Stories of Elton John’s early years – and other famed and acclaimed artists – are coming to Norden Farm, courtesy of a veteran music producer from Cookham.
Elton John by Stuart Epps, showing at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts on January 31, is a personal account of Elton’s rise to fame from someone who worked with him for years.
Stuart Epps is a British record producer and audio engineer who has worked with Led Zeppelin, Oasis, Twisted Sister, Kiki Dee, George Harrison, Robbie Williams, Mark Owen, Cliff Richard, Chris Rea and many more.
His long working relationship with Elton John began in 1967. He was working for Dick James, who was the music publisher for the Beatles at the time.
It was through this that he met Reg Dwight, a 19-year-old musician who would go on to become Elton John, known the world over.
“When I met him, no one had heard of him – he was Reg to us,” said Stuart. “Apart from anything else, he’s had an amazing career and he’s still so relevant.
“There’s a lot to talk about and it’s an amazing story.”
Stuart went on to work for The Rocket Record Company, a record label founded by Elton John in the early ‘70s.
He went on early tours with Elton, including to Carnegie Hall, and toured with him in America.
Stuart also helped build the Mill Studios in Cookham in 1974, also known as The Sol.
Originally an old water mill, the property was bought by Gus Dudgeon, Elton John’s producer.
This studio was ‘quite a big deal’ and remained so through to 1980 when Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin bought them and appointed Stuart as the studio manager.
In the 1990s, Stuart took over Alvin Lee’s private Wheeler End studio in Bolter End Lane, High Wycombe, and turned it into his own commercial studio.
There he worked on projects with Oasis, Robbie Williams, Paul Weller (the Jam) and Mark Owen (Take That).
Now Stuart runs his own record label, Epps Music Productions, and operates out of Cookham High Street, where he signs new talent. Read more stuartepps.co.uk/stuart-epps
In a two-hour talk on January 31, Stuart will tell stories about Elon John and other artists he has worked with, accompanied by about 150 photos and snippets of songs.
He is looking forward to his talk, which will start at 7.30pm.
“I love Norden Farm and I’ve always wanted to do a talk there,” said Stuart.
Tickets cost £16.