Alan Parsons Live Project comes to Newton

He started his career working on the Beatles’ last great LP. He engineered one of the most enduring rock albums of all time.

But despite his reputation for work behind-the-scenes, Alan Parsons has always seen himself as a musician.

“My parents were musicians,” says Parsons. “I was in bands when I was young. My musical training was always important to me.”

So when he started the Alan Parsons Project in 1975 with the release of “Tales of Mystery and Imagination,” he was not just stepping forward from behind a control board. He was fulfilling a dream.

“Everything I had done was building to that,” Parsons says.

Forty years after that debut, Parsons still tours when he is not doing production work. The Alan Parsons Live Project, as his group is now called, will perform at the Newton Theatre this Saturday, Jan. 31.

“It’s a show of our hits,” Parsons says. “We’re doing the songs that people want to hear.”

Parsons acknowledges that the creation of his own band owes much to his experience behind the boards.

A London native, Parsons was only 18 when he was got a job working at Abbey Road Studios. There, he was tapped to help engineer the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” album.

He downplays any specific contributions, but he calls the experience “interesting, educational and intimidating ... the whole notion of being part of a Beatles record, being in the same room, breathing the same air as the Fab Four and George Martin.”

Over the next decade, Parsons worked with such acts as Ambrosia. He also produced such hits as Al Stewart’s “Year of the Cat” and the Hollies’ “The Air That I Breathe”.

His most acclaimed work at the board was engineering “The Dark Side of the Moon,” the 1973 Pink Floyd album that ended up remaining on Billboard’s chart of best-selling albums for 15 years.

Parsons was praised for his skillful use of sound effects (the ticking clocks in “Time,” for example, and the heartbeat that begins and ends the album) combined with dialogue that underscores the songs.

The reception to the album still surprises Parsons. “We recognized it was the best Pink Floyd album to date,” he says. “But we never thought it would stay on the charts for hundreds of weeks and still be talked about.”

In the mid-1970s, Parsons was approached about forming a band with vocalist and songwriter Eric Woolfson. Because the record label executives kept referring to the group as “the Alan Parsons Project,” that ended up being the band’s name.

“Tales of Mystery and Imagination” was influenced by the writings of Poe. The follow-up was a science fiction concept album called “I, Robot,” after a short-story collection by Isaac Asimov.

“The timing was perfect,” Parsons says. “The album was released at the time when ‘Star Wars’ was popular, and we were able to ride on that.”

Parsons continued to divide his time between production work and the Alan Parsons Project through the 1980s. The group hit a commercial peak in 1982 with the song “Eye in the Sky.”

Ironically, that song was almost not included in the album. “I never quite found the right feel for that song,” Parsons says. With a laugh, he adds, “I’ve never been allowed to forget that.”

In concert, the Alan Parsons Live Project attempts to recreate the feel of the studio albums. “We rely heavily on keyboard technology to create some of the effects,” he says. “We always had a big sound, and we know people expect that.”

ALAN PARSONS LIVE PROJECT

WHAT: The veteran engineer/producer showcases his chops as a musician when he and his eight-piece band play some of the best-known songs of the Alan Parsons Project, including “Eye in the Sky,” “Time,” “Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You,” and “Don’t Answer Me.”

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31

WHERE: Newton Theatre, 234 Spring St., Newton

TICKETS: $69 to $79

INFORMATION: 973-383-3700 or www.thenewtontheatre.com.