Terry Ellis (manager)
Encyclopedia
Terry Ellis is an English
record producer
and manager best known for his early work with Jethro Tull
, and as co-founder of Chrysalis Music
in 1969.
Ellis was born in Hertfordshire
, England in 1944. He graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne
with an honours degree in mathematics and metallurgy. He began booking concerts at colleges on a part time basis in 1967 and later that year he got into business with Chris Wright
forming the Ellis-Wright Agency. In 1968 they expanded their activities to include artist management with Ellis managing Clouds
and Jethro Tull, and Chris managing Ten Years After
and Procol Harum
. He produced several Jethro Tull records: This Was
, Aqualung and Stand Up
.
After buying out Ellis in 1985, Wright sold the Chrysalis Records
label to EMI
in 1991.
degree at university, but while there he began writing music journalism for a college paper. In 1965, his attempt at interviewing Bob Dylan
was filmed for D.A. Pennebaker's film Dont Look Back
; Dylan is shown in an intellectual joust with Ellis in a circular conversation that is at times good natured, and at other times tense.
Subsequently, Ellis developed one of the most successful track records in contemporary music for discovering, developing and exploiting the commercial potential of young recording artists. With his partner, Chris Wright, he built a small artist booking agency into one of the most successful independent groups of companies in the music industry with subsidiaries involved in artist management, booking, recording studios, record labels, music publishing, concert promotion and venue management. In one capacity or another their company, Chrysalis, represented every important influence in British music in the 1970s. In addition to artists that it directly managed, Chrysalis booked Led Zeppelin
, Jeff Beck
, Roxy Music
, Curved Air
, Yes
and King Crimson
, signed David Bowie
to a music publishing contract, entered the recording studio business with Sir George Martin
(The Beatles producer), directed concert tours and for a time ran London’s Rainbow Theatre.
By 1969 Ellis had started to produce albums. His productions include all of the early Jethro Tull albums and based on their success, he and his partner formed Chrysalis Records. The label established itself with artists such as Jethro Tull, Clouds
, Ten Years After, Procol Harum, Robin Trower, Leo Sayer, Spandau Ballet, Steeleye Span and numerous others who achieved success through Chrysalis and its licensees around the world.
By the end of 1974, Chrysalis was firmly established as one of the leading independent record labels and music publishers in the world. Ellis moved to Los Angeles to build the American arm of the group and to give it a more focused identity. He continued to build on Chrysalis’s track record for credible music whilst applying his philosophy of maintaining a close personal involvement with all aspects of his signed artists’ careers. By way of examples, having seen an unknown New York based punk rock group, he purchased their contract from a small record label that could not afford to market them properly. That group is Blondie and their first single on Chrysalis was a hit in 35 countries.
Also in New York, he heard Pat Benatar
in a small club; she went on to sell millions of records, so did Huey Lewis and The News, a rock band from San Francisco. After the breakup of UK punk band, Generation X, Ellis took the lead singer to America and launched the career of Billy Idol. In each of these cases, and there are others, the common factor was Ellis’ personal devotion of time, effort and career planning that took the artists to international success. Yet it is ironic that the first band he ever signed to management, Clouds, had their career founder because of lack of management supervision. This was mainly bad luck and timing, for the Chrysalis empire began to rapidly expand at that very moment, and the success of Jethro Tull also meant that Ellis could not devote the time he typically wanted to spend on his artistes.
During the 1970s, Ellis dated singer Karen Carpenter
, she also lived with him for a short time. However differences in lifestyle proved to be too much of a gap for the couple to sustain a viable relationship. He was also approached by Karen's brother Richard as a possible replacement for the Carpenters then manager Sherwin Bash. However it was considered to be a conflict of interest between Chrysalis (his label) and A&M (The Carpenters label.) So he declined the offer. Not to mention Debbie Harry of Blondie was considered to be one of Karen Carpenter's main rivals at the time.
In 1980, Ellis set up a new Chrysalis division, Chrysalis Visual Programming. He made the music industry’s first ever sell-through long form VHS video album with Blondie’s Eat To The Beat (which was re-released in a remastered limited edition CD/DVD release in late June 2007). He went on to produce other long form videos including one featuring comedian, Billy Connolly, produced two made-for-TV movies and developed the award winning TV series Max Headroom, still considered by critics on both sides of the Atlantic to be one of the most innovative television series in recent history.
Ellis was elected Chairman of the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) for a two year term and remains the only non-American to have been elected to this office. He has also held the Chairmanship of the British Phonographic Industry
(BPI) and served for five years as a member of the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI). In 1985, Ellis dissolved his association with Chrysalis selling his interests to his partner. Within a few years, the record division, which he had been very influential in creating, had been sold off to EMI Records.
In 1990, Ellis formed Imago Records, a joint venture with BMG. In its four years of operation he signed six artists who sold over 100,000 units of their debut album in the US alone: Baby Animals
, Captain Hollywood, The Rollins Band, Aimee Mann
, Paula Cole
, and Love Spit Love
. Of those, Baby Animals’ first record sold 500,000 worldwide (4 times platinum in Australia) and the Rollins Band sold 250,000 units in the US on their first and 500,000 on their second albums. The joint venture was dissolved in 1994 with Ellis retaining ownership of the Imago catalogue and artist contracts.
Paula Cole’s second album has had two US top ten singles and has achieved double platinum status; that is sales of 2m units. She was nominated for Grammy Award
s in seven major categories including "Album of the Year," "Song of the Year," "Record of the Year" and "Producer of the Year." She was awarded the Grammy for "Best New Artist."
Ellis and his French wife Daniele live in the British Virgin Islands
, while their five children live in New York, Montreal, London, and Geneva. He is a member of the Metropolitan Opera Club of New York City and serves on its board of directors. Ellis was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
and is a governor of the BRIT School of Performing Arts in Croydon
, Surrey
.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
record producer
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 manager best known for his early work with Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
, and as co-founder of Chrysalis Music
Chrysalis Music
Chrysalis Music is a British independent music publisher.The company's roots started in west London in 1967 when Chris Wright and Terry Ellis formed the Ellis-Wright Agency. It was formed to manage and book the bands Ten Years After, and Clouds. Ten Years After was managed by Wright, while Clouds...
in 1969.
Ellis was born in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, England in 1944. He graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
with an honours degree in mathematics and metallurgy. He began booking concerts at colleges on a part time basis in 1967 and later that year he got into business with Chris Wright
Chris Wright
-Sports:* Chris Wright , plays for Essex County Cricket Club* Chris Wright , a guard at Georgetown University* Chris Wright , a forward at the University of Dayton...
forming the Ellis-Wright Agency. In 1968 they expanded their activities to include artist management with Ellis managing Clouds
Clouds (60s rock band)
Clouds were a 1960s Scottish rock band that disbanded in October 1971. The band consisted of Ian Ellis , Harry Hughes and Billy Ritchie .- Early days: The Premiers :...
and Jethro Tull, and Chris managing Ten Years After
Ten Years After
Ten Years After is an English blues-rock band, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, Ten Years After scored eight Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart...
and Procol Harum
Procol Harum
Procol Harum are a British rock band, formed in 1967, which contributed to the development of progressive rock, and by extension, symphonic rock. Their best-known recording is their 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale"...
. He produced several Jethro Tull records: This Was
This Was
*The 2001 remastered CD added three bonus tracks and extensive liner notes.40th Anniversary Collectors' Edition*A deluxe two-CD fortieth anniversary edition was released in 2008...
, Aqualung and Stand Up
Stand Up (Jethro Tull album)
2010 Deluxe EditionCD 1: Stand Up# "A New Day Yesterday" [2001 Digital Remaster]# "Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square" [2001 Digital Remaster]# "Bourée" [2001 Digital Remaster]# "Back to the Family" [2001 Digital Remaster]...
.
After buying out Ellis in 1985, Wright sold the Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis...
label to EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
in 1991.
Career
Ellis took a scienceScience
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
degree at university, but while there he began writing music journalism for a college paper. In 1965, his attempt at interviewing Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
was filmed for D.A. Pennebaker's film Dont Look Back
Dont Look Back
Dont Look Back is a 1967 documentary film by D.A. Pennebaker that covers Bob Dylan's 1965 concert tour in the United Kingdom.In 1998, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically...
; Dylan is shown in an intellectual joust with Ellis in a circular conversation that is at times good natured, and at other times tense.
Subsequently, Ellis developed one of the most successful track records in contemporary music for discovering, developing and exploiting the commercial potential of young recording artists. With his partner, Chris Wright, he built a small artist booking agency into one of the most successful independent groups of companies in the music industry with subsidiaries involved in artist management, booking, recording studios, record labels, music publishing, concert promotion and venue management. In one capacity or another their company, Chrysalis, represented every important influence in British music in the 1970s. In addition to artists that it directly managed, Chrysalis booked Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
, Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
, Curved Air
Curved Air
Curved Air are a pioneering British progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classic, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band was a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fusion with classical elements...
, Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
and King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
, signed David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
to a music publishing contract, entered the recording studio business with Sir George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
(The Beatles producer), directed concert tours and for a time ran London’s Rainbow Theatre.
By 1969 Ellis had started to produce albums. His productions include all of the early Jethro Tull albums and based on their success, he and his partner formed Chrysalis Records. The label established itself with artists such as Jethro Tull, Clouds
Clouds (60s rock band)
Clouds were a 1960s Scottish rock band that disbanded in October 1971. The band consisted of Ian Ellis , Harry Hughes and Billy Ritchie .- Early days: The Premiers :...
, Ten Years After, Procol Harum, Robin Trower, Leo Sayer, Spandau Ballet, Steeleye Span and numerous others who achieved success through Chrysalis and its licensees around the world.
By the end of 1974, Chrysalis was firmly established as one of the leading independent record labels and music publishers in the world. Ellis moved to Los Angeles to build the American arm of the group and to give it a more focused identity. He continued to build on Chrysalis’s track record for credible music whilst applying his philosophy of maintaining a close personal involvement with all aspects of his signed artists’ careers. By way of examples, having seen an unknown New York based punk rock group, he purchased their contract from a small record label that could not afford to market them properly. That group is Blondie and their first single on Chrysalis was a hit in 35 countries.
Also in New York, he heard Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar is an American singer and four-time Grammy winner. She had considerable commercial success particularly in the United States...
in a small club; she went on to sell millions of records, so did Huey Lewis and The News, a rock band from San Francisco. After the breakup of UK punk band, Generation X, Ellis took the lead singer to America and launched the career of Billy Idol. In each of these cases, and there are others, the common factor was Ellis’ personal devotion of time, effort and career planning that took the artists to international success. Yet it is ironic that the first band he ever signed to management, Clouds, had their career founder because of lack of management supervision. This was mainly bad luck and timing, for the Chrysalis empire began to rapidly expand at that very moment, and the success of Jethro Tull also meant that Ellis could not devote the time he typically wanted to spend on his artistes.
During the 1970s, Ellis dated singer Karen Carpenter
Karen Carpenter
Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard, formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters. She was a drummer of exceptional skill, but she is best remembered for her vocal performances of idealistic romantic ballads of true love...
, she also lived with him for a short time. However differences in lifestyle proved to be too much of a gap for the couple to sustain a viable relationship. He was also approached by Karen's brother Richard as a possible replacement for the Carpenters then manager Sherwin Bash. However it was considered to be a conflict of interest between Chrysalis (his label) and A&M (The Carpenters label.) So he declined the offer. Not to mention Debbie Harry of Blondie was considered to be one of Karen Carpenter's main rivals at the time.
In 1980, Ellis set up a new Chrysalis division, Chrysalis Visual Programming. He made the music industry’s first ever sell-through long form VHS video album with Blondie’s Eat To The Beat (which was re-released in a remastered limited edition CD/DVD release in late June 2007). He went on to produce other long form videos including one featuring comedian, Billy Connolly, produced two made-for-TV movies and developed the award winning TV series Max Headroom, still considered by critics on both sides of the Atlantic to be one of the most innovative television series in recent history.
Ellis was elected Chairman of the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA) for a two year term and remains the only non-American to have been elected to this office. He has also held the Chairmanship of the British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
(BPI) and served for five years as a member of the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI). In 1985, Ellis dissolved his association with Chrysalis selling his interests to his partner. Within a few years, the record division, which he had been very influential in creating, had been sold off to EMI Records.
In 1990, Ellis formed Imago Records, a joint venture with BMG. In its four years of operation he signed six artists who sold over 100,000 units of their debut album in the US alone: Baby Animals
Baby Animals
Baby Animals are a 1990s hard rock band from Australia.-Early history:The Baby Animals were formed in Sydney in 1989 by singer Suze DeMarchi, drummer Frank Celenza, guitarist Dave Leslie, and bassist Eddie Parise...
, Captain Hollywood, The Rollins Band, Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann is an American rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and bassist.-Early life:Aimee Mann grew up in Bon Air, Virginia, graduated from Open High School in 1978 and attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out to sing with her first punk rock band, the Young Snakes...
, Paula Cole
Paula Cole
Paula Cole is an American singer/songwriter. Her single "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone" reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1997, and the following year she won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist.-Early life:...
, and Love Spit Love
Love Spit Love
Love Spit Love was a musical group founded in 1992 by singer Richard Butler following the initial disbanding of the Psychedelic Furs.-History:...
. Of those, Baby Animals’ first record sold 500,000 worldwide (4 times platinum in Australia) and the Rollins Band sold 250,000 units in the US on their first and 500,000 on their second albums. The joint venture was dissolved in 1994 with Ellis retaining ownership of the Imago catalogue and artist contracts.
Paula Cole’s second album has had two US top ten singles and has achieved double platinum status; that is sales of 2m units. She was nominated for Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s in seven major categories including "Album of the Year," "Song of the Year," "Record of the Year" and "Producer of the Year." She was awarded the Grammy for "Best New Artist."
Ellis and his French wife Daniele live in the British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
, while their five children live in New York, Montreal, London, and Geneva. He is a member of the Metropolitan Opera Club of New York City and serves on its board of directors. Ellis was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
and is a governor of the BRIT School of Performing Arts in Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
.