83-602: John Hammond may refer to: Arts and entertainment [ edit ] John Hammond (record producer) (1910–1987), American record producer John P. Hammond (born 1942), American blues guitarist, son of the record producer John A. Hammond (1843–1939), Canadian painter John Hammond (actor) , lead actor in The Blue and the Gray miniseries (1982) John Hammond, film character in 31 North 62 East John Hammond ( Jurassic Park ) ,
166-481: A Grammy nomination, the Recording Academy defines a producer: The person who has overall creative and technical control of the entire recording project, and the individual recording sessions that are part of that project. He or she is present in the recording studio or at the location recording and works directly with the artist and engineer. The producer makes creative and aesthetic decisions that realize both
249-468: A Liberty ship John Hays Hammond Jr. (1888–1965), American electrical engineer John Hammond (physiologist) (1889–1964), British physiologist John Hammond (weather forecaster) (born 1966), weather forecaster for the BBC John Lawrence Hammond (1872–1949), English historical writer John Brown Hammond (1856–1938), American activist John C. Hammond (1842–1926), lawyer in
332-453: A Manhattan party, Hammond met Jemison "Jemy" McBride. On March 8, 1941, Hammond married Jemy in New Haven, Connecticut . The couple had a small, non-denominational wedding with only about ten guests. Although both sets of parents approved of the couple, neither set attended the wedding. In 1942, Hammond took his wife on a road trip to Los Angeles. Shortly after this trip, Jemy realized that she
415-423: A broad project, the creation of a popular music recording may be split across three specialists: the executive producer , who oversees business partnerships and financing; the vocal producer or vocal arranger, who aids vocal performance via expert critique and coaching of vocal technique, and the record producer or music producer, who, often called simply the producer, directs the overall creative process of recording
498-497: A communist newspaper. Furthermore, his name often appeared on the letterheads of left-wing organizations for which he was a donor or member. Hammond was never a member of the Communist Party. Hammond had four sisters: Alice, Rachel, Adele, and Emily. Early in his career, Hammond focused more on his work than his love life. While he was seen publicly with various women, the relationships were never substantial. However, in 1940 at
581-471: A complete falling out, some of which has been attributed to their differing class and educational backgrounds (Goodman had been born into poverty and had quit high school in order to help support his family as a musician). Hammond, however, could be dogmatic and controlling in his interactions with various musicians, as well as in his published writings on jazz and on specific performers. Goodman eventually grew weary of Hammond's contentious nature. However, out of
664-471: A cylinder. By the 1930s, a gramophone etched it laterally across a disc. Constrained in tonal range, whether bass or treble, and in dynamic range , records made a grand, concert piano sound like a small, upright piano, and maximal duration was four and a half minutes. Selections and performance were often altered accordingly, and playing this disc—the wax master—destroyed it. The finality often caused anxiety that restrained performance to prevent error. In
747-421: A disconnect with his fellow students at Yale and felt that he was already well acquainted with the professional world. He made frequent trips into New York city and wrote regularly for trade magazines. In the fall semester of 1930, Hammond had to withdraw due to a recurring case of jaundice . Hammond had no desire to a repeat a semester, which contributed to his dissatisfaction with the university lifestyle. Much to
830-515: A divorce. While he was originally reluctant, Hammond agreed to the divorce. Jemy never remarried. A year later, in 1949, Hammond met Esme Sarnoff, originally Esme O'Brien, the former wife of NBC chairman Robert Sarnoff , and a daughter of Mary and Esmond O'Brien. Esme shared Hammond's musical passion and was planning to divorce her husband. That year, Hammond married Esme Sarnoff. By this marriage Hammond had one stepdaughter, (Esme) Rosita Sarnoff (born 1943). During this time, Hammond's father died on
913-1201: A fictional character in the Jurassic Park series Politics [ edit ] John Hannam (died 1559) , aka John Hammond John Hammond (died 1589) (1542–1589), MP for Rye and West Looe John Hammond (Irish politician) (1842–1907), British politician for Carlow County John Hammond (Wisconsin politician) (1814–?), Wisconsin farmer and legislator John Hammond (U.S. Representative) (1827–1889), New York manufacturer and politician John Wilkes Hammond (1837–1922)), American jurist Sports [ edit ] John Hammond (bobsleigh) (born 1933), British Olympic bobsledder John Hammond (cricketer) (1769–1844), English cricketer Johnny Hammond (rugby union) (1860–1907), British rugby John Hammond (Canadian football) (1923–?), Canadian Football League player John S. Hammond (fl. 1930s), American sport administrator John Hammond (basketball) (born 1954), American sport business manager John Hammond (racehorse trainer) (born 1960), British horse trainer Other [ edit ] John Hays Hammond (1855–1936), American mining engineer SS John H. Hammond ,
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#1732852665016996-402: A golf course. Left a widow, Emily Hammond became infatuated with Frank Buchman . In 1985, Hammond had his first stroke. Although this impaired him physically, his wife's death left him in despair. Esme Hammond was diagnosed with breast cancer . While treatments worked for some time, she died May 19, 1986, of complications of AIDS , which she had contracted from a blood transfusion . Hammond
1079-407: A granddaughter of William Henry Vanderbilt . His father attended Yale University , and graduated with a law degree from Columbia Law School . His grandfather was Civil War General John Henry Hammond, who married Sophia Vernon Wolfe. His father was a brother of Ogden H. Hammond , ambassador to Spain , and uncle to politician Millicent Fenwick . Despite the family fortune from his mother's side of
1162-407: A leading A&R man of the 1950s. During the decade, A&R executives increasingly directed songs' sonic signatures, although many still simply teamed singers with musicians, while yet others exercised virtually no creative influence. The term record producer in its current meaning—the creative director of song production—appearing in a 1953 issue of Billboard magazine, became widespread in
1245-403: A multiracial record; however, Goodman believed this route would hurt his musical reputation. In this year, Hammond broke out of the traditional role of a producer and became a talent scout, after hearing Billie Holiday . He remarks that he was astounded to discover that she was the daughter of Clarence Holiday from Fletcher Henderson 's band. That same year, he was able to get her involved in
1328-516: A musical element while playing a previously recorded record, Les Paul developed a recording technique called "sound on sound". By this, the final recording could be built piece by piece and tailored, effecting an editing process. In one case, Paul produced a song via 500 recorded discs. But, besides the tedium of this process, it serially degraded the sound quality of previously recorded elements, rerecorded as ambient sound. Yet in 1948, Paul adopted tape recording, enabling true multitrack recording by
1411-542: A new technique, " overdubbing ". To enable overdubbing, Paul revised the tape recorder itself by adding a second playback head, and terming it the preview head . Joining the preexisting recording head, erase head, and playback head, the preview head allows the artist to hear the extant recording over headphones playing it in synchrony, "in sync", with the present performance being recorded alone on an isolated track. This isolation of multiple tracks enables countless mixing possibilities. Producers began recording initially only
1494-460: A nonpaying job on the WEVD radio station as a disc jockey. He did not discriminate when choosing which musicians to air; the station allowed Hammond complete freedom on the station as long as he paid for his time slot. Through this position, Hammond gained a reputation as a well-educated jazz fan. Various musicians were guests on his show, including Fletcher Henderson , Benny Carter , and Art Tatum . When
1577-421: A problem in connecting with this community, he formed relationships with various musicians that allowed him to surpass this barrier. His friendship with Benny Carter gave him a status that allowed him to enter this musical community. He played a role in organizing Benny Goodman's band, and in persuading him to hire black musicians such as Charlie Christian , Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton . In 1933 he heard
1660-534: A sense of shared grief following Alice's death in 1978, Hammond and Goodman reconciled. In November 1943, after the United States entered World War II, Hammond began military training. He underwent his basic training at Fort Belvoir . Hammond was much older than the majority of the other men, and he had a rough time adjusting to the military life. While he was still in basic training, Jemy gave birth to their second child, Douglas, early in 1944. Douglas came down with
1743-461: A serious illness. While Jemy sent Hammond a telegram to alert him of his newborn's condition, Hammond said that he never received it. Jemy speculated that Hammond was in a concert and disregarded the letter; however, that claim has been proven unlikely due to Hammond's strict schedule in basic training. Douglas died shortly after birth from his illness, and Jemy had to undergo the family tragedy without her husband. Hammond returned after basic training on
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#17328526650161826-525: A set of recordings in Los Angeles. Later, folklorist Archie Green called this perhaps the earliest printed use of A&R man . Actually, it says neither "A&R man" nor even "A&R", an initialism perhaps coined by Billboard magazine in 1946, and entering wide use in the late 1940s. In the 1920s and 1930s, A&R executives, like Ben Selvin at Columbia Records , Nathaniel Shilkret at Victor Records, and Bob Haring at Brunswick Records became
1909-527: A three-day pass, but he and his wife were distant. After basic training, Hammond reported to Camp Plauche, where he was placed to organize activities for the black soldiers. During this time period, African-American soldiers were given little to do within the military. The armed forces were still segregated and discriminatory. Hammond began his efforts by organizing concerts for the soldiers featuring African-American musicians. He noted that shortly after these concerts began, an integrated sports team formed. Toward
1992-570: A trial regarding the Scottsboro case , a case in which two white girls accused nine black boys of raping them. The testimonies of the two girls did not align with the story. While all nine boys were convicted, Hammond viewed this trial as a "catalyst for black activism". Record integration became an important component of jazz music. Starting in 1935, musicians began to record in mixed-race groups. While some of this integration had already taken place, Hammond remembers it as being hidden. However, in 1935,
2075-448: A woman the reins of an immense, creative project like making a record." Ultimately, the reasons are multiple and not fully clear, although prominently proposed factors include types of sexism and scarcity of female role models in the profession. Women producers known for producing records not their own include Sonia Pottinger, Sylvia Robinson and Carla Olson. In January 2018, a research team led by Stacy L. Smith, founder and director of
2158-474: Is also largely responsible for the revival of delta blues artist Robert Johnson 's music. Hammond was born in New York , christened John Henry Hammond Jr., although both his father and paternal grandfather shared the same name. He was the youngest child and only son of John Henry Hammond and Emily Vanderbilt Sloane . His mother was one of three daughters of William Douglas Sloane and Emily Thorn Vanderbilt , and
2241-442: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages John Hammond (record producer) John Henry Hammond Jr. (December 15, 1910 – July 10, 1987) was an American record producer , civil rights activist, and music critic active from the 1930s to the early 1980s. In his service as a talent scout , Hammond became one of the most influential figures in 20th-century popular music. He
2324-660: Is more forgiving of overmodulation , whereby dynamic peaks exceed the maximal recordable signal level: tape's limitation, a physical property, is magnetic capacity, which tapers off, smoothing the overmodulated waveform even at a signal nearly 15 decibels too "hot", whereas a digital recording is ruined by harsh distortion of " clipping " at any overshoot. In digital recording, however, a recent advancement, 32-bit float , enables DAWs to undo clipping. Still, some criticize digital instruments and workflows for excess automation, allegedly impairing creative or sonic control. In any case, as production technology has drastically changed, so have
2407-430: Is often likened to that of a film director though there are important differences. It is distinct from the role of an executive producer , who is mostly involved in the recording project on an administrative level, and from the audio engineer who operates the recording technology. Varying by project, the producer may or may not choose all of the artists. If employing only synthesized or sampled instrumentation,
2490-541: Is the father of blues musician John P. Hammond . Hammond was instrumental in sparking or furthering numerous musical careers, including those of Bob Dylan , Bruce Springsteen , Benny Goodman , Harry James , Charlie Christian , Billie Holiday , Count Basie , Teddy Wilson , Big Joe Turner , Fletcher Henderson , Pete Seeger , Babatunde Olatunji , Aretha Franklin , George Benson , Freddie Green , Leonard Cohen , Arthur Russell , Jim Copp , Asha Puthli , Stevie Ray Vaughan , Mike Bloomfield and Sonny Burke . He
2573-787: The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, based in the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism , issued a report, estimating that in the prior several years, about 2% of popular songs' producers were female. Also that month, Billboard magazine queried, "Where are all the female music producers?" Upon the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative's second annual report, released in February 2019, its department at USC reported, "2018 saw an outcry from artists, executives and other music industry professionals over
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2656-668: The Benny Goodman Orchestra . Hammond attributes fate to his finding of Holiday. After hearing her sing for the first time, he wrote, "She weighs over 200 pounds, is incredibly beautiful, and sings as well as anybody I have ever heard." Later in 1933, he heard Teddy Wilson , a jazz pianist, on the Chicago radio. While he did not discover him, he was able to provide significant opportunities for him, even some collaboration with Billie Holiday. Hammond's work with civil rights came from multiple angles. In 1933, he traveled South to attend
2739-501: The Count Basie orchestra, Sidney Bechet , Sonny Terry , James P. Johnson , and Big Bill Broonzy (who took the place of the deceased Robert Johnson ). He coordinated a second From Spirituals to Swing concert in 1939. After serving in the military during World War II, Hammond felt unmoved by the bebop jazz scene of the mid-1940s. Rejoining Columbia Records in the late 1950s, he signed Pete Seeger and Babatunde Olatunji to
2822-630: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award. Hammond's son, John P. Hammond , became an American blues musician. Hammond was one of the first men to racially integrate the American music industry. Before the Civil Rights Act passed, Tom Wilson , an African American, replaced Hammond as Bob Dylan 's record producer. In December 2015 Guinness featured Hammond in its UK advertising campaign. Prince 's song " Avalanche " mentions Hammond in
2905-707: The "bed tracks"—the rhythm section , including the bassline , drums, and rhythm guitar—whereas vocals and instrument solos could be added later. A horn section , for example, could record a week later, and a string section another week later. A singer could perform her own backup vocals, or a guitarist could play 15 layers. Across the 1960s, popular music increasingly switched from acoustic instruments, like piano, upright bass , acoustic guitar , and brass instruments , to electronic instruments, like electric guitars , keyboards , and synthesizers , employing instrument amplifiers and speakers. These could mimic acoustic instruments or create utterly new sounds. Soon, by combining
2988-457: The 1940s, during World War II, the Germans refined audio recording onto magnetic tape—uncapping recording duration and allowing immediate playback, rerecording, and editing—a technology that premised emergence of record producers in their current roles. Early in the recording industry, a record was attained by simply having all of the artists perform together live in one take. In 1945, by recording
3071-574: The 1950s, on simply improving the record's sonic match to the artists' own live performance. Advances in recording technology, especially the 1940s advent of tape recording —which Les Paul promptly innovated further to develop multitrack recording —and the 1950s rise of electronic instruments, turned record production into a specialty. In popular music, then, producers like George Martin , Phil Spector and Brian Eno led its evolution into its present use of elaborate techniques and unrealistic sounds, creating songs impossible to originate live. After
3154-462: The 1960s. Still, a formal distinction was elusive for some time more. A&R managers might still be creative directors, like William "Mickey" Stevenson , hired by Berry Gordy , at the Motown record label. In 1947, the American market gained audio recording onto magnetic tape. At the record industry's 1880s dawn, rather, recording was done by phonograph , etching the sonic waveform vertically into
3237-501: The 1980s, production's move from analog to digital further expanded possibilities. By now, DAWs, or digital audio workstations , like Logic Pro , Pro Tools and Studio One , turn an ordinary computer into a production console, whereby a solitary novice can become a skilled producer in a thrifty home studio. In the 2010s, efforts began to increase the prevalence of producers and engineers who are women, heavily outnumbered by men and prominently accoladed only in classical music. As
3320-481: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts John Hammond (priest) , Church of England archdeacon See also [ edit ] Jack Hammond (1891–1942), American baseball player Jack Hammond (footballer) (1884–1971), Australian rules footballer Jay Hammond (1922–2005), governor of Alaska 1974–1982 Johnny Hammond (disambiguation) John Hammond Jr. (disambiguation) [REDACTED] Topics referred to by
3403-526: The Gloamin' ". While he was in the basement, the rest of his family in the greater part of the five-story mansion would listen to "the great opera tenor Enrico Caruso , as well as to standard classics by Beethoven , Brahms , and Mozart ". Hammond became interested in social reform at a young age. His mother also promoted social reform as a means to give back some of her fortune to the community. She often found solace in religion. Hammond shared her desire to help
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3486-648: The Goodman Trio began recording. In 1936, the group appeared in a live concert at the Chicago Hot Jazz Society. Hammond fondly remembers this as an innovative moment in jazz history. J. Edgar Hoover , FBI director, investigated Hammond's link to the Communist Party . Due to the various benefits and fund-raisers that Hammond hosted for the popular front, his name was often listed in The Daily Worker ,
3569-637: The Kinks produced some of their own songs, although many such songs are officially credited to specialist producers. Yet especially influential was the Beach Boys, whose band leader Brian Wilson took over from his father Murry within a couple of years after the band's commercial breakthrough. By 1964, Wilson had taken Spector's techniques to unseen sophistication. Wilson alone produced all Beach Boys recordings between 1963 and 1967. Using multiple studios and multiple attempts of instrumental and vocal tracks, Wilson selected
3652-571: The US). In 1934, Hammond is known to have introduced Benny Goodman and Fletcher Henderson . It is said that Hammond convinced the musicians to 'swing' the current jazz hits, so that they could play in a free manner like the original New Orleans Jazz. Hammond always strived for racial integration within the musical scene. For this purpose, he frequently visited musicians in Harlem in order to connect with musicians in their own area. While initially his race proved
3735-409: The artist's and label's goals in the creation of musical content. Other duties include, but are not limited to: keeping budgets and schedules; adhering to deadlines; hiring musicians, singers, studios, and engineers; overseeing other staffing needs; and editing (Classical projects). The producer often selects and collaborates with a mixing engineer, who focuses on the especially technological aspects of
3818-469: The best combinations of performance and audio quality, and used tape editing to assemble a composite performance. The 1980s advent of digital processes and formats rapidly replaced analog processes and formats, namely, tape and vinyl. Although recording onto quality tape, at least half an inch wide and traveling 15 inches per second, had limited "tape hiss" to silent sections, digital's higher signal-to-noise ratio , SNR, abolished it. Digital also imparted to
3901-505: The capabilities of tape, multitrack recording, and electronic instruments, producers like Phil Spector , George Martin , and Joe Meek rendered sounds unattainable live. Similarly, in jazz fusion , Teo Macero , producing Miles Davis 's 1970 album Bitches Brew , spliced sections of extensive improvisation sessions. In the 1960s, rock acts like the Beatles , the Rolling Stones , and
3984-516: The community with his privilege. Hammond notes that the first jazz music that he heard was in London in 1923 on a trip with his family. He heard a band called The Georgians , a white Dixieland jazz group, and saw an African American show called From Dixie to Broadway , that featured Sidney Bechet . This trip changed the way that he thought about music. Upon his return to the states, Hammond searched for records by black musicians but could not find them in
4067-441: The confines of a boarding school. Hammond succeeded in convincing the headmaster to allow him to go into the city every other weekend, a rare privilege, so that he could take lessons from Ronald Murat. However, the headmaster was not aware that outside his formal lessons, Hammond would go up to Harlem to hear jazz. During this time, he said that he heard Bessie Smith perform at The Harlem Alhambra , but her biographer disagrees about
4150-526: The dates. The summer after graduating from Hotchkiss in 1929, Hammond went to work for a newspaper in Maine, the Portland Evening News . Its editor Ernest Gruening was also a Hotchkiss alumnus, class of 1903, who was interested in social issues and social justice. In the fall of 1929, Hammond entered Yale University as a member of the class of 1933. He studied the violin and, later, viola . He felt
4233-471: The disappointment of his father, a Yale alumnus, in 1931 he dropped out of school for a career in the music industry, first becoming the U.S. correspondent for Melody Maker . In 1931, Hammond funded the recording of pianist Garland Wilson , marking the beginning of a long string of artistic successes as record producer. He moved to Greenwich Village , where he claimed to have engaged in bohemian life and worked for an integrated music world. He set up one of
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#17328526650164316-603: The end of World War II , Hammond was transferred to Fort Benning , Georgia, known for its intense racism. Hammond was not the only jazz fan irritated with racism. During this time period, bebop music grew out of late night jam sessions of black musicians. Hammond was not much a part of the bebop movement, but he shared the sentiment against racism. In 1946, Hammond was discharged from the military. His family moved to Greenwich Village , where Jemy gave birth to their third son, Jason. Hammond threw himself back into his work, which greatly upset his wife. In 1948, Jemy asked Hammond for
4399-513: The family, which included wealth from the W. & J. Sloane chain, his father worked to provide for his family and maintain the family fortune. He worked "as a banker, lawyer, and railroad executive". Hammond had four sisters: Emily, Adele, Rachel, and Alice. The youngest, Alice, married first Arthur Duckworth in 1927, and then, after divorcing him, the musician Benny Goodman in 1942. Well-known clergyman and peace activist William Sloane Coffin Jr.
4482-546: The first regular live jazz programs, and wrote regularly about the racial divide. As he wrote in his memoirs, "I heard no color line in the music.... To bring recognition to the Negro's supremacy in jazz was the most effective and constructive form of social protest I could think of." This pre-occupation with social issues was to continue, and in 1941 he was one of the founders of the Council on African Affairs . In 1932, Hammond acquired
4565-464: The greater Manhattan area. He learned that African American music was sold in different stores, so he began to search for this music in Harlem . In 1925 Hammond graduated from the elementary institution St. Bernard's School at the age of 14. He persuaded his family to allow him to attend Hotchkiss School due to its liberal curriculum. Hammond's love for music flourished. However, he felt limited within
4648-490: The highly influential posthumous reissues of Robert Johnson 's recorded work (produced by Frank Driggs), convincing Columbia Records to issue the album King of the Delta Blues Singers in 1961. Musicians Hammond signed to the label included Leonard Cohen and Bruce Springsteen . Hammond retired from Columbia in 1975 but continued to scout for talent. In 1983, he brought guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan to Columbia and
4731-460: The industry are Logic Pro and Pro Tools. Physical devices involved include the main mixer, MIDI controllers to communicate among equipment, the recording device itself, and perhaps effects gear that is outboard. Yet literal recording is sometimes still analog, onto tape, whereupon the raw recording is converted to a digital signal for processing and editing, as some producers still find audio advantages to recording onto tape. Conventionally, tape
4814-569: The instatement of Local 802, a union of professional musicians within New York City, Hammond saw more white people receiving jobs than black people. However, this did not stop the African-American musicians. Through burlesque and record making, these musicians continued to be a presence. 1933 was a defining year for Hammond. He remembers this year being extraordinary due to his establishment of relationships with British record companies. Hammond
4897-669: The knowledge demands, although DAWs enables novices, even teenagers at home, to learn production independently. Some have attained professional competence before ever working with an artist. Among female record producers, Sylvia Moy was the first at Motown , Gail Davies the first on Nashville's Music Row , and Ethel Gabriel , with RCA , the first at a major record label . Lillian McMurry , owning Trumpet Records , produced influential blues records. Meanwhile, Wilma Cozart Fine produced hundreds of records for Mercury Records ' classical division. For classical production, three women have won Grammy awards, and Judith Sherman 's 2015 win
4980-495: The label, and discovered Aretha Franklin , then an eighteen-year-old gospel singer. In 1961, he heard folk singer Bob Dylan playing harmonica on a session for Carolyn Hester ; he signed him to Columbia and kept him on the label despite the protests of executives, who referred to Dylan as "Hammond's folly". He produced Dylan's early recordings, " Blowin' in the Wind " and " A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall ". "What I wanted to do with Bobby
5063-507: The lack of women in music" and "the plight of women in music", where women were allegedly being "stereotyped, sexualized, and shut out". Also in February 2019, the Recording Academy 's Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion announced an initiative whereby over 200 artists and producers—ranging from Cardi B and Taylor Swift to Maroon 5 and Quincy Jones —agreed to consider at least two women for each producer or engineer position. The academy's website, Grammy.com , announced, "This initiative
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#17328526650165146-470: The lyric "Mr. John Hammond with his pen in hand... Sayin' 'Sign your kingdom over to me and be known throughout the land!'" Record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensuring artists deliver acceptable and quality performances, supervising
5229-571: The manufacturing of record discs. After World War II , pioneering A&R managers who transitioned influentially to record production as now understood, while sometimes owning independent labels, include J. Mayo Williams and John Hammond . Upon moving from Columbia Records to Mercury Records , Hammond appointed Mitch Miller to lead Mercury's popular recordings in New York. Miller then produced country-pop crossover hits by Patti Page and by Frankie Laine , moved from Mercury to Columbia, and became
5312-770: The music a perceived "pristine" sound quality, if also a loss of analog recordings' perceived "warm" quality and better-rounded bass. Yet whereas editing tape media requires physically locating the target audio on the ribbon, cutting there, and splicing pieces, editing digital media offers inarguable advantages in ease, efficiency, and possibilities. In the 1990s, digital production reached affordable home computers via production software. By now, recording and mixing are often centralized in DAWs, digital audio workstations —for example, Pro Tools , Logic Pro , Ableton , Cubase , Reason , and FL Studio —for which plugins , by third parties, effect virtual studio technology . DAWs fairly standard in
5395-438: The precursors of record producers, supervising recording and often leading session orchestras. During the 1940s, major record labels increasingly opened official A&R departments, whose roles included supervision of recording. Meanwhile, independent recording studios opened, helping originate record producer as a specialty. But despite a tradition of some A&R men writing music, record production still referred to just
5478-438: The producer may be the sole artist. Conversely, some artists do their own production. Some producers are their own engineers, operating the technology across the project: preproduction, recording, mixing , and mastering . Record producers' precursors were "A&R men", who likewise could blend entrepreneurial, creative, and technical roles, but often exercised scant creative influence, as record production still focused, into
5561-463: The recording process, namely, operating the electronic equipment and blending the raw, recorded tracks of the chosen performances, whether vocal or instrumental, into a mix , either stereo or surround sound. Then a mastering engineer further adjusts this recording for distribution on the chosen media. A producer may work on only one or two songs or on an artist's entire album, helping develop the album's overall vision. The record producers may also take on
5644-438: The role of executive producer, managing the budget, schedules, contracts, and negotiations. (Artists and Repertoires) In the 1880s, the record industry began by simply having the artist perform at a phonograph . In 1924, the trade journal Talking Machine World , covering the phonography and record industry, reported that Eddie King, Victor Records ' manager of the "New York artist and repertoire department", had planned
5727-406: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Hammond&oldid=1179988584 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
5810-563: The seventeen-year-old Billie Holiday perform in Harlem and arranged for her recording debut, on a Benny Goodman session. Four years later, he heard the Count Basie orchestra broadcasting from Kansas City and brought it to New York, where it began to receive national attention. In 1938, Hammond organized the first From Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall, presenting a broad program of blues , jazz and gospel artists, including Ida Cox , Big Joe Turner , Albert Ammons , Pete Johnson , Meade "Lux" Lewis , Sister Rosetta Tharpe ,
5893-431: The song in its final mix. The producer's roles can include gathering ideas, composing music, choosing session musicians , proposing changes to song arrangements, coaching the performers, controlling sessions, supervising the audio mixing , and, in some cases, supervising the audio mastering . A producer may give creative control to the artists themselves, taking a supervisory or advisory role instead. As to qualifying for
5976-458: The specially created Columbia W-265000 matrix series. Hammond recorded Fletcher Henderson , Benny Carter , Joe Venuti , Benny Goodman , and other jazz performers during a time when the economy was bad enough during the Great Depression that many of them would not have otherwise had the opportunity to enter a studio and play real jazz (a handful of these in this special series were issued in
6059-621: The station transferred from the Broadway Central Hotel to the Claridge Hotel , the new venue would not allow the black musicians to use the main elevator. For this reason, Hammond quit his work with WEVD. By 1932–33, through his involvement in the UK music paper Melody Maker , Hammond arranged for the faltering US Columbia label to provide recordings for the UK Columbia label, mostly using
6142-419: The technical engineering of the recording, and coordinating the production team and process. The producer's involvement in a musical project can vary in depth and scope. Sometimes in popular genres the producer may create the recording's entire sound and structure. However, in classical music recording, for example, the producer serves as more of a liaison between the conductor and the engineering team. The role
6225-481: The vast majority have been men. Early in the 2010s, asked for insights that she herself had gleaned as a woman who has specialized successfully in the industry, Wendy Page remarked, "The difficulties are usually very short-lived. Once people realize that you can do your job, sexism tends to lower its ugly head." Still, when tasked to explain her profession's sex disparity, Page partly reasoned that record labels, dominated by men, have been, she said, "mistrustful of giving
6308-434: Was a cousin. Hammond showed interest in music from an early age. At four he began studying the piano, only to switch to the violin at age eight. He was steered toward classical music by his mother but was more interested in the music sung and played by the servants, many of whom were black. He was known to go down to his basement to listen to the upbeat music in the servants' quarters. He loved Sir Harry Lauder 's " Roamin' in
6391-440: Was able to secure contracts for various musicians. He was an attractive producer to these companies because he did not desire a profit for himself. In 1933, he helped Benny Goodman receive a record deal with Columbia Records , which at the time was only known as English Columbia. During this time, Goodman was in need of a big break, as he was getting a reputation as being difficult to work with. Hammond proposed that Goodman produce
6474-653: Was an early female record producer, having produced both of her Ivor Novello award-winning songs. Across the decades, many female artists have produced their own music. For instance, artists Kate Bush , Madonna , Mariah Carey , Janet Jackson , Beyoncé (even that of Destiny's Child and the Carters ), Lana Del Rey , Taylor Swift , and Lorde have produced or coproduced and Ariana Grande who produces and arranges her vocals as well as being an audio engineer. Still among specialists, despite some prominent women, including Missy Elliott in hip hop and Sylvia Massy in rock,
6557-449: Was credited as executive producer on his debut album. Hammond recognized jazz music to have originated as an African-American musical genre. When Hammond entered the jazz community, integration had not yet begun. Black and white musicians rarely played together and often the prestigious locations permitted only white audiences. Hammond remembers that before the 1920s, black musicians could always find jobs, even if they were low paying. After
6640-418: Was distraught and died on July 10, 1987, after a series of strokes. It is said that he died listening to the music of Billie Holiday. "John's Idea", originally titled "I May Be Wrong It's John's Idea", is a tribute to John Hammond written by Count Basie . Hammond received a Grammy Trustees Award for being credited with co-producing a Bessie Smith reissue in 1971, and in 1986 was the inaugural recipient of
6723-451: Was her fifth. Yet in nonclassical, no woman has won Producer of the Year , awarded since 1975 and only one even nominated for a record not her own, Linda Perry. After Lauren Christy 's 2004 nomination, Linda Perry 's 2019 nomination was the next for a woman. On why no woman had ever won it, Perry commented, "I just don't think there are that many women interested." In the U.K., Lynsey de Paul
6806-424: Was just to get him to sound in the studio as natural, just as he was in person, and have that extraordinary personality come thru.... After all, he's not a great harmonica player, and he's not a great guitar player, and he's not a great singer. He just happens to be an original. And I just wanted to have that originality come through." John Hammond on Bob Dylan, 1968 Pop Chronicles interview. Hammond oversaw
6889-494: Was pregnant. In November 1942, Jemy gave birth to their first son, John P. Hammond . On March 21, 1942, Hammond's sister, Alice married Benny Goodman . She had previously been married to Englishman Arthur Duckworth , a member of the British House of Commons. Hammond did not look kindly upon her marriage to Goodman. After years of arguments and disagreements about the musical directions of Goodman's band, Hammond and Goodman had
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