Dick Cuthell is a British musician and record producer. He plays flugelhorn, cornet, and trumpet, amongst a range of other brass instruments, including tenor horn and valve trombone. Cuthell is best known for his work with the SpecialsStrong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Rock Discography, Canongate, , p. 351, 978–9Dammers, Jerry (1997) "Letter to Billboard magazine", Billboard, 1 November 1997 and Rico Rodriguez.Dick Cuthell , Roots Archives He also collaborated with bands such as Madness, Eurythmics,Sutherland, Bryony & Ellis, Lucy (2002) Annie Lennox: The Biography, Omnibus Press, , p. 143 Fun Boy Three,Buckley, Peter (2003) The Rough Guide to Rock, Rough Guides, , p. 401 XTC, Level 42, the Pogues and The Red Crayola. In addition to a range of horns, Cuthell also plays bass, keyboards and percussion and is a composer and arranger.
Biography Dick Cuthell was born in Liverpool in 1949.
Island records After playing in several bands including the Washington Soul Band and Trifle in the 1960s, Cuthell worked for Island Records in the 1970s as an engineer and later in-house producer. His work at Island Studios in both Jamaica and London brought him into contact with reggae and ska musicians, and these became a constant theme in the music he played and produced, working with Delroy Washington amongst many others. He acted as assistant engineer on Bob Marley's Exodus album,Goldman, Vivien (2007) "Keep on Moving", New Statesman, 28 May 2007, retrieved 27 January 2010 on which he also played horns,McCann, Ian & Hawke, Harry (2004) Complete Guide to the Music of Bob Marley, Omnibus Press, , p. 78 and also met Rico Rodriguez, with whom he would later work in The Specials."Rico Rodriguez Biographie", Orange Times, retrieved 27 January 2010 He was also one of several engineers that worked on the dub album of Burning Spear's Marcus Garvey album, Garvey's Ghost."Garvey's Ghost ", Roots Archives, retrieved 27 January 2010
The Specials Cuthell became, along with Rico Rodriguez, the horn section for the Specials, playing cornet on their debut album, and staying with the band into their later incarnation as the Special A.K.A., playing on the hit single "Free Nelson Mandela", and the album In the Studio.Walters, Barry (2005) "The Specials The Specials", Rolling Stone, 6 October 2005, retrieved 27 January 2010"Jerry Dammers' Spatial AKA Orchestra Presents Cosmic Engineering: a tribute to Sun Ra and other musical mavericks ", barbican.org.uk, retrieved 27 January 2010Schurmacher, Thomas (1984) "Record Roundup", Montreal Gazette, 19 July 1984, retrieved 27 January 2010 He co-wrote two of the band's songs, "Bright Lights" and "Racist Friend", released together as a single in 1983, reaching No. 60 in the UK."[ Bright Lights]", Allmusic, retrieved 27 January 2010"[ Racist Friend]", Allmusic, retrieved 27 January 2010Racist Friend/Bright Lights, Official Charts, retrieved 27 January 2010
Cuthell also recorded with another group of ex-members of the Specials, Fun Boy Three.Green, Jim & Robbins, Ira "Fun Boy Three", Trouser Press, retrieved 27 January 2010
Later production and session work Throughout the 1980s, Cuthell continued both production and session work. He contributed trumpet, flugelhorn and cornet to the Eurythmics' 1983 No. 1 album Touch, and also toured as part of the band.Speelman, Paul (1984) "Guitars – and no pretences", The Age, 2 February 1984, retrieved 27 January 2010 He played horns on the Pogues' 1985 album Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash.Merrick, Joe (2001) London Irish Punk Life & Music...Shane MacGowan, Omnibus Press, , p. 70
His productions include the Boothill Foot Tappers 1985 album Ain't That Far from Boothill.Robbins, Ira "Boothill Foot-Tappers", Trouser Press, retrieved 27 January 2010
He also recorded with Madness,"The Ascent of Madness ", madness.co.uk and Linton Kwesi Johnson.Linton Kwesi Johnson discography , LKJ Records
References