Editing The Alan Parsons Project (section)

=== 1974–1976: Formation and debut ===
[[Alan Parsons]] met [[Eric Woolfson]] in the [[Canteen (place)|canteen]] of [[Abbey Road Studios]] in the summer of 1974. Parsons was assistant engineer on [[the Beatles]]' albums ''[[Abbey Road]]'' (1969) and ''[[Let It Be (album)|Let It Be]]'' (1970), engineered [[Pink Floyd]]'s ''[[The Dark Side of the Moon]]'' (1973), and produced several acts for [[EMI Records]].<ref name="The Great Rock Discography">{{cite book
| first= Martin C.
| last= Strong
| year= 2000
| title= The Great Rock Discography
| edition= 5th
| publisher= Mojo Books
| location= Edinburgh
| pages= 729–730
| isbn= 1-84195-017-3}}</ref> Woolfson, a songwriter and composer, was working as a session pianist while composing material for a concept album based on the work of [[Edgar Allan Poe]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.the-alan-parsons-project.com/history-read-more.html |title=History @ |publisher=The-alan-parsons-project.com |access-date=20 July 2011 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716215331/http://www.the-alan-parsons-project.com/history-read-more.html |archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref>

Woolfson's idea was to manage Alan and help his already successful production career.  It was the start of a longstanding friendly business relationship. He managed Parsons's career as a producer and engineer through a string of successes, including [[Pilot (Scottish band)|Pilot]], [[Steve Harley]], [[Cockney Rebel]], [[John Miles (musician)|John Miles]], [[Al Stewart]], [[Ambrosia (band)|Ambrosia]], and [[the Hollies]].<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> Woolfson came up with the idea of making an album based on developments in the [[film industry]]—the focal point of the films' promotion shifted from film stars to directors such as [[Alfred Hitchcock]] and [[Stanley Kubrick]]. If the film industry was becoming a director's medium, Woolfson felt the music business might well become a producer's medium.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Vare|first=Ethlie Ann|date=15 March 1986|title=Parsons' Latest Project – 'Stereotomy': Wide-Range Personality|page=76|magazine=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oyQEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Eric+Woolfson%22+producer%27s+medium&pg=PT95|access-date=7 June 2020}}</ref>

Recalling his earlier Edgar Allan Poe material, Woolfson saw a way to combine his and Parsons's talents. Parsons produced and engineered songs written and composed by the two, and the first Alan Parsons Project was begun. The Project's first album, ''[[Tales of Mystery and Imagination (Alan Parsons Project album)|Tales of Mystery and Imagination]]'' (1976), released by [[20th Century Fox Records]] and including major contributions by all members of Pilot and Ambrosia, was a success, reaching the [[Top 40]] in the US [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] [[record chart|chart]].<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> The song "[[The Raven (song)|The Raven]]" featured lead vocals by the actor [[Leonard Whiting]]. According to the 2007 re-mastered album liner notes, this was the first rock song to use a [[vocoder]], with Alan Parsons speaking [[lyrics]] through it, although others such as [[Bruce Haack]] pioneered this field in the previous decade.