Robert Bruce Kirby (16 April 1948 – 3 October 2009) was an English arranger of string sections for rock and folk music. He worked on the Nick Drake albums Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, and with Vashti Bunyan, Elton John, Ralph McTell, Strawbs, Paul Weller and Elvis Costello.
Early life
Robert Kirby was born on 16 April 1948 in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, into a working class family. He won a scholarship to Bishop's Stortford College, an independent school in Hertfordshire.
Later career
Although by 1978 Kirby had recorded arrangements for over 40 albums, it was a struggle to make ends meet. In the 1980s he went to work in marketing, becoming a director of Ipsos. He was rumoured still to have his scores for Drake's records in his mother's potting shed. (He also was for three years – 1975–1978 – one of the two keyboard players for Strawbs, touring the UK and internationally, and getting some composing credits on the albums Deep Cuts, Deadlines and Burning for You). He returned to music full-time in the 2000s, doing further arranging for Strawbs with Baroque & Roll (2001), Déjà Fou (2004) and Dancing to the Devil's Beat (2009). He talks extensively about his career in Nick Awde's 2008 book Mellotron, subtitled The Machine and the Musicians That Revolutionized Rock, which opens with a quote from him.
One of his lasting associations was with Shelagh McDonald. Sandy Roberton, McDonald's then producer, invited her to visit Kirby's flat. He took an instant liking to her and did orchestral arrangements for songs on her first two albums, Stargazer and Album.
Public performances of Nick Drake's music
On 2 July 2005, Kirby conducted an 18-piece orchestra in Manhattan's Central Park for a show of Drake's music, using his original scores. Five Leaves Left was performed in its entirety as well as excerpts from Bryter Layter and Made To Love Magic. The show starred guitarist Josh Max and singer Julie James of the Manhattan-based group The Maxes and was attended by 3,000 Drake fans from all over the US. Teddy Thompson, Linda and Richard Thompson's son, appeared as a special guest, singing "Pink Moon" and "From The Morning." Manhattan singer Joe Hurley of Rogue's March sang "Fly" and "Place to be."
Death
Kirby died in a West London hospital following emergency heart surgery after a short illness on 3 October 2009; he was 61 years old.
Discography
- Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left (1969)
- Nick Drake: Bryter Layter (1970)
- Vashti Bunyan: Just Another Diamond Day (1970)
- Bernie Taupin: Bernie Taupin (1970)
- Shelagh McDonald: Stargazer (1971)
- Audience: The House on the Hill (1971)
- Gillian McPherson: Poets and Painters and Performers of Blues (1971)
- Ralph McTell: You Well-Meaning Brought Me Here (1971)
- Keith Christmas: Pigmy (1971)
- Tim Hart and Maddy Prior: Summer Solstice (1971)
- Cochise: So Far (1971)
- Steve Gibbons: Short Stories (1971)
- Andy Roberts: Nina and the Dream Tree (1971)
- John Kongos: John Kongos (1971)
- Spirogyra: St. Radigunds (1971)
- Elton John: Madman Across The Water (1971)
- Claggers: Chumley's Laughing Gear (1971)
- Strawbs: Grave New World (1972)
- David Ackles: American Gothic (1972)
- Mick Audsley: Dark and Devil Waters (1972)
- B.J. Cole: The New Hovering Dog (1972)
- David Elliott: David Elliott (1972)
- Dave Cousins: Two Weeks Last Summer (1972)
- Strawbs: Bursting at the Seams (1972)
- Mike Silver: Troubadour (1973)
- Lynsey De Paul: Surprise (1973)
- Steve Ashley: Stroll On (1974)
- Steve Ashley: Speedy Return (1975)
- John Cale: Helen of Troy (1975)
- Gary Shearston: The Greatest Show on Earth (1975)
- Richard Digance: Trading the Boards (1975)
- Chris DeBurgh: Spanish Train and Other Stories (1975)
- Strawbs: Deep Cuts (1976)
- Design: By Design (1976) (three tracks)
- Spriguns: Time Will Pass (1977)
- Sandy Denny: Rendezvous (1977)
- Strawbs: Burning for You (1977)
- Strawbs: Deadlines (1978)
- Arthur Brown: Chisholm in my Bosom (1978)
- Richard and Linda Thompson: First Light (1978)
- Roger McGough: Summer with Monika (1978)
- Iain Matthews: Stealin' Home (1978)
- Jim Rafferty: Solid Logic (1979)
- Ralph McTell: Slide Away the Screen (1979)
- Aj Webber: Of This Land (1980)
- Elvis Costello: Almost Blue (1982)
- Nick Lowe: Nick Lowe and his Cowboy Outfit (1984)
- Any Trouble: Wrong Eng of the Race (1984)
- London Symphony Orchestra: Screen Classics, Vol. 7 (1994)
- Catchers: Stooping to Fit (1998)
- Ben & Jason: Hello (1999)
- Steve Ashley: The Test of Time (1999)
- Paul Weller: Heliocentric (2000)
- Acoustic Strawbs: Baroque & Roll (2001)
- Flemming: Starry Night (2001)
- Flemming: Old Boys, Chances for tomorrow (2002)
- Nick Drake: Made to Love Magic (2004)
- Henrik Levy: A Letter from a City Man (2004)
- Strawbs: Déjà Fou (2004)
- Vashti Bunyan: Lookaftering (2005)
- Steve Ashley: Live in Concert (2006)
- The Magic Numbers: Those The Brokes (2006)
- a balladeer: Panama (2006)
- Teddy Thompson: Upfront & Down Low (2007)
- Linda Thompson: Versatile Heart (2007)
- Steve Ashley: Time and Tide (2007)
- Luke Jackson: ...And Then Some (2008)
- Strawbs: Dancing to the Devil's Beat (2009)
- James Edge and the Mindstep: In The Hills, The Cities (2010)
- The Magic Numbers: The Runaway (2010)