Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Neil Sedaka’s “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do”
Neil Sedaka shares how he made a smash out of four tracks and a vocal he taught the background singers while driving them to...
Profiles
Music Production
Classic Tracks: Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons’ “Rag Doll”
The song, inspired by a experience during an excruciatingly long traffic light at New York City's Eleventh Avenue, became a crucial hit for The...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Jennifer Warnes’ “First We Take Manhattan”
Jennifer Warnes, bassist Roscoe Beck and engineer Billy Youdelman share how the unlikely Leonard Cohen cover—and the album around it—came to be a hit.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors”
“To me, those Charlie Rich sessions were so special,” recalls engineer Lou Bradley.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'”
“You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'” was one of the most perfectly realized examples of the “Wall of Sound” technique that Phil Spector refined.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Fine Young Cannibals’ “She Drives Me Crazy”
The sublime studio concoction of "She Drives Me Crazy" involved a trip to Minneapolis, that signature falsetto and an unmistakable snare hit known to...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”
Decades later, it's difficult to put into words just how bold and fresh and affecting those opening lines were in 1969.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: The Edgar Winter Group’s “Frankenstein”
Edgar Winter bought a new ARP 2600 at Manny's Music in New York City so he could be more mobile onstage; what happened next...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London”
When Warren Zevon emerged in the midst of L.A.'s vibrant singer/songwriter scene in the mid-'70s, he was like a breath of...well, strange air.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Luther Vandross’ “Here and Now”
“When Luther played me the demo," says Marcus Miller, "it was obvious that it was already a hit.”
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: The Turtles’ “Happy Together”
If Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth, then Happy Together is the happiest song on Earth.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: The Angels’ “My Boyfriend’s Back”
“Those kids were amazing!” says producer Richard Gottehrer. “We decided to get them into the studio as quickly as possible."
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Don McLean’s “American Pie”
Maybe you had to be there. But in the summer and fall of 1971, it seems that everyone was talking about Don McLean's...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”
In the fall of 1970, Black Sabbath mounted an aural assault on the music world with the release of their second album, Paranoid. Creating...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Patsy Cline’s “Crazy”
No one could touch her. Her voice was one of the most ravishing instruments ever recorded.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Minnie Riperton’s “Lovin’ You”
What's the secret sauce of the classic ballad? Bird song.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Pat Benatar’s “Love Is a Battlefield”
“If we would have been making that record today...I maybe would have screwed that all up. It would never have been the same record.”
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”
"We recorded all these songs that were pretty good, but I didn't hear any hits," Kolotkin remembers.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Mötley Crüe’s “Girls, Girls, Girls”
"I knew 'Girls, Girls, Girls'—the song—was a hit from the first time I heard it," says producer Tom Werman.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Elvis Presley, ‘Burning Love’
It's one of Elvis' best-known songs, but "Burning Love" nearly wasn't recorded by The King.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: The Doors’ “Riders on the Storm”
“When we first recorded ‘Riders on the Storm,’ it was a nice, light song—but when we got into mixing it is when it all...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: The Fireballs’ “Sugar Shack”
In August 1958, George Tomsco was facing a dilemma that many high school graduates face: what should he do with the rest of his...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Arlo Guthrie’s “City of New Orleans”
Sometimes, a so-called "career record" can affect more than one career.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: k.d. lang’s “Constant Craving”
Nashville still had the door closed for us in country, so we figured, ‘What the hell, we’ll do exactly what we want,’ says producer...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Waylon Jennings’ “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way”
“Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way,” is on Waylon Jennings’ Dreaming My Dreams, the only record he made with legendary engineer/producer Cowboy...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Do You Believe in Magic”
Fortunately, nice guys don't always finish last. Sometimes they reach the top of the hill and stay there for quite some time.
Music Production
Legendary Rock Producer Dave Jerden Passes
Producer/engineer Dave Jerden died Wednesday, February 5. Over the course of a four-decade career, Jerden worked on an astonishing number of albums that have...
Post Type news_article
Classic Tracks: Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler”
Kenny Rogers' recording of the Don Schlitz-penned song The Gambler turned a simple record into an entire industry.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: The Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb”
Kim Fowley and the Runaways recorded “Cherry Bomb” in a store room on purpose—or so he said.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Big Brother & The Holding Company’s “Piece of My Heart”
Janis Joplin got her start in folk music, surprisingly enough.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: John Fogerty’s “Centerfield”
John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” is the only song formally “inducted” into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.—it plays there ’round the clock.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Mudhoney “Touch Me I’m Sick”
Jack Endino jumpstarted his producing career with EPs for Soundgarden, Green River and Mudhoney, and its debut single, “Touch Me I’m Sick."
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Watching the Wheels”
John Lennon's top-10 hit, “Watching the Wheels,” was among producer Jack Douglas' favorite songs on 'Double Fantasy.'
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: R.E.M.’s “So. Central Rain”
Mix takes a deep dive into the recording of R.E.M.'s 'So. Central Rain' with producer Mitch Easter.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy”
Although Steve Winwood was just shy of 19 when he formed the group Traffic in the spring of 1967, he was already a veteran...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Joe Walsh’s “Life’s Been Good”
Producer/engineer Bill Szymczyk talks about the recording of Joe Walsh’s 1978 hit, “Life’s Been Good”
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Brownsville Station’s “Smokin’ in the Boys Room”
When it came out in late 1973, "Smokin' in the Boys Room" immediately became the rallying anthem for many high school students.
Facilities
Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs Capture ‘Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits’ – Part One
The former Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist hits his stride with the new third album by Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: The Traveling Wilburys’ “Handle With Care”
The Traveling Wilburys were perhaps popular music's most unusual George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison wrote all the material
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away”
Take a deep dive into the recording of the Dobie Gray classic, oft-covered 1973 hit “Drift Away.”
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: The Average White Band’s “Pick Up the Pieces”
There was something audacious about it: a group from Scotland calling itself The Average White Band. If the funk don't fly, then the honky...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Supertramp’s “The Logical Song”
"When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful..." That's the memorable opening to "The Logical Song" by Supertramp.