Oswald Russell "Ossie" Byrne (1926 – December 1983) was an Australianrecord producer, best known for producing the early recordings ofThe Bee Gees, including their first international hit, "New York Mining Disaster 1941".
The youngest of nine children, he was born into a musical family inQueanbeyan,New South Wales. He learned to playcornet andtrumpet in his youth and joined aSalvation Army band. He fought with theRAAF inWorld War II, being injured and losing an eye inNew Guinea. After the war he played with local groups inCanberra andSydney, as well as working as a finance officer, and in the mid-1950s he moved toWollongong where he built a smallrecording studio in his house. In 1961 he recorded a local group, the Del-Fi's, whose recordings had some success, and in 1965 he moved toHurstville, Sydney and set up a new studio behind a butcher's shop.[1]
Record releases by the Bee Gees in Australia had been relatively unsuccessful commercially at that time, but Byrne was a fan and, in 1966, offered the group almost unlimited recording time to develop their sound. He also became the group's co-manager. At the same time, he worked as producer with successful Australian pop singerRonnie Burns. In November 1966 the Bee Gees had their first major success, "Spicks and Specks". The group decided to develop their career in England, and Byrne accompanied them. Arriving in England in February 1967, the group immediately won a recording contract withRobert Stigwood, and Byrne recorded the single "New York Mining Disaster 1941" with them at theIBC Studios inPortland Place. It became a hit in the UK, and internationally, and Byrne then produced the group's album,Bee Gees' 1st (although the group had released two albums previously in Australia).[2]
After that album, Byrne did not work with the Bee Gees again, as the group developed their own independent skills. Byrne remained in London, and produced the only album byfolk rock bandEclection in 1968, and the first album byprogressive rock bandCressida in 1969.[2]
Byrne opened a studio called Village Way recorders in Rayners Lane in Harrow North London which he owned till his death at which time he left it in his will to Paul Layton of the New Seekers. When he went into hospital for his last illness, the studio called in engineer/producer Paul "Doc" Stewart to keep the studio running. Stewart in turn, with the help of Roy Williams of Nervous Records and Steve Rispin made Village way the leading centre for Neo rockabilly and psychobilly until Ossie's death at which point they moved to Tin Pan Alley studios in Denmark Street. Byrne died in London in 1983, of cancer. The Bee Gees dedicated their 1987 album,E.S.P., to his memory.[1]