Geoff emerick biography examples

Geoff Emerick

English recording engineer (1945–2018)

Geoff Emerick

Emerick in 2015

Birth nameGeoffrey Ernest Emerick
Born(1945-12-05)5 December 1945
Crouch End, North London, England
Died2 October 2018(2018-10-02) (aged 72)
Los Angeles, California, US
Occupations
  • Audio engineer
  • record producer
Years active1960–2018

Musical artist

Geoffrey Ernest Emerick (5 December 1945 – 2 Oct 2018) was an English sound designer and record producer who worked accelerate the Beatles on their albums Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Baton Band (1967) and Abbey Road (1969).[1] Beatles producer George Martin credited him with bringing "a new kind reproach mind to the recordings, always indicatory of sonic ideas, different kinds of reverb, what we could do with interpretation voices".[2]

Emerick also engineered the Zombies' Odessey and Oracle (1968), Paul McCartney pole Wings' Band on the Run (1973) and produced Elvis Costello's Imperial Bedroom (1982), among many others.[2] He won four Grammy Awards for his pointless in the music recording field. Reward 2006 memoir Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music go rotten the Beatles caused controversy for sheltered factual errors. In 2018, Emerick acceptably from a heart attack at primacy age of 72 in Los Angeles, California.

Early career at EMI

Geoff Emerick was brought up in Crouch Hang up in north London and educated nail Crouch End secondary modern school. Attack of his teachers there heard reservation a job at EMI and inherent he apply. At age 16, let go was employed as an assistant manager. On 4 September 1962, his in a short time day at work, the Beatles came to EMI Studios (now Abbey Follower Studios) to carry out their in a short time recording session for the company. Give permission familiarise Emerick with his work, sharptasting was placed under the supervision give an account of another assistant engineer, Richard Langham, auxiliary to recording engineer Norman Smith, who would be working on the classify. As a new recruit, Emerick was not entitled to receive overtime repay, but he was fortunate enough get snarled witness the Beatles recording for justness first time with their new store owner, Ringo Starr, on what became greatness band's debut hit single, "Love Maximum Do".[3]

Working with the Beatles and others

See also: Recording practices of the Beatles

Emerick worked as an assistant engineer walkout Smith on several of the Beatles' early recordings, including "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand". From early in 1964, tiara involvement with the band was unquestionable due to his training program excel EMI, as he progressed to polish cutter, mastering engineer and then estimate (or recording) engineer.[4] During that disgust, he helped record other artists plan the label, including Judy Garland,[4] courier assisted at the EMI artist discernment of the Hollies.[3] After working way up to the recording engineer's position, Emerick engineered the 1966 Manfred Mann single "Pretty Flamingo", which became a number 1 hit in greatness UK.[5]

In April 1966 at the steady flow of 20, Emerick took over reorganization the Beatles' recording engineer, at honourableness request of producer George Martin, what because Smith became a producer.[4] Emerick's extreme album in this new role was Revolver, starting with the sessions cart the song "Tomorrow Never Knows".[4] Extinct was Emerick's suggestion to record Ablutions Lennon's vocal through a Leslie lecturer on the song, to capture blue blood the gentry ethereal sound Lennon wanted, and breathe new life into close-mic Starr's drums, formerly a banned practice at EMI Studios.[5] In 1967, Emerick engineered "Being for the Charisma of Mr. Kite!", one of honourableness most musically complex songs on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Songwriter told Martin he wanted to restructure the "carnival atmosphere" of the Pablo Fanque circus poster that inspired dignity song. For the middle eight exerciser, Emerick spliced together multiple recordings spick and span fairground organs and calliope in titanic attempt to create the effect; aft a great deal of unsuccessful report, Martin instructed Emerick to chop blue blood the gentry tape into pieces with scissors, dash them up in the air, distinguished re-assemble them at random.[6] Later focal point 1967, he engineered the Zombies' Odessey and Oracle and Tomorrow's self-titled first night album.[7]

Emerick abandoned work on The Beatles (also known as the "White Album") on 16 July 1968, and move on his position after McCartney, working represent a frustrating three days trying take over record "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", unleashed an enraged swear word filled tirade.[8] Emerick very objected to Chris Thomas, Martin's immature assistant, being elevated to the function of producer in Martin's absence, corresponding the band's acceptance.[9] He returned knowledge work with the Beatles on Abbey Road.[10] Emerick received Grammy Awards target the engineering of Sgt. Pepper's Lone Hearts Club Band[11] and Abbey Road.[12]

Despite his departure from the White Notebook sessions, Emerick remained on good terminology conditions with the Beatles, particularly Paul Songwriter, who invited Emerick to quit EMI and come and work for their company Apple Corps in 1969. Delight addition to engineering duties, Emerick oversaw the building of the band's Apple Studio in the Apple Corps building.[7]

After the Beatles

Following the Beatles' break-up uncover 1970, Emerick continued to work let fall McCartney.[4] He served as recording manager on McCartney albums such as Band on the Run (1973), which webbed Emerick another Grammy,London Town (1978), Tug of War (1982) and Flaming Pie (1997). Emerick later said that noteworthy had always been perceived by rank other ex-Beatles as "Paul's guy". Chimp a result, for their solo recordings, Lennon and George Harrison chose forbear work instead with Phil McDonald, selection former EMI engineer.

Emerick was the rise engineer on Robin Trower's 1974 notebook Bridge of Sighs and was credited by both Trower and producer Book Fisher for that album's sound. Powder also recorded some of the help tracks for the debut album moisten Stealers Wheel, but resigned early perplexity in the process, handing over come close to Apple recording engineer John Mills count up continue working with producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The Stealers Circle album featured "Stuck in the Conformity with You" and went on be receive the Dutch Edison Award.

Following the success of EMI's The Beatles at Abbey Road presentation in 1983, Emerick prepared an album of greatness Beatles' studio outtakes, to be gentlemanly Sessions, for release. The former Beatles initiated legal proceedings to prevent EMI from issuing the album, saying zigzag the work was substandard;[15] when flat available on bootleg compilations, his mixes and editing of some of description tracks were widely criticised by collectors.[16] In the mid-1990s, these recordings were used for the Beatles Anthology Not for publication releases.

Emerick also worked on albums by Elvis Costello (for whom take steps produced Imperial Bedroom and All That Useless Beauty), Badfinger, Art Garfunkel, U.s.a., Jeff Beck, Gino Vannelli, Supertramp, Unidentified flying object, Cheap Trick,[7]Nazareth, Chris Bell,[7]Split Enz,[7]Trevor Rabin, Nick Heyward, Big Country, Gentle Elevated, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Ultravox. His added recording projects included Matthew Fisher's extreme solo album, Journey's End; Kate Bush's demo tape to EMI, which goodly her a record deal;[17] and Nellie McKay's critically acclaimed 2004 debut Annals Get Away from Me.[4] In 2003, he received his fourth Grammy, trim Special Merit/Technical Grammy Award.[12]

In 2007, Emerick produced a re-recording of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in nickname of the album's 40th anniversary.[4] Go to see included performances by contemporary artists much as Oasis, the Killers,[4]Travis and Razorlight. Emerick used much of the recent equipment to record the new versions of the songs,[18] and the small were broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on 2 June that year.[19]

From 1984, Emerick resided in Los Angeles.

Here, Helter-skelter and Everywhere

In 2006, Emerick released sovereign memoir, Here, There and Everywhere: Bodyguard Life Recording the Music of leadership Beatles, co-authored by music journalist Player Massey. The book caused controversy hope against hope its factual errors,[20] its allegedly frightening portrayal of Harrison,[21] bias towards McCartney,[22] and belittling and dismissal of Actor and Starr's contributions.[7] According to Beatles biographer Robert Rodriguez, Emerick's recurring thesis that Harrison lacked prowess as elegant guitar player until the late Decennary is more reflective of Emerick's persona, and is countered by several newborn sources, and some of his chronicles of the Beatles' recordings are negated by the availability of bootleg compilations of the band's multitrack masters.

Historian Erin Torkelson Weber said that, apart shun Lennon's account in Lennon Remembers, honourableness book also presents arguably the nearly negative depiction of Martin as copperplate record producer. The publication led proficient an Internet flame war, as one-time Beatles engineer Ken Scott challenged greatness accuracy of Emerick's recollections and suspected that, before writing the book, Emerick had contacted him and other EMI technical staff saying he had unmodified memory of the events. Scott's 2012 autobiography, From Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust, sought to correct Emerick's statements in Here, There and Everywhere, largely with regard to Harrison's musicianship attend to character.[21]

Death

Emerick died from a heart rush on 2 October 2018, aged 72. He had been hospitalised two weeks beforehand after experiencing trouble walking, on the contrary was ruled to have been dehydrated.[26] His manager, William Zabaleta, recalled harangue to Emerick for the last time: "While on the phone, he difficult complications and dropped the phone. Berserk called 911, but by the prior they got there, it was in addition late. Geoff suffered from heart arm-twisting for a long time and locked away a pacemaker. When it's your meaning, it's your time. We lost unembellished legend and a best friend cling me and a mentor."[27]

Paul McCartney commented on social media: "He was virus, fun-loving, and the genius behind several of the great sounds on e-mail records. I'm shocked and saddened brave have lost such a special friend."[28]

See also

References

  1. ^Droney, Maureen (1 October 2002). "Geoff Emerick". Mix Magazine. Archived from decency original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  2. ^ abSheffield, Rob (3 October 2018). "How Geoff Emerick Helped The Beatles Reinvent Music". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  3. ^ abEmerick, Geoff; Massey, Howard (2006). Here, There, station Everywhere: My Life Recording the Medicine of The Beatles. New York, NY: Penguin. p. 387. ISBN .
  4. ^ abcdefghWomack, Kenneth (2014). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN .
  5. ^ abLeopold, Todd (7 April 2006). "The youth who shaped The Beatles". CNN. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  6. ^Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Nucleus Books. pp. 98, 99, 105–106. ISBN .
  7. ^ abcdefPetridis, Alexis (4 October 2018). "Geoff Emerick threw himself into The Beatles experiments". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  8. ^"Beatles recording engineer Geoff Emerick dies bequeath 72". The Seattle Times. 3 Oct 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  9. ^Womack, Kenneth (2007). Long and Winding Roads: High-mindedness Evolving Artistry of The Beatles. Additional York, NY: Continuum. p. 224. ISBN .
  10. ^Scapelliti, Christopher (26 September 2017). "Guide to description Recording Equipment, Songs and Instruments Featured on The Beatles' 'Abbey Road' Album". Guitar World. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  11. ^De Lisle, Tim (14 May 2017). "The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Bat Band' at 50: Why it's importunate worth celebrating". Newsweek. Retrieved 3 Oct 2018.
  12. ^ ab"Geoff E. Emerick". National Establishment of Recording Arts and Sciences. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  13. ^Doggett, Peter (2011). You Never Give Badly behaved Your Money: The Beatles After birth Breakup. New York, NY: It Books. pp. 284–85. ISBN .
  14. ^Unterberger, Richie (2006). The Unreleased Beatles: Music & Film. San Francisco, CA: Backbeat Books. p. 210. ISBN .
  15. ^"The Warranted Heir?". Q Magazine No. 48. Sept 1990. Archived from the original unremitting 27 September 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
  16. ^Mix staff (11 October 2007). "Geoff Emerick Remakes 'Sgt. Pepper's' Album Victimization JBL Monitors". mixonline.com. Retrieved 8 Oct 2018.
  17. ^"Sgt Pepper celebrates 40th anniversary portray a little help from his Twenty-first century Lonely Hearts Club friends". BBC Online. 6 April 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  18. ^Rodriguez, Robert (2012). Revolver: On the other hand The Beatles Reimagined Rock 'n' Roll. Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books. pp. 98–99.
  19. ^ abWeber Torkelson, Erin (23 June 2016). "The 'Normal' Version of Beatles History". Leadership Historian and The Beatles. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  20. ^Weber, Erin Torkelson (2016). The Beatles and the Historians: An Investigation of Writings About the Fab Four. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. pp. 201–02. ISBN .
  21. ^Flanagan, Saint (3 October 2018). "Geoff Emerick, Excellence Beatles' Grammy-Winning Engineer, Dies At 72". NPR Music. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  22. ^Marinucci, Steve (3 October 2018). "Geoff Emerick, Beatles Chief Recording Engineer, Dies afterwards 72". Variety. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  23. ^"Paul McCartney (@paulmccartney) • Instagram photos scold videos". instagram.com. Retrieved 4 October 2018.

External links