Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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GOLD, Andrew

(b 2 August 1951, Burbank CA; d 10 June 2011, Encino; suffering from renal cancer, he may have had a heart attack) Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His father Ernest (b 13 July 1921, Vienna; d 17 March 1999) emigrated to the USA before WWII, scored over 50 films, winning an Oscar for Exodus '60; his mother Marni Nixon was the screen voice of Natalie Wood in West Side Story '61, Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady '64 etc. and was a first-class concert singer in contemporary music. It was foreordained that Andrew would be a musician.

He studied piano from the 1950s, later guitar, bass, drums, and was successful from an early age, though he never learned to read music well; his mother said that he just found it easier to play by ear. He met Wendy Waldman '68, through her bassist Kenny Edwards; with Karla Bonoff they formed group Bryndle (made an unreleased A&M LP). He made a solo single in London late '60s with friend Charlie Villiers, and played bass for Maria Muldaur. He met Linda Ronstadt through Edwards, with whom he still collaborated occasionally as the Rangers; she signed both for her backing band. Gold's presence on her LPs from Heart Like A Wheel onwards was crucial to her new success after '78. He broadened scope from guitarist to arranger, often overdubbing instruments, employing this technique on Andrew Gold '75, a superb solo LP of finely crafted pop ('Endless Flight' later covered by Leo Sayer). His second LP What's Wrong With This Picture '77 brought no. 7 single (no. 11 UK) 'Lonely Boy', using Ronstadt's band: he paid pop dues with a cover of 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy' and Buddy Holly's 'Learning The Game'. He had sessioned widely for the L.A. soft-rock fraternity (Muldaur, Carly Simon, J. D. Souther, Art Garfunkel etc) so took few risks in leaving Ronstadt, and anyway continued to play on her albums. More single hits in UK ('Never Let Her Slip Away' no. 55, 'How Can This Be Love' no. 19, 'Thank You For Being A Friend' no. 42 UK, 25 USA, all '78) from All This And Heaven Too. Whirlwind '80 continued in the easygoing USA pop vein but single hits dried up and he turned once more to session work. He teamed in '85 with 10CC stalwart/UK songsmith Graham Gouldman as Wax for albums Magnetic Heaven '86, Hundred Thousand In Fresh Notes '89, What Else Can We Do? '92.