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Richard Anthony Hewson (born 17 November 1943) is an English producer, arranger, conductor and multi-instrumentalist, who created the studio group RAH Band.

Career

Hewson began in the late 1960s as an arranger, and worked with musicians such as the Beatles ("I Me Mine" and "The Long and Winding Road"), the Bee Gees (Melody), James Taylor ("Carolina in My Mind"), Herbie Hancock, Clifford T. Ward, Supertramp, Pilot (Pilot), Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Art Garfunkel, Leo Sayer, Paul McCartney (Thrillington), Mary Hopkin ("Those Were The Days"), Al Stewart, Chris de Burgh, Fleetwood Mac and Chris Rea. He also arranged strings on several Cliff Richard albums, I'm Nearly Famous (1976), Every Face Tells a Story (1977) and Green Light (1978). Hewson also worked with the British band Jigsaw, including arrangements for their hit single, "Sky High".

Apart from his own RAH Band project, in the 1980s he was a producer for Toyah Willcox, Five Star, and Shakin' Stevens. He was a co-producer and conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra on Cliff Richard's 1983 live album Dressed for the Occasion (which included the UK hit single "True Love Ways"). Later, he wrote music for television shows and advertising spots. His song "Pearly" was recorded by The Pearls.

The RAH Band

Hewson founded The RAH Band – of which he was the sole member and which took its name from his initials – in 1977, to release an instrumental called "The Crunch". The piece climbed to number 6 in the UK Singles Chart. The song also peaked at number 16 in Australia. Hewson played all the musical instruments himself. The arrangement did not use synthesisers, only conventional guitar and keyboards with pedal effects. He was later featured on Top of the Pops. A number of jazz funk releases followed. The second big hit single for the RAH Band was in 1985 when the soul ballad, "Clouds Across the Moon", also reached number 6 in the UK chart. Vocals were provided by Hewson's wife Liz, also known as "Dizzy Lizzy".

In July 2007, Hewson released a remixed "Clouds Across the Moon '07", which featured vocalist Emma Charles.

The RAH band's releases were issued under a variety of record labels, including Good Earth Records, DJM, KR Records, TMT Records and RCA.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Compilation albums

EPs

Singles

(Unless stated, the main artist is RAH Band)

References

1. Three songs were arranged by Richard Hewson on the I'm Nearly Famous album: "Lovers", "Such is the Mystery", "If You Walked Away" - I'm Nearly Famous (LP) (liner notes). Cliff Richard. EMI Records. 1976. EMC3122.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
2. ^ Lewry, Peter; Goodall, Nigel (1991). Cliff Richard The Complete Recording Sessions 1958–1990. London: Blandford. pp. 107–122, 131. ISBN 0-7137-2242-8.
3. "45cat - Jigsaw - Sky High / Sky High - Splash - UK - CPI 1". 45cat.com. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
4. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 448. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 245. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
6. "Only one in RAH Band" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 89, no. 37. 17 September 1977. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
7. Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
8. ^ "RAH BAND | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
9. "Das österreichische Hitparaden- und Musik-Portal". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
10. "swedishcharts.com - Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
11. "New Albums" (PDF). Music Week. 9 May 1981. p. 28. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
12. "Shannon: remixed and re-issued" (PDF). Music Week. 28 April 1984. p. 30. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
13. "UK Singles Charts: 1983 (including chart panel sales)". UKMIX Forums. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
14. "KEY WEST FEATURING ERIK | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
15. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 245. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
16. "ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS". www.ultratop.be. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
17. "lescharts.com - Les charts français". lescharts.com. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
18. "Suche - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
19. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
20. "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Rah Band".
21. "Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
22. "swedishcharts.com - Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 20 July 2022.

External links

• Richard Hewson discography at Discogs
• The RAH Band (official site)

• 1943 births
• Living people
• English record producers
• English male songwriters
• English composers
• English pop musicians
• English jazz musicians
• English electronic musicians
• English male conductors (music)
• English music arrangers
• People from Stockton-on-Tees
• 21st-century English conductors (music)
• 21st-century English male musicians
• English male jazz musicians
• British post-disco music groups