Geoff Emerick

Geoffrey Emerick (born 1946 in London) is a recording studio audio engineer, who is best known for his work with the Beatles' albums "Revolver", "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "The White Album" and "Abbey Road".

The first album he did with the Beatles working as main recording engineer was "Revolver", and "Tomorrow Never Knows" was the first track he worked on, after having taken over the engineering duties from Norman Smith who became a producer.

It was Emerick's innovation to record John Lennon's vocal through a Leslie speaker on that song, to get the ethereal sound Lennon wanted. He received Grammy Awards for the engineering of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Abbey Road". Emerick, like Beatles producer George Martin, brought an adventurous and experimental attitude to his work.

His post-Beatles career included work with Paul McCartney (including "Band On The Run" [which netted Emerick another Grammy] , "London Town", and "Flaming Pie"), Elvis Costello (for whom he produced "Imperial Bedroom" and "All This Useless Beauty"), Art Garfunkel, America, Supertramp, Cheap Trick, Nazareth, Split Enz, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Ultravox, Matthew Fisher's first solo album "Journey's End," and Jeff Beck, as well as Nellie McKay's critically acclaimed 2004 debut CD "Get Away from Me". He was the sound engineer on Robin Trower's most popular album "Bridge of Sighs", and credited by both Trower and producer Matthew Fisher for that album's acclaimed sound.

In 2003, he received his fourth Grammy, this time for lifetime Technical Achievement.

In 2006, Emerick released his memoir, "Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles" (Gotham Books, ISBN 1-59240-179-1), co-authored by veteran music journalist Howard Massey.

On the April 3 2007 it was announced that Emerick would be in charge of a re-recording of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by contemporary artists, including Oasis, The Killers, Travis and Razorlight. Emerick used the original equipment to record the new versions of the songs, and the results were broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on the June 2, marking the album's 40th anniversary.

External links

* [http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=1959 2006 video interview] at Blender.com
* [http://www.gearwire.com/geoff-emerick.html Video Interview at 121st AES] at Gearwire.com
* [http://www0.epinions.com/content_305283305092 Here, There & Everywhere]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/events/60sseason/documentaries/sgtpeppers.shtml Programme about BBC re-recording of Sgt Pepper]
* [http://newsquake.netscape.com/2007/02/08/recording-the-beatles-geoff-emerick-speaks Recording the Beatles: Geoff Emerick Speaks] at Propeller.com