Ian Samwell

Ian Ralph Samwell (19 January 1937 – 13 March 2003) was an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known as the writer of Cliff Richard's debut hit "Move It" and his association with the rock band America with whom he had his biggest commercial success with their hit single "A Horse with No Name". He also worked with rock bands, such as The Small Faces, The Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell,John Mayall and Hummingbird.

Samwell wrote for many other British artists, including Joe Brown, Elkie Brooks, Kenny Lynch and Dusty Springfield. Several of his songs were recorded in Spanish for 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, co-writing their 1965 hit single "Whatcha Gonna Do About It".

Career

In 1958, Samwell heard Harry Webb performing at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho. This led to him joining Webb's group as a guitarist. Shortly afterwards, the group was renamed Cliff Richard and The Drifters who later became Cliff Richard and The Shadows.