More than 100 people attended the inaugural event of the recentlycreated Webster University Student Section of the Audio EngineeringSociety in St. Louis on November 6, 2003.
“The students did an incredible job pulling all thistogether,” said faculty advisor Gary Gottlieb. “They bookedthe space, promoted the event, arranged for refreshments, dealt withall the logistics and, most importantly, booked Bill Porter as thespeaker. They even thought to honor Bill with a plaque to commemoratethe event, as well as his longstanding service to the university andthe music business. I couldn’t be prouder.”
Pictured above: Bill Porter received a Lifetime Achievement Awardfrom AES Section Chair Jon Jory (right) while faculty advisor GaryGottlieb (left) looks on.
Entitled “Bill Porter Live: An Evening With a Legend,” the event washeld in the conference room of the brand-new Emerson Library at WebsterUniversity where Porter reminisced about the music business during the’50s and ’60s for two hours.
In addition to being a member of Webster’s adjunct faculty forthe audio production program, Porter has engineered and produced someof the most prominent artists in the music industry, including ElvisPresley, Roy Orbison, the Everly Brothers, Barbara Streisand, DianaRoss and Sammy Davis Jr. More than 7,000 career sessions have resultedin almost 600 charting records. He was the first engineer inducted intothe Audio Hall of Fame, and his work at RCA’s Studio B inNashville earned him accolades as the man who created the NashvilleSound. He also started the first four-year audio program at theUniversity of Miami in 1975.
