Ian Samwell

Ian Ralph "Sammy"^[1] Samwell (19 January 1937 – 13 March 2003) was an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer.^[2] He is best known as the writer of Cliff Richard's debut single "Move It", whilst a member of his backing group, known then as the Drifters, the forerunner of the better known The Shadows, a recording he also featured on in which he played rhythm guitar.^[3]

Samwell by the late 60s the in-house record producer of the British division of Warner Bros. Records and worked in there London office,^[4] and was also known for his association with the rock band America, with whom he had his biggest commercial success with their hit single, "A Horse with No Name".^[3]

He also worked with rock bands, such as Small Faces, The Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell,^[1] John Mayall and Hummingbird.

Samwell wrote for many other British artists, including Joe Brown, Elkie Brooks, Kenny Lynch and Dusty Springfield.^[2] Several of his songs were recorded in Spanish by the Mexican group, Los Teen Tops and were released in Latin America and the Spanish-speaking territories of the world. He also worked as a record producer with Sounds Incorporated, Georgie Fame, John Mayall and the mod band The Small Faces,^[2] co-writing their 1965 hit single "Whatcha Gonna Do About It".^[1]