Alan A. Freeman

Who was Alan A. Freeman?

Alan A. Freeman was an English record producer, remembered for being Petula Clark's producer from 1949 until 1963, when his role was taken over by Tony Hatch. It may have been Hatch who made Petula an international recording star, but Freeman had nurtured her musically since she was 17.

Freeman's dream had always been to have a record label and make his own records with it. In 1949 he was working for the Ed Kassner music publishing company as a song plugger, when he inherited some money, and began to go ahead with his project. His friend, Joe "Mr Piano" Henderson knew the young Clark whose father Leslie was keen to launch her as a recording artist. Joe introduced Alan to Leslie, who invested some money of his own in the new label.

The label, Polygon Records, was a brave attempt of Alan's to gain a footing in the British record market, at a time when it was dominated by Decca and HMV. The earliest recordings were actually made for the Australian market as Alan had a contact there, and he wanted to test the water. By 1950, Polygon was up and running and during its lifetime over 180 records were made over five years, all of them produced by Alan, including over 50 titles by Petula.