Soul, Blues, Jazz, Reggae, Rock, Classical, Acoustic, World Music.
If I had to pick one track it MIGHT just be "Always There" by Ronnie Laws from the album "Pressure Sensitive". - or maybe "Ain't That Peculiar" by Marvin Gaye.
One of the tracks that influenced me most when I first got seriously into bands was " You Don't Love Me, You Don't Care" a Bo Diddley cover which was the B-side of a single by Ronnie Wood's band The Birds, -it made the Rolling Stones sound lightweight and just totally blew me away! Rickie Lee Jones ' We Belong Together" from the 'Pirates" album still slays me -fantastic album, - wonderful performances, great songs and impeccable production. There is a piece of music by The Bothy Band with Uillean pipes that seems to me to embody the primal spirit of music - but I've never known the title!! With classical music Bach came more easily to me than Mozart, who's catching up fast (hang on .. Nov 2007 Haydn is now top of my current Baroque playlist)... and then there's "Variations on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" by Vaughan Williams.
I love the 70's album by Mike Corbett and Jay Hirsh ( feels as tho' they went away to a farmhouse for weeks to make it, -but actually made in a succession of NY studios!!) and the early 80's album by Silver Condor , which was guitarist Earl Slick's band. There we have a band with two guitars , bass, drums. and vocals , and a pile of great songs. The whole thing is so honest I love it to death - which has to be down in good measure to producer Mike Clink. I love the Spector sound of records like River Deep and Mountain High.....
I was professionally severely dismayed when I realized years ago just how good both Steely Dan and Earth, Wind and Fire were at making albums. One of my all-time favourite albums just has to be the 1970's Valerie Carter album produced and engineered by George Massenburg. I worked with the legendary US producer Keith Olsen on a project many years ago, and over a 2-week period learned a very great deal from him over Chinese food in Soho before sessions. I love all his recordings...(Fleetwood Mac, the Sons of Champlin, Grateful Dead, and Michael Dinner to name a few) The UK band "Kokomo' used to totally blow me away , - and their gigs were always full of recording engineers who would happily travel 50 miles out of London half-dead on their one night off in weeks to catch that band live. I recently caught a gig by Thunder - a world-class rock band in full flight - wonderful stuff!
Whoops - forgotten the Crusaders ( checkout 'Scratch"!) , Mark Cohn, "The Art of Tea" by Michael Franks, . Keef Hartley Band "Halfbreed" , Love, The Doors, Johnny Winter, - and "Overnight Sensation" by The Raspberries , not to mention "She's Gone" by Darryl Hall and John Oates. Checkout "One Chance at a Time" by Kenny Loggins...
I should mention here that I am a major-league fan of the bassist Chuck Rainey- a musician who I really feel sits at the very top table....
OK and of course there's the whole blues thing , which I got into through hearing Jimmy Reed on vinyl at the age of 10. Some of my favourites are Junior Wells (the Hoodoo Man Blues album with Buddy Guy is the epitome of Chicago blues for me..), Albert, BB, and Freddy King, Albert Collins, Missisippi Fred McDowell, Bukka White, John Lee Hooker, Cyril Davies (legendary UK harp player of the 60s), Lightnin' Hopkins, Johhny Shines, Peter Green -there's just too many of them.... I have just recently seen for the second time ever a mind-blowing performance from a UK 1960s TV show of Sister Rosetta Tharpe literally playing ( a white 3-gold-pickup Gibson SG...)and singing on a rail platform near Manchester to an audience on the opposite platform across the tracks.Surreal situation - but it utterly slew me... I will have to search out tracks by her. I have to do some Soul and Motown lists later, as there are just too many of those too... and the Reggae ones.
Movies
The Producers, Superfly, Das Boot, The Third Man, Vanishing Point (original version!), Harold and Maud, Ruling Class ( unmissable!), Spinal Tap, Cross of Iron, Layer Cake, Dance of The Vampires, Crossroads ( the one with the Steve Vai guitar battle..) , The Thirty-Nine Steps (original version) . Heimat , Berlin Alexanderplatz, My Favourite Year.
Television
Guys from recording studios don't exactly get to watch much television. (I did get to watch the band Television do a great gig in Huntington Beach once......:-)
Heroes
Jürg Jecklin, Tom Dowd, Curtis Mayfield, Quincy Jones, Roger Nichols, Bobby Womack, Earth Wind and Fire, Steely Dan, Ricky Lee Jones, Bonnie Raitt, George Benson, Al Schmitt,Bruce Swedien, Tommy LiPuma, Michael Franks, Jeff Beck, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards,Russ Titelmann and Lenny Waronker, Albert Collins, Junior Wells, Freddy King, Bo Diddley, George Massenburg,( and not forgetting Cesar Millan the Dog Whisperer,.....) and the late Tommy Eyre , - consummate musician and Renaissance Man.
I've been recording music professionally for far too long.....yet still the buzz is there.... I've been lucky enough to have had the privilege of working with artistes as diverse as ( in no particular order...)Libertines, Gerry Rafferty, Sex Pistols, Roger Chapman's Short List,Thin Lizzy, Sandii & the Sunsetz (Japan), Bunny Brown, Denise Nolan, The Dolly Mixtures, HeeBeeGeeBees,Christopher Rainbow, Trampolin (Switzerland)Jimmy Jimmy, Jimmy Nail, Joanna Carlin, The Coustics, Chris Kahl, Jokers Wild, Makonde (Kenya), Max Merritt and the Meteors (Australia) ,J.A.L.N band, Mike d'Abo, Mamedi Kamara (Sierra Leone),Paul Jones, Nikki B, The Kilimanjaro Band (Tanzania),Paul Brett, The Movies, Holian and Milliard, Positive Noise, Paul Quinn, Antena (France),Sham 69, Skywhale, Tasty Tim, Tom Robinson Band, Touch, Vincent Crane, Zodiac Mindwarp, Aldeoni ( and in the '80s I remixed Aldeoni's "How Many Sugars" with DJ Hype), The Truth, Sidekick, Billie Davis, Vittorio Vergeat (aka Vic Vea aka Vic Vergat), Elkie Brooks, Expo (Switzerland), The Bombers, Dave Goodman and friends,Ray Carless, Gonzalez, Desmond Dekker,Ronnie Wood (Rolling Stones), David Byron (Uriah Heep), Killer (Switzerland), Kenny, Jimmy Pursey, Orange Juice, Hot Orange Band, Alan Love, Linx, Thor( "Thunder on the Tundra"), The Ruts, Ricky Peppertree, Black Lace, PHD, Steve Hackett, Pyro (Switzerland) Rosetta Stone, Miquel Brown, Earlene Bentley, The Chosen Few, John Holt, The Pioneers, The Tremeloes, Varese (Italy), The Vibrators, Voice of The Beehive, Viola Wills, Paul Young + the Q-Tips, Terraplane, Billy Bragg, Havana 3 AM, Chris Farlowe.... and many, many more ( I recorded The Specials demos when they were The Automatics..!)
I'm very proud to have worked on recording sessions with many world-class players, but I've deliberately omitted the names of ALL the great players who I'm fortunate enough to call my friends, - in case I unintentionally omit someone. They know who they are, and they know the high regard in which I hold them both personally and professionally.
When I started recording, studios didn't specialize in particular musical genres. One day you recorded a Heavy Metal act , and the next day a Reggae project. Then you might record a straight commercial pop artiste. When you recorded jingle sessions in the mid-1970s with a rhythm section you had literally 5 MINUTES to get all the sounds properly together (including the drum sound.....) and the headphone mixes. Probably good training.... I've spent a lot of time in Europe recording rock music (Killer, Trampolin, Vic Vea, Varese, Pyro et al),.... and a lot of time recording UK punk bands in the punk era, and all through I've retained my love of soul music, Motown, and the blues -if it's funky then I love to work on it.... I spent a year once just freelancing out of a reggae studio recording nothing but reggae.
In my late teens I was a pro blues guitar and bluesharp player in the band Rare Amber, before spending a few years building what are now the vintage classic Trident "A Range" and "B Range" mixing boards, followed by building Berwick Street Studios in London as a tech engineer, and becoming a house recording engineer there until I went freelance in 1979. I've written several articles on recording guitar for Guitar magazine.I've been a big fan of Telefunken/TAB V76 tube mic pres since the days when I could buy them in Germany for 40 Deutschmarks each and bring them home to restore... I have periods of doing studio tech stuff on Harrison, MCI, AMEK,Trident,Soundcraft and Helios boards and I've been involved in the design and build of quite a few studios over the years, including Berwick Street Studios , IMW studios, The Skylight Suite, Woodside Studios, and also quite a few small commercial and project studios for artistes I was the "tech guy" from the inception of IMW (Islington Music Workshop) in London, and was Chief Engineer there teaching recording, engineering, and maintaining the Trident Series 80 board there for a few years until returning to the commercial sector. At the last count I've recorded in over one hundred studios in the UK and Europe, and engineered literally thousands of sessions over the last 34 years. Queen's Brian May was kind enough to give me a tech credit on his last album.My favourite board for sonics is the Cadac, and I like Neumann and Schoeps mics.I've recently started to get interested in 5.1 mixing, and the possibility of making 5.1 recordings.
I'm very seriously interested in drums, and making "integrated" recordings of kits, (which hopefully don't sound like a bunch of disparate individual drum sounds thrown together) and various ways to record drums for different styles of music. I've been lucky enough to have recorded top session and band drummers like Richard Bailey(Jeff Beck), Bilbo Berger (Heatwave), Neil Conti (Mick Jagger and David Bowie, Prefab Sprout), Mel Gaynor (Simple Minds),Jeff Allen (Barbara Dixon), Ted McKenna (Rory Gallagher), Pete Thompson ( Robert Plant, Robin Trower, Jose Joyette (Sister Sledge, Mother Earth and see video below of Jose blowing up a storm at the 291 club at the age of 10...)), Trevor Murrell (Wham, Sade, Robin Trower), Dave Mattocks (Fairport Convention), Simon Philips (The Who, Toto), Charlie Morgan (Elton John)Clem Cattini (The Tornados), Pete Lockett..( credits would take ½hr to list..:-) Michele Drees (Seal . Mica Paris)Stuart Elliot,Tony Beard, Liam Genocky, Glen Lefleur, Crispin Taylor, Graham Broad, Preston Heyman, Ian Mosley, Barry Morgan, Harold Fisher,John Marshall, Mike Favata (Thor)Barry de Souza, Tom Newman and many others.Trevor Murrell has said "Gwyn makes crap cups of tea - but great drum sounds". Thanks Trev...:-)!
US Drummers whose playing I'm particularly fond of are Steve Gadd ( well....of course:-) , Dennis Chambers,Ricky Fataar (GREAT player - OK he's from South Africa, and was actually to my astonishment a member of The Ruttles!) Harvey Mason, Billy Cobham and Max Roach and in a rock context Aynsley Dunbar, - who's English anyway but who's been in the USA for many years. As of 28th July 2006 I'm adding a Swede to my list - Wasa Express drummer Åke Eriksson, having just done a great drum session at Startrack studio in London with him for Swedish artiste Anders Helmersson. Åke is a top-table drummer, and like most of the great players a really nice guy.(In my experience when players get that good they have nothing to prove.....) I look forward to working with Åke again in the future! Youtube have removed the Dennis Chambers video I had here, so check these ones out - Steve Gadd demonstrating his groove for "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" - AWESOME! plus the astonishing Tony Royster Jnr soloing when he was 12 years old and one from him years later and - "Stud Drummer"... and if anyone out there has a a Trevor Murrell drum solo on video I WANT A COPY NOW, - AND I MEAN NOW! I haven't yet worked out how to get the Myspace video of Jose Joyette aged 10 at the 291 club up into the drum videos bit where it belongs , so to see it go to the bottom of the page, and check out the Muddy Waters film from the 1961 Newport Jazz Festival.
Pavarotti and James Brown - unmissable!
Tony Royster Jnr shows his chops at age 12....
...and here he is at 21!
Steve Gadd dismantles his "50 Ways.." groove - a classic!
Stud Drummer - just watch his hands!
David Dyson's unplanned bass solo after half of the power went out in the middle of the last tune of a Jonathan Butler show. This just makes me grin with pure pleasure! Just listen to the end of bar 8...OK Gareth, I know there are a few ricketts, but it's live and I don't care!
I've removed the Tal Wilkenfeld bass workshop video I had here - I've finally had it with the totally crap drumming on that video - it's had to go now!
...but here she is this time with Jeff Beck - who just happens to be my favourite guitarist....! BTW where is Jennifer Batten on guitar this time around, Jeff? Can you get her back please?
The late Tommy Eyre playing ( and SINGING...) Babylon Sister with Ritual in Uruguay 1997. Magic stuff - and nothing will shake José Luis Pérez from his drum groove - love it !!!!!
Muddy Waters classic performance of "Hoochie Coochie Man" from the 1961 Newport Jazz Festival
Junior Wells and Buddy Guy teaming up with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers has been removed by youtube -doh. Here's Keith Richard instead.... and spot Steve Cropper also on guitar....
Check this one out - Bob Dylan joining the Byrds for "Mr Tambourine Man " at the Roy Orbison memorial gig!....and adamantly refusing to take a turn on lead vocals....:-)
OK....it's yet another drummer video...actually a 3-drummer video...but there's some way cool playing...as it's Colaiuta, Weckl, and Gadd:-)
Andy McKee......AMAZING..!
Here's one for the "just when you weren't expecting it department..."...Nile Rogers with "Le Freak" live in Japan in '96<>
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Here's the trailer for one of my favourite films - the 1949 film "The Third Man"
Guess there ought to be some outstanding bass players I've worked with here too to keep the drummers company.... so I'll kick off with Dave CochranJohn Giblin,Kuma Harada,Camelle Hines,John McKenzie,Norman Watt-Roy and Gareth Morgan - and expand the bass list when I've got some time ...
I'm now based out of Intimate Studios in Wapping , London, (checkout http://www.intimatestudios.com )where there's a 72-channel Neve VR board with all the options, Protools HD3,Otari MTR90 2" analogue and Radar 192KHz, so there are lots of toys to play with.... From 1990 until recently I had a recording studio in London called Odessa Wharf. Now R.I.P. Time to move on.... At Odessa Wharf we recorded everything from Hot Orange 20-piece Latin-funk big band , to Psychobilly act Demented Are Go, Chris Farlowe
musical genius Tommy Eyre, Taiko-To-Tabla, Blade, Dollshouse to David Grey to reggae legends Owen Gray, Janet Kay and Carroll Thompson, blues artiste Dave ( "just off down the pub for A Livener" Danger, Dave Dore, The Parkas, Andy Orange, several albums with Leeds-based band Cardboard Cowboy, Americana artistes The Arlenes, and who of course could forget AntiProduct , Plastic Heroes,The Fleapit Orchestra, and the amazing Kilimanjaro band from Tanzania?.
We recorded one hell of a lot of tracks by upcoming young rappers, and over 30 titles with the quite astonishing ( I would actually say iconoclastic...) rapper Teqila. I cut the first series of tracks with The Libertines ( and found them a drummer) - and Pete slept on the couch in the studio reception for some months when he had no money..:-).
In the last few years I've recorded, mixed, and mastered The Arlenes "Stuck on Love" album
, and recorded and co-produced the Cicero Buck album
"Delicate Shades of Grey" ,( both very fine Americana artistes), a seriously interesting all-percussion album by Taiko-To-Tabla
(.... definitely the most technically challenging recordings I've ever made!) ,one with The Fleapit Orchestra, - and several projects with the inimitable Rauf Adu, sometimes co-producing him with my old friend Mel Gaynor from Simple Minds, and I've worked on a great album by the wonderful Tanzanian band "Kilimanjaro Band".
I recently listened to the album "Addicted" by the UK prog rock band Revelation, which I produced and engineered back in 1995 . I hadn't heard it since, and normally I hate everything I do ( because it can always be better!) but I have to say this album really surprised me, and there is some seriously good playing and some great arrangements on it.
I like ANY music that has attitude. Since the age of 10 I've loved classic records , and my professional ambition is to produce at the very least one classic track or album. If I had to name my personal favourite artiste it would be without any hesitation Curtis Mayfield.
I've formed a producer/engineer work team with Bartrum, who somehow manages to combine being a formidably talented recording engineer (and great human being) , with coming from Birmingham, so I guess that proves it can be done..:-) Together we've made David Saw's debut album "Different Story" , (and got some great reviews for it -checkout http://www.davidsaw.com/reviews.htm ) ,
US singer/songwriter Chris Kahl's latest album ( also getting some great reviews in the USA -2 titles have ended up in the "Top 10 best Florida songs of the last year"),
plus his previous UK CD projects, and worked with Indie bands Flipsiders and Cast of Thousands.
The first album by the Blackpool band The Coustics is finally out now, and you can get a sneak preview of some tracks on their Myspace site. This album has been a labour of love, but a very long, hard road We love these guys! They are wonderfully talented songwriters and great performers.We've had the privilege of working with some great musicians on this album, in fact the best players we know have come and played like hell on it, bringing some absolutely wonderful stuff to the table. Thanks guys!
In 2006 I produced 3 titles with a young unsigned funk band from South London called Size 9. I'm into this band very seriously indeed - and engineer Richard Purkiss has learnt from this project that there are often 32 hours in a day! Size 9 are a bunch of great musicians fronted by the stunningly good vocalist Breezy - who has the sort of voice that you have to be born with - vocal coaching won't give it to you, and you certainly can't buy it! Think Tower of Power fronted by a raunchier version of Joss Stone and you are getting the direction....
Killer
During the last few years I've often mastered projects for artistes with whom I've been working such as the "Stuck on Love" album by The Arlenes...and now the mastering thing seems to be seriously gearing up! Recently I've mastered Kate Shortt's eclectic solo album "Something to Tell You"
(check Kate out in my Myspace friends...) , "Dedication" the latest album of big band jazz by the Ian Pearse Big Band,tracks by rock band Brewing Calm, and albums by The Coustics and Chris Kahl. I've mastered quite a lot of titles by Ghanaian artistes over the last 2 or 3 years (such as the new album by singer Ben Brako) and the Kwesi Pee album I mastered last July is doing very well in Ghana at the moment. I'm currently mastering the latest album by artiste/producer Ricardo.
I'm now very much into online mixing and mastering. I started mastering circa 9 years ago when I mastered a Sonic Boom Boys album. I have spates of doing lots of it. Other projects I've recently mastered include American jazz singer Sandii Russell's new album , on which some top US and UK players are backing her, and mastered albums for Indie-Rock band Velofax, and rock band Ember. My recent mastering clients include the great Rockabilly band Loose Noose, the rock band State of Grace, DOC Records, and Road Rock Music.
Who I'd like to meet: The person who stole my uninsured 1965 maple-neck Telecaster (with wide Gibson frets and Humbucker added) from Berwick Street Studios in 1979. The 198540 serial number plate I actually spotted on someone's Precision bass a year later, as with pre-CBS Fenders guitar thieves would steal them and swap out the serial plates so they wouldn't come up on the Stolen List. I still miss that guitar...27 years later, - and on the 40th anniversary of buying it! Also the schoolkids who stole one of my pair of black AKG 451 mics I had for 20 years ( update Jan 2008 I think the remaining one has now gone walkies...damn),( and my Sony P48 vocal mic I really liked a lot) when they came for a music technology course a couple of years back....
After 20 years in show business I,LUDICROUS release yet another new single "WE'RE THE SUPPORT BAND" worldwide. The single is currently getting widespread radio airplay in the UK & abroad."WE'RE THE SUPPORT BAND" is available for download on I TUNES & all major on line music stores. You can watch the video for "WE'RE THE SUPPORT BAND" on the I, LUDICROUS myspace site.....Thanks.
Hi Gwyn....Greedings From The USA...The band THOR had a great time in Sweden and Finland "Thunder on The Tundra" rocked the house...Keep in touch if you ever need a good Drummer....Mike Favata
Click link above to listen to samples and order - $9.95 + s&h
Tampa Taiko is a professional drumming duo that has performed their unique style for a vast array of audiences, performing at festivals, concert halls, schools, workshops, summer camps, corporate and VIP events. Using a collection of taiko drums made by themselves from discarded wine barrels, Tampa Taiko has developed a dynamic fusion of old and new styles of drumming, bringing a contemporary vibrance to an ancient martial artform.
Click link above to listen to samples and order - $9.95 + s&h
Tampa Taiko is a professional drumming duo that has performed their unique style for a vast array of audiences, performing at festivals, concert halls, schools, workshops, summer camps, corporate and VIP events. Using a collection of taiko drums made by themselves from discarded wine barrels, Tampa Taiko has developed a dynamic fusion of old and new styles of drumming, bringing a contemporary vibrance to an ancient martial artform.
Hi Gwyn, how is it going :-)?? Wishing you a wonderful week have to start working again after 3 day's off, will also be working this weekend ,only Monday off :-(
Hi Gwyn...Just wanted to drop by and say Hello...we having Thunder Storms and Tornado's down here in Florida and I wanted to thank you for recording "Thunder on the Tundra" for us..lol Take Care....MIKE
Thanks so much for accepting us as your friend and showing your support, it really does mean a lot to us!!
Feel free to stop by our page and give our tracks a listen, we'd love to hear your thoughts!!
Please also if you like us...be sure to check out Pinkys Main band FATHER www.myspace.com/fatherband whose world premier of Eleanor Rigby will be played on the Bruce Dickinson Rock Show on the 15th May
Once again many thanks and sending all the best from Croatia and the UK!!
This is awesome Gwyn , Thor- Thunder on the Tundra - in Windsor, Ontario ,it's more powerful instead of the Video i saw on Mike's space ,i like the voice of Thor here much better !!
Hi Gwyn, Hope you're well. Just bought a Music Man 'Stingray 5' One of my dreams got reall. Now SR kicks even more.. And one can finally hear a more clearer bass sound... One can even hear what I'm playing...amazing isn't it? Greetings Boet
A cute little bunny has hopped all day, delivering baskets for the holiday. His paws are so tired and his nose how it itches, He left you something special to fulfill all your wishes- Lots of cute little Easter bunny hugs and kisses from me :-)
Killer 
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