes
- Dougal Butler
- Chris Charlesworth
- Kit Lambert
- Chris Stamp
- Bill Curbishley
- Track Records
- Shel Talmy
- Category