Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, most notable for production of many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings.
Gus Dudgeon was born in Woking, Surrey, England. He attended the famous democratic school A. S. Neill's Summerhill School, and regularly attended reunions and actively supported the school.[1] He began work at Decca's studio in West Hampstead, London, as a tea boy, and eventually was promoted to the position of sound engineer. In this capacity, he worked with the Artwoods, Bruce Channel, Davy Graham and Shirley Collins. Early pop successes included the Zombies' single "She's Not There" (1964) and John Mayall's album Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966). He helped in the auditions for Tom Jones and the Rolling Stones. Finally he became a co-producer on Ten Years After's debut album in 1967. Around this time he also produced the Bonzo Dog Band albums The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse and Tadpoles.
Dudgeon produced Michael Chapman's first three albums, Rainmaker 1969, Fully Qualified Survivor 1970, and Wrecked Again 1971. Each of these albums features string arrangements by Paul Buckmaster. Dudgeon produced two highly successful albums for Elkie Brooks: Pearls and Pearls II. Pearls peaked at No. 2 in the U.K. and remained in the charts for 79 weeks. He also produced David Bowie's late 1960s singles "Space Oddity" as he really liked the demo of the song and "The Laughing Gnome".
