Ian Samwell

Biography

Ian Ralph "Sammy" Samwell (19 January 1937 – 13 March 2003) was an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the writer of Cliff Richard's debut single "Move It" whilst a guitarist in Richard's backing group, the Drifters (later to become the Shadows after Samwell's departure). He also featured on the recording of this song as rhythm guitarist and played bass guitar. Samwell became the in-house record producer of the British division of Warner Bros. Records during the late sixties and worked in their London office He was also known for his association with the rock band America and had his biggest commercial success with their hit single "A Horse with No Name". Samwell wrote for many other British artists, including Joe Brown, Elkie Brooks, Kenny Lynch, and Dusty Springfield. He also worked with the Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell, and Hummingbird. Several of his songs were recorded in Spanish by the Mexican group Los Teen Tops, and were released in Latin America and the Spanish-speaking territories of the world. He also worked as a record producer with Sounds Incorporated, Georgie Fame, John Mayall, and the mod band Small Faces, co-writing their 1965 hit single "Whatcha Gonna Do About It".

Bio from Wikipedia