(The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether

"(The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether"
Single by the Alan Parsons Project
from the album Tales of Mystery and Imagination
B-side"A Dream Within a Dream"
ReleasedJuly 1976
RecordedSeptember 1975
StudioAbbey Road Studios
GenreHard rock
Length
  • 4:12 (LP)
  • 3:20 (single)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Alan Parsons
  • Eric Woolfson
The Alan Parsons Project singles chronology
"The Raven"
(1975)
"(The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether"
(1976)
"To One in Paradise"
(1976)

"(The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether" is a 1976 single by the Alan Parsons Project.[1] It first appeared on their debut album, Tales of Mystery and Imagination: Edgar Allan Poe. The single reached number 37 on the US Billboard Hot 100[2] and number 62 in Canada.[3]

As with the other songs on the album, it is based on a story by American author Edgar Allan Poe,[4] in this case "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" (1845). The song was written by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson, and was originally recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London in September 1975.[5] The 1987 reissue adds a "cathedral organ", played by Parsons.[4]

It does not appear on either The Best of the Alan Parsons Project or The Best of the Alan Parsons Project, Volume 2, as the band moved from 20th Century Records to Arista after the release of Tales of Mystery and Imagination. It appears on the American version of the 1997 2 CD Definitive Collection[6] and the 2007 collection, The Essential Alan Parsons Project.[7]

Personnel

References

  1. ^ "The Alan Parsons Project – (The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether". Discogs. 1976.
  2. ^ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. 18 September 1976.
  3. ^ "RPM Weekly". Library and Archives Canada. 25 September 1976.
  4. ^ a b c "Tales of Mystery and Imagination". The Alan Parsons Project Official Website.
  5. ^ "Tales of Mystery and Imagination". Discogs. 1976.
  6. ^ "The Definitive Collection". Discogs. 1997.
  7. ^ "The Essential Alan Parsons Project". Discogs. 2007.