EC writes foreword for Geoff Emerick book

Pretty self-explanatory
johnfoyle
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EC writes foreword for Geoff Emerick book

Post by johnfoyle »

nunki writes

To: COSTELLO-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM


From the Beatles News Briefs site

http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/210emerickbook.html

It's been announced that Beatle engineer Geoff Emerick will write a
book about the Fabs. Here's the description from the Publisher's
Marketplace Deal report:

NON-FICTION Legendary sound engineer Geoff Emerick and veteran music
journalist Howard Massey's HERE, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE: A Legacy of
Sound, Music, and The Beatles, with a foreword by Elvis Costello, from
the man in charge of the recording of such seminal albums as
"Revolver," "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," and "Abbey Road,"
with stories of the groundbreaking recording techniques he pioneered to
give them their unique sound and his post-Beatles days (including
working Paul McCartney & Wings), to Brendan Cahill at Gotham, in a
pre-empt, in a significant deal, by Jennifer Cayea at Nicholas Ellison
(world English).

No word on publication date. (Thanks to Matthew Elblonk.)
cbartal
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Post by cbartal »

Was iMpeRiAl bEdRoOm notoriously absent, or does the forward make up for that?
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verbal gymnastics
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Post by verbal gymnastics »

Especially as Imperial Bedroom had the world's first backward accordion on it! That was a seminal moment in rock history surely!
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Post by johnfoyle »

David writes to listserv -


http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/fabnews.htm

Emerick book on Beatles to be published

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(7/11/05) A press release from Jeff Smuylan:

Engineer Geoff Emerick Solidifies Book Deal On His Work With The Beatles

New York, NY- William Shinker, Senior Vice President and Publisher of Gotham Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), announced today Gotham Books has acquired the World English rights to Here, There, and Everywhere: A Legacy of Sound, Music, and The Beatles by legendary sound engineer Geoff Emerick and well respected music journalist Howard Massey.

Geoff Emerick began working with The Beatles at Abbey Road studios at the age of 15-and from age 19 on was the chief recording engineer for the band, in charge of the recording of such seminal albums as Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Abbey Road. Emerick's book will bring to life the creative process of the band in the studio and reveal never-before-told stories of the groundbreaking recording techniques he pioneered to give them their unique sound. He will also tell why he quit his position in the midst of the contentious White Album sessions, and how they asked him to return to work with them on Abbey Road-and give insight into his post-Beatles recording career, including working on "Band On The Run" with Paul McCartney & Wings.

Emerick was the recording genius behind the board for The Beatles' most adventurous tracks, and helped the band achieve the experimental sounds that are the hallmarks of their most enduring songs. Since the breakup of The Beatles, Emerick has forged an active career as an engineer and producer, winning four Grammys in the process. He has worked extensively with Paul McCartney, as well as other major artists such as Elvis Costello, Art Garfunkel, Badfinger, America, and Jeff Beck. Costello has committed to write a foreword for the book.

Coauthor Howard Massey is a veteran music journalist who has written eleven books and hundreds of feature articles and reviews for such publications as Billboard, Blender, and EQ.

Brendan Cahill, an Editor at Gotham Books, said, "We're tremendously excited to be publishing Geoff Emerick's book. He's a living legend in the world of music, and this book will give new insight into the creation of the most unforgettable songs by the most beloved-band the world has ever known."

Geoff Emerick said, "I'm proud the work I did with The Beatles has stood the test of time. Now I feel it's time to tell my story, not only to provide a glimpse into the inner sanctum of the recording studio, but to shine a light on the incredible creativity that fueled those great records. I was privileged to be a part of this journey, and I'm delighted that Gotham Books will be giving me the opportunity to share my experiences with the reading public."
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 15-8730838


Image


Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles
Elvis Costello (Foreword), Geoff Emerick, Howard Massey

# Hardcover 400 pages (April 2006)
# Publisher: Gotham Books
# Language: English
# ISBN: 1592401791
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you can't wait until April , http://www.abe.com have plenty of preview copies for sale.
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Post by johnfoyle »

My preview copy arrived today..........without the Costello foreword. There's a page at the start , with just the words 'Elvis Costello' on it. Presumably Elvis' contribution was not ready for the uncorrected proof . There is a quote from it on the back of the book -

" We all owe some debt to Geoff Emerick's self-effacing work as an engineer and producer......there is very little that any group of scruffy musicians can throw at him that he cannot put into some kind of good sonic order. I feel fortunate to have worked with him."



so hopefully it will be in the final, finished edition.

Feck!

A quick skim through the book tells of lots of Fabs-in-the-studio stories etc. Doubtlessly I should read it with Mark Lewisohn's sessionography/Ian
McDonald's book to hand , so that I can double check if Lennon REALLY played cowbell during the 3AM recording session in April '68.......or I could just listen to the music.

Which reminds me . When my nieces visit they just have to play records on Uncle John's turn-table , a device absent from their home. Recently I let them play Rubber Soul , the first time I've played any of
my old Beatle's vinyl in , maybe, 15 years. Having only listened to the 1980's CD of that album in the interim I was astonished at the sonic difference. The depth of the sound , the clarity of the musical parts
etc. There was also that long forgotten satisfaction of , after hearing the rather soppy side one closer 'Michelle ' , of anticipating the more acerbic 'What Goes On' as it opens side two , something to be looked forward to as the disc was flipped ( carefully , only touching the extreme edge of disc with finger-tips....or Uncle John will have one of his fits...).

It's a tired old plea , but will EMI please , please (me) upgrade the CD editions of these albums.
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Post by wardo68 »

johnfoyle wrote:Recently I let them play Rubber Soul, the first time I've played any of my old Beatles vinyl in, maybe, 15 years. Having only listened to the 1980's CD of that album in the interim I was astonished at the sonic difference. The depth of the sound, the clarity of the musical parts etc....It's a tired old plea, but will EMI please, please (me) upgrade the CD editions of these albums.
George Martin prepared new stereo mixes of Rubber Soul and Help! for CD release in 1987, based (he said) on the original stereo mixes. Of course, they're not identical to the original mixes, whether you've got British or American, mono or stereo.

Now, whether or not EMI upgrades them, the most likely candidates would be as part of a "Capitol Albums Vol. 2", which would be the sequel to the Vol. 1 they put out in 2004 containing mono and stereo versions of the first four American albums. But then they still wouldn't sound like your old vinyl (and who knows when that might come out, since Apple is suing EMI again for back royalties...)

At any rate, the moral is this: hang on to yer vinyl.
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Post by Poor Deportee »

Well, the SOUND of 'Let It Be - Naked' was terrific. The same applies to several of the tracks released on the 'Anthology' series (e.g., check out the demo for 'Good Morning'). A thorough remastering of their catalogue - the greatest catalogue in pop music - for CD is surely in order. Considering the cash cow it would be, I don't understand why they haven't done this yet; for God's sake, do it now, while George Martin and Macca still have their health.

And, oh yeah - Ian Macdonald's Revolution in the Head: does a better piece of sustained pop criticism exist? If so, let me know!!!
When man has destroyed what he thinks he owns
I hope no living thing cries over his bones
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,183694,00.html

(extract)

'..............a Beatles convention in the New York area taking place between March 31 and April 2. You can read all about it at

http://www.FestForBeatlesFans.com.

Also at the Beatles convention: the group's recording engineer, the very talented Geoff Emerick, who's written his autobiography. In addition to working with the lads, and with McCartney as a solo act, Emerick is also legendary for turning the knobs on Elvis Costello's career-making album, "Imperial Bedroom."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've just finished reading this book - I'll post comments over the weekend.
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Post by johnfoyle »

This is book is a enjoyable read. Geoff (with Howard Massey) tell the much-told Beatle tale with few surprises but much incidental detail. A good deal is made of how the inter-departmental structures within EMI affected the initial recording sessions but were then subverted by the Fabs . Witty depictions of some of more colourful management types are succeeded later in the text by passing references to them as the sessions progress , thus saving us from copious bio notes to break the flow of the story.

The recent Blog reference tells of Elvis spinning this book as an account of how little Geoff was credited during his time with the Beatles. In the book this is less emotively treated. We are told of how this was more or less the industry standard at the time. We are repeatedly told of George Martin passing on Geoff's opinons, from the control box, to the musicians without attribution. This , surely, could be explained by the producer merely exercising his role of incorporating all elements of his work and condensing for clarity.

We do get oodles of details about technical effects. Geoff is rarely shy about telling us how blinking marvellous he was in doing all kinds of ground-breaking technical things . It helps , I suppose , that the comments are entirely justified. Later in the book we hear about how Geoff and George went through the entire EMI/Beatle archive for the Anthologies project , a exercise which , perhaps , refreshed his memory. I did cross-reference some of the depictions with the Lewisohn/McDonald accounts , finding , in most cases , agreement. The account of the recording of The End ( from Abbey Road) is most interesting. McDonald queries aspects of the finish of the track - Geoff explains it as if responding to that account. Of course , it could be that there was no other way to tell it .

We get opinions on all the Fabs. John is the spiky, acerbic one , George the cagey , distant one , Paul the diplomatic , interested one and Ringo is quiet and does what he's told. So , no surprises there. The accounts of the early sessions are chockful of detail, really making you feel you were there. The account of the later ones , where Geoff was an intermittant presence , are are just as interesting. Between 1966 and 1970 The Beatles were , as he puts it , isolated in the awful building that housed the EMI studios and it was understandable how the pressurised situation eventually helped tear them apart.

This book is , as the title tells, primarily about the Fabs. We get some of Geoff's life story . He tells of how - as a child in Crouch End, London - he saw a UFO from his bedroom window. He knows it's hard believe but he saw it and thats that. Years later , in a break in a late night studio session, he discussed it with John and Paul , getting derison and acceptance in turn. We later learn of the the sad death from cancer of his wife , a few years before Linda McCartney and how that re-inforced the bond beween them. The account of recording Band On The Run in Africa is amusing and had me listening to it again from a new perspective. Incidentally Tug Of War is referred to as being Macca's first 'post Wings' album; what about McCartney II?

A page is given over to Imperial Bedroom. Geoff had been a fan of Elvis and was delighted to be asked to work with him etc. Were told of Elvis being 'almost as impatient as Lennon' , 'there was no " We need ten minutes to get a sound together" '. Geoff wanted to make Elvis' vocal stand out more , because his lyrics were so great thet deserved to heard more clearly. An amusing note tells of Steve Nieve composing a orchestral arrangement that required eighteen viola players. Geoff steered him away from that because ' the tricky thing would be finding eighteen top-notch viola players in London !'.

Howard Massey's involvement in the book is evident from the Americanisms that figure throughout. Though Geoff lived ( lives?) in Los Angeles for a while I just cannot believe that a Londoner would use 'gotten' as much is used here. Similarly , he quotes Lennon as saying that EMI should, during the 1967 'Pepper recordings , 'spring' for the cost of the orchestral sessions.

That quibble aside , this is a book well worth reading.
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Post by And No Coffee Table »

johnfoyle wrote:Incidentally Tug Of War is referred to as being Macca's first 'post Wings' album; what about McCartney II?
McCartney II was recorded in the summer of 1979, prior to the final Wings tour. Wings actually continued to record as late as 1981, completing tracks for the unreleased Cold Cuts project. There's also a bootleg with Wings rehearsals from October 1980. So there's a reasonable argument for calling Tug of War the first "post Wings" album.

Thanks for the review. I'll definitely get this book.
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Post by wardo68 »

Indeed. McCartney II was basically him playing around in a home studio; when Wings toured that fall, "Coming Up" was one of the songs they played (a live version of which ended up being the American hit single, as the Brits were happy with the album track, but we're getting ahead of ourselves). After his "Japanese adventure", he decided to put out the album while he got to work on an album with George Martin, "casting" the musicians instead of working with the latest version of Wings. Halfway through that he decided to formally disband the group and carry on.
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.musicangle.com/shownews.php?id=99

Image

Michael Fremer
Musicangle

FRIDAY, MARCH 03, 2006

While at Sterling Sound interviewing George Marino for my turntable set-up DVD, I heard some familiar music coming from Ted Jensen's room. I popped in to find him listening to the master tape of the American version of Rubber Soul, which some Beatles fans think is a better track list than the UK edition. Your choice. Jensen was working on a follow-up box set to the well received Capitol Albums Vol.1 4 CD set.

Jensen had the Rubber Soul, Help! and The Early Beatles tapes in his mastering suite, along with CD-R cut from first pressing vinyl so he could compare.

He also told me, rather casually, that EMI was working at Abbey Road on the long overdue remastering of the entire UK Beatles catalog.

Now, I hear you screaming "What about vinyl?" and I have no word on that but I do have a few interesting clues that I can pass your way: 1) a UK vinyl reissue label tells me all of a sudden the EMI catalog has "dried up" and is no longer available to him.

2)Classic Records's Mike Hobson holds a press conference at CES claiming it will be "the most important in the history of Classic Records," yet all he announces is a series of Everest titles from 35MM mag tapes and an extensive mono series including Billie Holiday's Clef catalog, and vinyl versions of the Mrs. Elvis Costello (Diana Krall) albums.

Now, does that strike you as "the most important" announcement from Classic compared to say, the RCA "Living Stereo" series, or the Roy Orbison catalog? It doesn't to me.

So what I was thinking is that Classic intended to announce The Beatles catalog but couldn't for some reason.

Then I hear that news from Ted Jensen.

And then I hear that Classic's Mike Hobson is out of town, traveling in the U.K.

Now you draw your own conclusions!
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Post by thepopeofpop »

My local megastore has started to heavily discount certain Beatles titles, especially the red and blue albums (as have some other stores) and Beatles albums are never normally discounted "down here" so I'd say that maybe something is afoot.

the reason why the Anthology stuff (and 'Let it Be ... Naked') sounds better is because they used a lot of the old analog gear when they did the remastering.

Surely with the 40th anniversary of Sgt Peppers next year EMI will want to have some new product out - and they won't release all the remastered albums at the same time, they'll have to start by late 2006 won't they?

Mono/stereo and 5.1 variants. We want the WORKS, EMI/Apple!

PoP
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainme ... 1ed72.html

Book Review: Book plumbs the human side of legendary Beatles

Web Posted: 03/19/2006 12:00 AM CST

Hector Saldaña

San Antonio Express-News

Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles

By Geoff Emerick and Howard Massey

Gotham Books, $26

The Beatles most daring recording engineer — Geoff Emerick manned the console and shaped the groundbreaking sounds of "Revolver," "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Magical Mystery Tour," "The Beatles" (White Album) and "Abbey Road" — has the good sense to deal in flesh and blood and not tubes and transistors in his 352-page memoir.

But Emerick, indeed a lover of ancient analog audio tube devices such as Fairchild 660 limiters, Altec 436 compressors and Neumann U47 microphones, offers such morsels for audiophiles, too. Maybe primitive was better.

The book derives its title from Paul McCartney's 1966 homage to the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" and is a riveting, straight-up account of the technically limited and often not-so-fab Fab Four. Elvis Costello's forward offers modern context.

Emerick was only 15 years old when he was hired as an assistant engineer at EMI Studios in London (today known as Abbey Road Studios) in 1962. The following day, he observed the Beatles first EMI session, the lackluster attempt at "How Do You Do It," done at producer George Martin's insistence.

He kept his mouth shut, watched and listened. He loved the Beatles' raw sound and their cheekiness. Little did he know that it would soon be his hands on the buttons and his ears tilted toward the right mixing speaker on the Beatles most heralded works.

That first night, there was brash, unproven John Lennon in horn-rimmed glasses telling his producer that the song he'd selected was "crap." More diplomatic, handsome and charming, but no less forceful than his songwriting mate, McCartney (in Emerick's eyes) was always the true leader of the band.

George Harrison, the baby of the group, is insecure, sullen and more ham-fisted as a guitarist than anyone would have imagined. His arc is perhaps the most dramatic: going from second-class Beatle, who'd checked out of the band by "Revolver," to the confident solo artist and songwriter, flourishing away from the egos and tantrums of Lennon and McCartney.

In their movies, Ringo Starr was the lovable clown, and his band was often compared to the Marx Brothers. But in the studio, he was the Harpo Marx of the bunch. He never spoke, and lived in dread that he might have to perform a drum solo.

But Emerick is hardly out to tarnish the Beatles image — nor is he out to make himself more important in the saga. What he accomplishes is bringing the iconic musicians down to earth — human and fallible.

"It wasn't like what a lot of people probably imagine it to be," Emerick said in an interview from Los Angeles, "but that was the way it was."

Emerick came to EMI when engineers were required to wear ties and technicians wore white lab coats. There were lots of rules. Emerick broke them all, from the first "Revolver" session on April 6, 1966, and would win Grammy Awards for engineering "Sgt. Pepper" and "Abbey Road" (he's won four to date).

His signature sound (beyond his innovations, such as creating tape loops, distorted vocals and backward recording) includes close-miking techniques ("Eleanor Rigby's" in-your-face strings, for example), gobs of aggressive compression, pushing input signal for breathiness ("Girl") and sinisterly overdriving studio preamps ("Revolution").

"I always treat recording sounds in a visual sense in my mind, like microphones become cameras and so forth," Emerick said.

Ironically, he insists that the Beatles music is best listened to in mono. Why? Because he mixed them that way, and the painstaking mono mixes were the only ones made with the Beatles present in the room.

Hector Saldaña is a Features reporter for the Express-News

hsaldana@express-news.net
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainme ... be133.html

An interview with Beatle recording engineer Emerick

Web Posted: 03/23/2006 07:38 PM CST

Hector Saldaña
San Antonio Express-News

In this era of digital and computer music, he prefers analog tape and tube gear.

Geoff Emerick — the adventurous recording engineer who as a young man (he was 15-years old when he joined the EMI staff at Abbey Road Studios in London) shaped the sounds on the Beatles' “Revolver,” “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band,” “Magical Mystery Tour,” “The Beatles” and “Abbey Road” — insists he can hear the difference.

He also insists that the Beatles are best listened to in mono.

Emerick's memoir, “Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles” (Gotham Books), written with music journalist Howard Massey, is a must-read and perhaps the best straight-up insiders view of the often not-so-fab Fab Four.

Elvis Costello (Emerick recorded his “Imperial Bedroom” album) wrote the forward. The 352-page book is not a rehash of familiar old stories.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

Paul McCartney, from the beginning, emerges as the true leader of the often-dysfunctional band. John Lennon's lack of concentration and mood swings verge on attention deficit disorder, in contrast to his commanding presence (the image of Lennon, stripped to the waist shredding his throat on “Twist and Shout” is startling).

George Harrison, insecure and more ham-fisted on guitar in the studio than anyone would have imagined, checked out of the band by “Revolver” and Ringo Starr, the clown in their movies, never spoke and dreaded anything close to a drum solo.

Emerick describes “Sgt. Pepper” as McCartney's album and the so-called White Album as Lennon's raw response. Smoke-stained Abbey Road's Studio room No. 2, with its dirty woodblock floor and quilted padded walls “full of old seaweed” became a virtual prison for the Beatles. “It was just a horrible place,” Emerick said. Toward the end, the torturous distraction of Yoko Ono “became part of the furniture.”

Amazing that it's where they recorded the “classical music of 50 years, 100 years time,” the Grammy-winning Emerick said.

And sometimes the Beatles were horrible people. Emerick walked out of the White Album sessions amid protests to stay from the band. He came back to record “Abbey Road.”

We recently picked his brain.

What was your philosophical approach?
“I always treat recording sounds in a visual sense in my mind. Like microphones become camera lenses and so forth.”

How does one write about creating those groundbreaking sounds without being too geeky? “First of all, I didn't want to make this very technical, this book, at all. Nothing can be quite as boring for people that know nothing of the technical side. I just wanted to make it interesting to let people know what went on at those sessions because no one's ever sort of documented it. They weren't so iconic when we were doing those sessions. They were still who they were, but it's the story of real human beings in this environment with all its ups and downs. No one's documented it. I just wanted to sort of share what it was like to work on those records. It wasn't like what a lot of people probably imagine it to be, but that was the way it was.”

What were the limitations at EMI (today known as Abbey Road Studios)? “Our limitations were a mixing console with basically eight microphone inputs and a tape machine and microphones and few small echo devices, and that's basically what we used and had to start with. When I started to do ‘Revolver,' they wanted to go into different directions and advance.”

The early Beatles records were only two-track recordings?
“Let's go back to the earliest stuff when (engineer) Norman Smith and I was maybe assisting on the sessions, of course, they were just two-track recordings. And basically, they would actually do it live. The main vocal would have been live. Most of those earlier ones were. All the rhythm track would be on one track and if there were any overdubs to be done, we'd do it tape to tape, a twin-track to twin-track copy — overdub little bits on the copy and edit (literally cut and tape) the bits on the copy back into the original two-track master. And then when you went to the mono reduction it was just a question that you could at least balance the vocal against the rhythm track level.”

When the experimentation (and later the bickering within the group) began, was it more fun than tedium?
“No, it wasn't tedious, because it gave us time to experiment on things.”

Why are the Beatles records better in mono? Because we used to monitor those tracks mono, again England was behind the times as far as stereo was concerned. And it was only when we were trying to record the ‘Abbey Road' album that we actually were monitoring in stereo and giving it some consideration. We used to monitor from one loud speaker, which was the right-hand speaker, although it was left and right, but it was to one on the right. And it was all balanced and EQ-ed and monitored on one loud speaker for mono. It used to take a long, long time, if John was playing guitar and George was playing guitar on a track together to get the distinctive sounds of each of those guitars to speak properly out of one sound source.”

What were the benefits to the Beatles having the run of the place?
“It was a nice way of working, a luxury because no other bands were working like that. It was a unique situation at that time because we had the luxury of time to craft and sculpture every tonal thing around those tracks. We had no sort of magic boxes. I call them magic boxes to make modern sounds. We would wobble the guide rollers to make the tape wobble on the tape machine, so it would wow and flutter the tape into the echo chamber, which is quite apparent on that solo of “Lovely Rita.” Stuff like that, with the machine almost disintegrating. We weren't supposed to treat the equipment like that.”

What does pushing equipment like audio compressors do? “If you overdo it, like what I like to do, most compression devices, and especially the Fairchild limiter which was sort of a compression device, but faster, which actually chops peaks off, I used it for sound. And if you overload them slightly, like put more in than you should be putting in on the input, it sort of scrunches the sound up a bit. It makes it a little bit more forceful. It's more exciting. It controls the loud part, but also the soft part of the vocal comes up to the same volume as the loud part. It brings up the breath sometimes to make it more breathy, and it accents the breaths and mouth noises if you over do it and have fast releases.”

The Beatles could turn on and off the vibe?
“When all of the bad vibes were going on, and we actually cut the track, “Bulldog,” it was just a fun track to record. It wasn't given a lot of intellectual thought, per se. Everyone had a great time recording it and enjoying singing it and playing it. And then when it was all done it back to the vibe that there was before. It was an odd, odd situation.”

Is genius sometimes a happy accident?
“Sometimes something happened that we could have thought was a mistake, and we used that mistake as a part of the track. And you see the faces all light up, you know. And you think, well that's great. We've got to keep that. That was brilliant. Sometimes it was just a mistake, you know.”

What's going on with the strange stereo mixes on Beatles albums?
“It was the only way I could mix it. These were supposedly stereo versions, but again they were made as a mono record. The stereo version, there was no thought given in the process as to what I'm going to put back there because that's going to come from the left and that's going to come from the right. It was just when you start sweeping the (four) tracks left and right that's what happened. There's guitar, drums and vocals on one track! It'd be great to reissue those mono mixes again. Because those mixes are different from the stereo mixes. But those mono mixes are the ones made when the Beatles were present and the one deemed ‘the mix.'” (Editor's note: For example, Emerick said that “Sgt. Pepper” took three weeks to mix in mono; three days only for the stereo version.).

Did hubris set in after “Sgt. Pepper” became so acclaimed?
“Many things happened after ‘Pepper.' Brian (Epstein) died and we went straight into, almost within two weeks, doing ‘Magical Mystery Tour,' which for all intents and purposes a bit of a disaster in England. We were thinking, oh my God. This can't last. They thought they could do anything they liked and they couldn't go wrong. But, of course, with ‘Magical Mystery Tour,” they sort of went wrong.”

What do you think of modern studio ProTools and autotune devices?
“The artistic side has fallen by the wayside. There's a different dividing line there. If I'm producer or engineer with an artist now, I have to work with an artist that's got proper real musical talent. I still record analog when I can. The last thing I was doing, I was running three 24s (24-track tape recorders) in lock with a few little quick overdubs coming over from ProTools. Also, to get that richness in the sound which is still there in analog. I was brought up on analog. The young kids today, they're not brought up in analog, so they only know the sounds of ProTools, which is really discouraging to my ear. It's gritty. It's very bland, and it's very sterile. It's as if someone sprinkled fine sand over it. It's not smooth and it's not linear, it's just sort of gritty. It jars your ear. But it doesn't jar people's ears that only know that sound. (To me) it's like chalk and cheese.”

What about John Lennon's post-Beatles statement about wishing to re-record and re-mix every Beatles track? “That was John's brashness, he probably didn't mean that, obviously. Facetious is probably the right word. That was John. He'd come out with his statements. He was brash and said things without meaning them. He would never sort of apologize for saying them. I never remember him apologizing, you know.”

What did you learn by writing the book? “I was fortunate to have gone through the ‘60s with them. As the Beatles thing sort of gets sort of bigger by the day still, I was fortunate to have lived and worked through all that. Who would have thought that 44 years later, we'd be talking about this? And the music's still up there. It's well structured. It's got melody, and there's great playing, great guitar playing, great drumming, great bass playing. And it's got all the elements that you want to hear from a great record. It's entertainment, you know.”

Was George Harrison a second-class Beatle?
“He was trying to find his own thing, and he struggled. I remember in the early days, always struggling for those guitar parts and the others getting frustrated because he was talking a long time. But as the book progresses, you see how George finds himself and brings (Indian influences) into the Beatles music. It suddenly dawned on me one day, I said to Howard, I've got a feeling here, that even going back to the ‘Revolver' days, (George was disinterested). On his face, he's somewhere else all the time..... and I said to Howard, you know he really wanted out of the Beatles. Even when we were doing ‘Revolver.'”

What's your favorite piece of gear? “My one favorite piece of gear if the Fairchild 660 limiter because it just adds a certain presence. It was great for guitars and it was great for John's voice, and any voice, really. It just puts a lot of presence on it. I sometime still record with them and use them on the mix, too. The drums, certainly on the ‘Revolver' stuff with the whole drum kit being mono went through one Fairchild limiter.”

Which tracks stand out? “Day In the Life,” obviously, and I guess “Strawberry Fields,” you know, and “Tomorrow Never Knows.” You know there's so many. “Here, There and Everywhere,” of course, is one of the reason why the book is called that.” That music, the structure, the melody, the instrumentation and so forth, there was thought there. Where as today, I hear records and just sort of think, where's the thinking process behind these records? There isn't any.”

Do you miss those days and the old gear?
“I do, because the problem is I know the way things can sound. And I can't get the sound because of modern equipment.”

His advice to young musicians and recording engineers? “Start using your ears and not your eyes.”

hsaldana@express-news.net
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Post by johnfoyle »

Geoff Emerick interview (marginal EC)


http://www.earcandymag.com/geoffemerick-2006.htm
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/gu ... 14-7770315
[3/3/06]

Legendary recording engineer and producer Geoff Emerick, who has worked on albums by the Beatles, Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Art Garfunkel, and Cheap Trick--just for starters--has just written his first book, 'Here, There and Everywhere : My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles'. We asked Geoff to talk about some favorites among the masterworks he's had a hand in, and this is what he had to say.

Geoff Emerick's List of Music You Should Hear


Of all of the albums that I was involved in, these are some of my favorites:

(extract)


'Imperial Bedroom', Elvis Costello

I was delighted to be asked to produce this album in 1982. It's got the polish of a record that took a long time to make, but it actually came together in just a few months. I'm really glad we were able to get the vocals to the forefront of the mix, because I've always been such a great fan of Elvis's lyrics.

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Has anyone read Elvis' foreword for this ? My preview copy was missing it ...and I'm too cheap to buy it again just for a few pages!
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Post by johnfoyle »

No wonder Elvis likes Geoff so much!

http://blog.netscape.com/2007/02/08/rec ... ck-speaks/

( extract)

Netscape: Let's jump ahead to the present for a moment. You live in Los Angeles now. When did you relocate to the U.S.?

Emerick: In 1984, basically.

Netscape: Are you nostalgic for England?

Emerick: I hate England.

Netscape: Do you really?

Emerick: Oh, yeah, sure.

Netscape: What is it you hate in particular about England?

Emerick: [Laughs] It's great to be a tourist in England. The problem is the infrastructure. My impression is that the place is gradually falling apart.
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Post by Dr. Luther »

verbal gymnastics wrote:Especially as Imperial Bedroom had the world's first backward accordion on it! That was a seminal moment in rock history surely!
"Big Sister's Clothes", actually...
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Post by verbal gymnastics »

I'm sure somebody else corrected me on this as well on the board but I can't find it. Anyway thanks. I would hate to think I've corrupted someone who might repeat what I said.
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Post by johnfoyle »

johnfoyle
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Re: EC writes foreword for Geoff Emerick book

Post by johnfoyle »

Readers in St Louis may want to check this out -

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/atoz/2 ... _ringo.php

Beatles Engineer/Mixer Geoff Emerick Visiting Webster University, October 29


Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 01:16:53 PM

Tip to Roy for passing this along:

The Webster University Student Section is pleased to invite you join us for an Evening with Geoff Emerick on Wednesday, October 29th, at 7 p.m. in the Moore Auditorium. Most famous for his work at Abbey Road with the Beatles, Emerick recording and mixing Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The White Album and Abbey Road. He also worked with Elvis Costello, Art Garfunkel, America, Supertramp, Cheap Trick, Nazareth, Split Enz, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Ultravox, and Jeff Beck, among others.

We hope you will join us as he regals us with studio stories, excerpts from a BBC documentary previously unseen in this country, and more.
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Re: EC writes foreword for Geoff Emerick book

Post by johnfoyle »

RIP
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Re: EC writes foreword for Geoff Emerick book

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