Kit Lambert
Encyclopedia
Christopher "Kit" Sebastian Lambert (11 May 1935 – 7 April 1981) was a record producer
and the manager
for The Who
.
. Constant Lambert was the son of George Washington Lambert
, a sculptor and painter who was an official war artist
for the Australian government at Gallipoli
during World War I
.
after studying at Oxford University. After his service, he returned to Britain and became assistant director
for the films The Guns of Navarone
and From Russia with Love
. He also set out on an expedition with a comrade to attempt to discover the source of a remote tributary of the Amazon River. Lambert hoped to film the trip as a documentary. While Lambert was off hunting for food his companion was speared and killed by Amazon tribesmen. Lambert was initially arrested on suspicion of murdering his friend by Brazilian officials but after a concerted campaign in Britain by the Daily Express newspaper who had financed the expedition he was released.
Back in the UK he and fellow film director Chris Stamp
, the brother of the actor Terence Stamp
, decided to make a film that would feature an unknown pop
group; the group that they chose was The High Numbers (previously The Who
), who later became The Who once again. Lambert eventually abandoned the film and became The Who's manager. He also replaced Shel Talmy
as the group's producer in 1966. While mainly associated with The Who, he also worked with other bands, and produced Arthur Brown
's "Fire"
in 1968.
Lambert convinced Pete Townshend
to move away from simple songs on their earlier albums and to produce more mature fare. This encouraged The Who to progress from the more quirky sound of The Who Sell Out
to the deeper themes of Tommy
. Pete Townshend has acknowledged that it was Lambert who influenced The Who to combine rock music and opera with the rock opera
Tommy as the result.
While the Who was struggling to articulate Townshend's Lifehouse concept, Lambert shopped a film version of Tommy
without the band's authorization. This led to significant differences between him and the group, and he was fired in 1971. The band reached out to Lambert in 1973 during the recording of Quadrophenia
, but his drug abuse - and allegations of missing funds - stalled the reunion. In the late 1970s he went on to produce some early punk
bands, but with little success.
on the Grand Canal in Venice
, where he was known as Baroni Lamberti. Lambert claimed that he was conceived in Venice and hence he was romantically linked to the city. His neighbour in Venice was the heiress Peggy Guggenheim who Lambert was romantically linked with. However, excessive drug taking brought him to the attention of the British police and he was arrested and charged with drug offenses. As a defence, and one rarely used, a lawyer convinced Lambert to become a ward of the court whereby he would avoid charges and a prison sentence while the Official Solicitor would take charge of his affairs and give him a stipend out of his own money to live on each week. Meanwhile royalties from the albums Lambert produced for The Who and Jimi Hendrix were steadily increasing each year. When Lambert died in 1981 his estate was worth over UK£
490,000. Since he died the royalties that have flowed in from his various works to his inheritors have been over £1 million.
, Rolling Stones, Brian Epstein
, Jimi Hendrix
and friends like Princess Margaret and Liberace
. Days before Lambert was to sign a publishing deal, the publisher was contacted by the Official Solicitor who was in charge of Lambert's life, and who said all monies must be paid into the court to be doled out to Lambert. This was the beginning of a downward spiral for Lambert. On the night of his death he was seen drinking heavily at a popular Kensington, London gay nightclub, El Sombrero.
Lambert died of a cerebral hemorrhage after falling down the stairs of his mother's house in 1981, and is buried in Brompton Cemetery
, London.
Some material compiled by Lambert and Lindsay was included in a book called The Lamberts by writer and poet Andrew Motion
, Poet Laureate
of United Kingdom
(1999—2009). In 1986 The Lamberts won the Somerset Maugham Award
literary prize. The tapes made by Lindsay of Lambert's interviews numbered up to 20 hours in length and became an important historical reference of the era of pop and rock music as well as Lambert's own tumultumous life. On the tapes Lambert dispelled some of the popular rumours that he had purposely perpetuated himself to generate publicity about his charges, only to reveal the real truth for the first time. Ironically, in reality Lambert's methods in promoting groups like The Who were far more eccentric and strange than popularly believed, marking him out as one of the most gifted and original showmen of the era. The two remaining members of The Who, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, have always acknowledged Kit Lambert as a major influence on their craft, along with his partner Christopher Stamp.
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and the manager
Talent manager
A talent manager, also known as an artist manager or band manager, is an individual or company who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry...
for The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
.
Early life
Kit Lambert was the son of noted composer, Constant LambertConstant Lambert
Leonard Constant Lambert was a British composer and conductor.-Early life:Lambert, the son of Russian-born Australian painter George Lambert, was educated at Christ's Hospital and the Royal College of Music...
. Constant Lambert was the son of George Washington Lambert
George Washington Lambert
George Washington Thomas Lambert ARA was an Australian artist, known principally for portrait paintings and as a war artist during the First World War.-Early life:...
, a sculptor and painter who was an official war artist
War artist
A war artist depicts some aspect of war through art; this might be a pictorial record or it might commemorate how "war shapes lives." War artists have explored a visual and sensory dimension of war which is often absent in written histories or other accounts of warfare.- Definition and context:A...
for the Australian government at Gallipoli
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Career in music and film
Lambert served in the British ArmyBritish Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
after studying at Oxford University. After his service, he returned to Britain and became assistant director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
for the films The Guns of Navarone
The Guns of Navarone (film)
The Guns of Navarone is a 1961 British-American Action/Adventure war film based on the 1957 novel of the same name about the Dodecanese Campaign of World War II by Scottish thriller writer Alistair MacLean. It stars Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn, along with Anthony Quayle and Stanley...
and From Russia with Love
From Russia with Love (film)
From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond spy film series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1963, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the...
. He also set out on an expedition with a comrade to attempt to discover the source of a remote tributary of the Amazon River. Lambert hoped to film the trip as a documentary. While Lambert was off hunting for food his companion was speared and killed by Amazon tribesmen. Lambert was initially arrested on suspicion of murdering his friend by Brazilian officials but after a concerted campaign in Britain by the Daily Express newspaper who had financed the expedition he was released.
Back in the UK he and fellow film director Chris Stamp
Chris Stamp
Christopher Stamp is a British psychodrama therapist based in the state of New York. Stamp is also known for co-founding the now defunct Track Records and for co-managing and producing such musical acts as The Who and Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s and '70s.-Childhood:Born into a working-class family,...
, the brother of the actor Terence Stamp
Terence Stamp
Terence Henry Stamp is an English actor. Since starting his career in 1962 he has appeared in over 60 films. His title role as Billy Budd in his film debut earned Stamp an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA nomination for Best Newcomer.His other major roles include...
, decided to make a film that would feature an unknown pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
group; the group that they chose was The High Numbers (previously The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
), who later became The Who once again. Lambert eventually abandoned the film and became The Who's manager. He also replaced Shel Talmy
Shel Talmy
Shel Talmy is an American record producer, songwriter, arranger best known for his work in London with The Who and The Kinks in the 1960s, with a role in many other English bands including Cat Stevens and Pentangle...
as the group's producer in 1966. While mainly associated with The Who, he also worked with other bands, and produced Arthur Brown
Arthur Brown (musician)
Arthur Brown is an English rock and roll musician best known for his flamboyant, theatrical style and significant influence on Alice Cooper, Peter Gabriel, Marilyn Manson, George Clinton, Kiss, King Diamond, and Bruce Dickinson, among others, and for his number one hit in the UK Singles Chart and...
's "Fire"
Fire (Arthur Brown song)
"Fire" is a 1968 song by Arthur Brown, Vincent Crane, Mike Finesilver and Peter Ker. Performed by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, it was released as a single and on the band's debut album, also called The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. The single made #1 in the UK and Canada. In October, it made #2...
in 1968.
Lambert convinced Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
to move away from simple songs on their earlier albums and to produce more mature fare. This encouraged The Who to progress from the more quirky sound of The Who Sell Out
The Who Sell Out
-Track listing:All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted. The between song jingles apparently have no official titles and are not listed anywhere on the original album packaging, though they are listed in the inner booklet of the 1995 remaster.Side one...
to the deeper themes of Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
. Pete Townshend has acknowledged that it was Lambert who influenced The Who to combine rock music and opera with the rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
Tommy as the result.
While the Who was struggling to articulate Townshend's Lifehouse concept, Lambert shopped a film version of Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
without the band's authorization. This led to significant differences between him and the group, and he was fired in 1971. The band reached out to Lambert in 1973 during the recording of Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
, but his drug abuse - and allegations of missing funds - stalled the reunion. In the late 1970s he went on to produce some early punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
bands, but with little success.
Ward of the court
At the peak of Lambert's success he owned a house in Knightsbridge, London and the Palazzo DarioPalazzo Dario
Palazzo Dario is a palace in Venice, northern Italy, situated on the Grand Canal of Venice at the mouth of the Rio delle Torreselle in the Dorsoduro sestiere on the Campiello Barbaro...
on the Grand Canal in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, where he was known as Baroni Lamberti. Lambert claimed that he was conceived in Venice and hence he was romantically linked to the city. His neighbour in Venice was the heiress Peggy Guggenheim who Lambert was romantically linked with. However, excessive drug taking brought him to the attention of the British police and he was arrested and charged with drug offenses. As a defence, and one rarely used, a lawyer convinced Lambert to become a ward of the court whereby he would avoid charges and a prison sentence while the Official Solicitor would take charge of his affairs and give him a stipend out of his own money to live on each week. Meanwhile royalties from the albums Lambert produced for The Who and Jimi Hendrix were steadily increasing each year. When Lambert died in 1981 his estate was worth over UK£
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
490,000. Since he died the royalties that have flowed in from his various works to his inheritors have been over £1 million.
Book, demise and death
In 1980 Lambert, assisted by filmmaker Jon Lindsay, began writing a book on his life, of how he found The Who, and with many never-before-told stories about his contemporaries The BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, Rolling Stones, Brian Epstein
Brian Epstein
Brian Samuel Epstein , was an English music entrepreneur, and is best known for being the manager of The Beatles up until his death. He also managed several other musical artists such as Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black, The Remo Four & The Cyrkle...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and friends like Princess Margaret and Liberace
Liberace
Wladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...
. Days before Lambert was to sign a publishing deal, the publisher was contacted by the Official Solicitor who was in charge of Lambert's life, and who said all monies must be paid into the court to be doled out to Lambert. This was the beginning of a downward spiral for Lambert. On the night of his death he was seen drinking heavily at a popular Kensington, London gay nightclub, El Sombrero.
Lambert died of a cerebral hemorrhage after falling down the stairs of his mother's house in 1981, and is buried in Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery is located near Earl's Court in South West London, England . It is managed by The Royal Parks and is one of the Magnificent Seven...
, London.
Some material compiled by Lambert and Lindsay was included in a book called The Lamberts by writer and poet Andrew Motion
Andrew Motion
Sir Andrew Motion, FRSL is an English poet, novelist and biographer, who presided as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009.- Life and career :...
, Poet Laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
of United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(1999—2009). In 1986 The Lamberts won the Somerset Maugham Award
Somerset Maugham Award
The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each May by the Society of Authors. It is awarded to whom they judge to be the best writer or writers under the age of thirty-five of a book published in the past year. The prize was instituted in 1947 by William Somerset Maugham and thus...
literary prize. The tapes made by Lindsay of Lambert's interviews numbered up to 20 hours in length and became an important historical reference of the era of pop and rock music as well as Lambert's own tumultumous life. On the tapes Lambert dispelled some of the popular rumours that he had purposely perpetuated himself to generate publicity about his charges, only to reveal the real truth for the first time. Ironically, in reality Lambert's methods in promoting groups like The Who were far more eccentric and strange than popularly believed, marking him out as one of the most gifted and original showmen of the era. The two remaining members of The Who, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, have always acknowledged Kit Lambert as a major influence on their craft, along with his partner Christopher Stamp.
External links
- [ Allmusic.com Kit Lambert biography.] Accessed on March 5, 2005.