Larry Murray

Guitarist Larry Murray started out in the late '50s-early '60s bluegrass band the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers, which at one time or another featured future Byrd Chris Hillman on mandolin, future Flying Burrito Brother and Eagle Bernie Leadon on banjo, and future Burrito and Country Gazetteer Kenny Wertz, also on banjo.
In 1964, Murray worked with Hillman again in the Green Grass Group, a folk team in the mold of the New Christy Minstrels, run by Minstrel impresario Randy Sparks.
During the mid-'60s Murray played in the band Hearts and Flowers, which also featured Leadon and future Dillard & Clark bassist David Jackson. Hearts and Flowers had two LPs on Capitol in the late '60s.
Murray later recorded a solo album, then went into production and songwriting.

David Mackay

After producing 30 Hits in Australia for EMI, David transferred from Sydney to London to produce at Abbey Road. His first record Daydream which he co-wrote for Wallace Collection was number one throughout most of Europe. This track was recently a hit for I monster and features on a number of Chillout albums.

David left EMI and formed an independent production company, June Productions Ltd, which he still runs today. His first independent production Look What They've Done to my Song Ma! for the New Seekers went to No. 4 in the American charts. It was followed by numerous other hits including the legendary I'd like to teach the world to sing which he also arranged and produced for Coca-Cola.

In 1977 David built his own studio in Woldingham from where he still runs his business. His first production there was It's a Heartache for Bonnie Tyler. David has continued to produced hits for many artists including Cliff Richard, Cilla Black, Billy Ocean and Dusty Springfield.

Other artists he has recorded include legendary French rock star Johnny Hallyday, Greece's Demis Roussos, John Parr, Jimmy Webb and the late "genius" Harry Nilsson.

Turning his hand to TV he wrote the music for the hit TV series Auf Wiedersehen Pet for which he won the Ivor Novello Award and a BAFTA nomination for the hit single That's Livin' Alright sung by Joe Fagin.

David also wrote the music for the Carla Lane series Bread, worked on the long running series As Time Goes By and scored the music for Blott on the Landscape for which he received further BAFTA and Ivor Novello nominations.

In 2003 David became Musical Supervisor for the new musical 125th Street which opened in London's West End at the Shaftesbury Theatre. His current project as music supervisor in the UK, Jailhouse Rock opened at the Piccadilly Theatre in the West End in April 2004. It is set to open in America in 2006

October 2003 saw the first performances in Australia of the contemporary opera Paris which David wrote with fellow Aussie Jon English. A concert performance on Broadway in 2005 has led to a proposed American staging and negotiations are now in progress to start work shops over there mid 2007.

The Year 2007 will be the 400th anniversary of the first permanent British settlement on American soil. From 2006 to May 2007 there will be concerts, touring casts and historical recreations culminating in huge concerts on the actual anniversary. The event is called America 2007 and David will be supervising and producing the musical content for several associated productions.

David Mackay - Musical Director, Supervisor, Producer, Arranger...... David Mackay has had a very busy career over the years including having been involved off and on over the years both with the New Seekers and with individual former members of the group.  His earliest association was with Peter Doyle when he was the Musical Director of the Virgil Brothers and he also acted as the executive producer for Peter's solo album Skin Deep in the mid 70s. His latest venture with a former New Seeker being to produce Eve Graham's latest work for ScotDisc.

 

David Mackay
 

David Mackay worked with the New Seekers during the Peter Doyle years (1970-73), arranging and producing seven consecutive albums. He first worked with the New Seekers on the LP Keith Potger & the New Seekers. This was the group's second album but the first to feature Peter Doyle, Paul Layton and Lyn Paul. He continued working with them until their eighth album, New Seekers Now.

The Now album marked a watershed: for the first time on a New Seekers' album the production credits were shared. Five of the tracks were produced by David Mackay, the rest were recorded in the USA with the Osmonds' producer Mike Lloyd. Up until this point David Mackay had produced all of the New Seekers' records, the only exception being the group's début album, which was produced by Keith Potger. Subsequent albums (1973-74) were produced by Mike Lloyd, Tony Macaulay and Tommy Oliver.

David Mackay was born and brought up in Sydney, Australia. He began his musical career at the age of fifteen in a production of Bye Bye Birdie for the J. C. Williamson Theatre Company. He worked for a time in local radio, recording the musical sessions for Radio 2CH in Sydney. He then accepted an offer of a job as a recording engineer for EMI Australia, rising in the ranks to become Head of A&R. He then came over to the UK to work for EMI at the legendary Abbey Road studios in London.

After leaving EMI, David formed his own company, June Productions Ltd. His first independent production, What Have They Done To My Song, Ma for the New Seekers, became a huge hit in the United States and began a successful association with the group that lasted three years. When the New Seekers re-formed in 1976 (minus Lyn Paul and Peter Doyle), the group was put into the recording studio with Phil Coulter and Bill Martin. It was fitting, however, that David should resume the role of producer for the group's last album and last hit single, Anthem (One Day In Every Week).

In addition to the records he produced for the New Seekers, David Mackay also produced Lyn Paul's first solo album, Give Me Love (1975), as well as the single Ocean And Blue Sky for Eve Graham and Danny Finn (1979). He has also worked with the Bee Gees, Cilla Black, Blue Mink, Eric Clapton, the Mixtures, Harry Nilsson, Billy Ocean, Cliff Richard, Demis Roussos, Dusty Springfield and Bonnie Tyler. David also arranged and produced the scores and theme songs for a number of television shows, notably As Time Goes By, Bread and Auf Wiedersehen Pet. The hit single from Auf Wiedersehen Pet, That's Livin' Alright by Joe Fagin, won him an Ivor Novello Award and a BAFTA nomination.

In 2002 David Mackay returned to the world of musical theatre, as Musical Supervisor for 125th Street, a new musical from the creators of Buddy and Jailhouse Rock. 125th Street played at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre from 17th September 2002 - 11th January 2003.

In 2005 David resumed his working relationship with Eve Graham, producing Eve's comeback album The Mountains Welcome Me Home.