It's no surprise that Stuart would take an interest in music. His father was a drummer, and he'd made his mark playing in big bands. "My dad always had drums around. He used to set up the drums in the living room and practice and I'd be in there with him bashing on a pot. I had suitcases, and pot and pans, and an old set of congas. From the age of three I was interested in what he was doing."
Early in his career, Stuart Elliott was a member of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel; playing on albums for them from 1974-78. Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel charted five albums in the UK including "The Best Years of Our Lives" and "The Psychomodo"; both of which hit the Top Ten.
In 1976, Stuart Elliott began doing session work, playing drums on Al Stewart’s "Year of the Cat". In 1978, Stuart did his first sessions with Kate Bush ("Lionheart") and The Alan Parsons Project ("Pyramid"). He clicked with all three of these artists, and appeared on more of their albums as the years rolled by. In the case of The Alan Parsons Project he played on every album from 1978 to "Gaudi" in 1987.
Throughout the eighties and nineties, Stuart did sessions for a wide range of artists, including: Sally Oldfield, Justin Hayward, Chris Rea, Kenny Rogers, and Roger Daltrey.
In 1984, Stuart was a member of Keats for their one album, and in 1985 appeared on the "Ladyhawke" soundtrack, and in 1990 was on the "Freudiana" album, all of which were produced by Alan Parsons.
Elliott's also worked with Roger Daltry, and appeared on television programs with Tina Turner and Eric Clapton, and played in concert with Stuart.
When the end of The Alan Parsons Project came, Stuart Elliott was one of the key players who stayed with Alan to re-build and to make a new band. Starting with "Try Anything Once" in 1993, his creative input began to shine through. First came his writing abilities on the tracks "Mr Time" (w/Jacqui Copland / Driscoll).
When the live album launched in America, Stuart contributed more than just his pen and drums on "Take The Money And Run" (written with Andrew Powell), as this time he also did the vocals. While Stuart had never done lead vocals on a track before, Alan was so impressed by the demo, that he had Stuart lay down the vocal track.
Stuart Elliott continued with writing contributions on the 1996 "On Air" album, with the tracks, "Too Close To The Sun", "Fall Free", "One Day To Fly" and the very popular "Apollo". In 1999, he wrote and played on "The Time Machine" album, and throughout the nineties was a permanent member of the Alan Parsons Live Project.
In the mid to late nineites, Stuart also did live work with Sting, Simple Minds, Paul Young, Alice Cooper, Jon Anderson of Yes, Coolio and Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet.
Following the break-up of the Alan Parsons band, Stuart Elliott began to branch out on many fronts. He has successfully entered the world of library music. He has also joined forces with friends from the past: helping with Kate Bush’s next album, and performing live with Steve Harley.
Steve Leach
