Rich Dodson

{{short description|Canadian singer and guitarist}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2022}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}

{{BLP sources|date=July 2014}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Rich Dodson

| image = Rich Dodson (cropped).png

| image_upright = 0.9

| caption = Dodson in 1971

| birth_name = Richard Dodson

| birth_place = Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1947|7|1}}{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=ROOT_CATEGORY&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=ms_r_f-2_s&gsfn=Rich&gsln=Dodson&msbdy=1947&msbdy_x=1&msbpn__ftp=Canada&msbpn__ftp_x=1&gskw=musician&_83004002=white&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&uidh=lb4&_83004003-n_xcl=f&cp=3 |title=Rich Dodson – Ancestry.com |publisher=Search.ancestry.com |date= |accessdate=29 July 2014}}

| death_date =

| origin = Calgary, Alberta, Canada

| instrument = Guitar, vocals

| genre = Rock

| occupation = Musician, songwriter

| years_active = 1964–present

| label = Marigold Productions

| associated_acts = The Stampeders, Parallels

| website = {{URL| thestampeders.com}}

}}

Rich Dodson (born July 1, 1947) is a Canadian musician and songwriter who is the guitarist, vocalist and a founding member of the rock trio The Stampeders. He is best known for penning the group's biggest hit, "Sweet City Woman", which hit number 1 in Canada and number 8 on the US Billboard in 1971. He also wrote other notable hits for the band such as "Wild Eyes" (1972), "Devil You" (1971), "Johnny Lightning" (1974) and "Carry Me" (1971).{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-stampeders-emc|title=The Stampeders|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Music in Canada |accessdate=19 August 2019}}

Dodson has stated that his influences come from instrumental bands of the 1960s such as The Ventures and The Shadows, as well as Lovin' Spoonful and The Zombies.{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.classicbands.com/StampedersInterview.html |title=Interview With Rich Dodson |publisher=Classicbands.com |date= |accessdate=29 July 2014}} On stage, he is known for playing his self-designed Fender double neck guitar.

Dodson left the Stampeders in 1978 to pursue his interests in music production and built his own 24-track recording studio called Marigold Studios. There he produced his own solo material as well as producing and engineering "Fate Stay with Me" (1987) for Alanis Morissette.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/alanis-morissette|title=Alanis Morissette|encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia|accessdate=19 August 2019}} In that same year, he began his nationally distributed independent record label called Marigold Productions.[http://www.stampeders.net/rich.html] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704111710/http://www.stampeders.net/rich.html |date=4 July 2008 }} Dodson went on to have a successful solo career with three top-ten hits in Canada including "Lookin' Back" (1981), "She's Comin' Back/Your Own Kind of Music" (1985), and "Cruel Emotion" (1986). In 1994, Dodson released his solo songs on an album called Secret Hits on Aquarius Records.

In 1992, Dodson re-united with his Stampeders bandmates. The band continue to tour Canada doing fairs, festivals, casinos and theatres.

In 1994, Dodson was inducted into the SOCAN Hall of Fame for composing "Sweet City Woman" and "Carry Me".

In February 2006, Dodson was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame with "Sweet City Woman".{{cite web|author= |url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/S/Stampeders/2006/03/04/1472028.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710022407/http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/S/Stampeders/2006/03/04/1472028.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=10 July 2012 |title=CANOE – JAM! Stampeders, The: 'Sweet City Woman' hits Hall of Fame |publisher=Jam.canoe.ca |date=4 March 2006 |accessdate=29 July 2014}} His daughter, Holly Dodson, is a singer-songwriter, vocalist, and key member in Canadian synth-pop trio Parallels.