Andy Pratt (singer-songwriter)
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Pratt performing live at the Greenbelt festival in 2006
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January 25, 1947 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1969–present |
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Andy Pratt (born January 25, 1947) is an American rock singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. In the 1970s, he made a number of experimental records, of which "Avenging Annie" was a commercial hit. Avenging Annie was first heard as a bootleg tape that circulated in SE New England about the summer of 1969 when there was no commercial rendition outstanding. Because of this, Pratt recorded the song commercially a few years later. The tempo and flavor changed and may have accounted for the disappointing sales, as fans did not get the recording they might have wanted. Afterwards, Pratt moved to a more commercial approach with the album Resolution, of which Rolling Stone magazine wrote, "By reviving the dream of rock as an art and then re-inventing it, Pratt has forever changed the face of rock". Pratt converted to Christianity in the late 1970s and continued to make records and perform at major Christian pop music festivals.
Pratt has released over twenty studio albums.
Andy Pratt was born into a wealthy Boston family and attended Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts where his father Edwin H. Baker Pratt served as headmaster. Pratt was awarded a BA in English literature in 1968 from Harvard College. In 1969 he released his debut album, Records Are Like Life, which was neither a critical nor a commercial success.
During these years, Pratt worked with various Boston-area bands and toured in Europe. Using his family wealth, he helped to finance Aengus Studios to help advance his recording career.
In 1973 Pratt signed with Columbia Records. He released Andy Pratt in 1973, which had modest commercial success. In 1973 he released the single "Avenging Annie", which peaked at number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100, spending ten weeks on the chart. The song was re-recorded by The Who singer Roger Daltrey for his album One of the Boys in 1977. Pratt's original version of the single became the B side of Bruce Springsteen's 'Blinded by the Light' on a CBS promotional disc, and was used on the soundtrack to the film Velvet Goldmine in 1998.
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