He is a singer-songwriter, keyboardist and producer brought up in Perth, Australia, who was deemed a musical prodigy as a child after he had chosen piano lessons rather than tennis lessons when he was ten.
When he was twelve years old he won a talent competition and was promptly offered the position of pianist on a children’s television show when he was just 12 years old. That started his professional career in the music business and after moving first to Tasmania and then to Melbourne as a teenager he performed with the Beale Street Jazz Band during the start of the 1960s.
He also joined The Castaways in the early 1960s and after changing their name to The Jackson Kings in 1965 they released two singles, which appeared in 1966.
In October 1966 he was invited to become a member of The Groop. He was advised to change his name to Brian Caine but this upset his family so much that he changed it back to Cadd. He wrote their hit records “Woman You’re Breaking My Heart” and “When I Was Six Years Old” and after the group had won a contest and the latter song was published in England it was recorded by Paul Jones of Manfred Mann. The Groop went to the UK when Paul Jones’ version was issued and this was enough to secure a record deal with CBS and get them on a British and German tour. After releasing the unsuccessful “What’s the Good of Goodbye” in the UK they returned to Australia in 1968 but after just another two single releases they went their own separate ways in 1969.
In 1969 he formed Axiom with another ex-Groop member Don Mudie with the addition of extra musicians and the vocalist Glenn Shorrock. Performing songs written by Cadd and Mudie they achieved several hit songs such as 1969’s “Arkansas Grass” and 1970’s “A Little Ray of Sunshine”. They went to England to try and crack the UK charts but to no avail so carried on to the United States. The released a single and their second album but disbanded in 1971.
In 1972 he and Don Mudie performed as a duo and issued the Australian hit “Show Me the Way” but his attention was turning to production and he was already beginning to produce other groups and singers. He also started his own label, Bootleg Records, which he used for his own solo recordings.
He released his eponymous debut album in 1972, which produced the single “Ginger Man” and the band he put together called the Bootleg Family Band had a hit with “Your Mama Don’t Dance”. He won the Hoadley’s Battle of the Sounds composition award and Tokyo World Popular Song Festival’s “Most Outstanding Composition” in 1972 with “Don’t You Know It’s Magic” which was a chart hit for John Farnham.
In 1973 he issued Parabrahm and the film score and theme for Alvin Purple. He released his Moonshine in 1974 and the following year did the score for Alvin Purple Rides Again.
He relocated to the United States and settled in Los Angeles around 1974/5 and worked as a songwriter for a studio. Aside from his own solo material he had his songs covered by many successful artists that include Cilla Black, Glen Campbell, Joe Cocker, Dobie Gray, Gene Pitney, The Pointer Sisters, Ringo Starr and Bonnie Tyler.
In 1989 he went to Nashville and in 1991 became a touring member of the Flying Burrito Brothers. He remained with them for two years before returning home to Australia in 1993. Once back he and Glenn Shorrock recorded The Blazing Salads and embarked on a tour that lasted two years.
Since the mid 1990s he has taught and given lectures on music publication and songwriting and in 1997 he built the Ginger Man Sound recording studio. The following year he went to Streetwise Music Group as their CEO and later co-owner. He was also made the Australian Music Foundation’s President and the Music Industry Advisory Council (Australia) Chairman.
In 2005 he released Quietly Rusting which features several guest musicians and in 2007 his contribution to music was recognised when he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and the ASA Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In 2011 he released Wild Bulls and Horses and in 2016 his Bulletproof appeared with the credits going to Cadd and the Bootleg Family Band.
Here he is with his “Ginger Man”…
Sources:
- http://www.myspace.com/briancadd
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Cadd
- http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/c/caddbrian.html
- http://www.howlspace.com.au/en2/caddbrian/caddbrian.htm
- http://www.milesago.com/Artists/cadd.htm
- http://15min.org/artists/brian_cadd/
- http://www.cureourkids.com.au/brian-cadd.php