In a recent review of Lyn Stanley’s Moonlight Sessions, I mentioned (and was seriously impressed by) the fact that the albums were recorded and mixed by the legendary engineer and producer Al Schmitt.
And then, the other day, I recalled that Analogy Records’ owner Roberto Vigo trained under the very same Al Schmitt. In fact I remember quoting Schmitt in an earlier article on Analogy. He (Schmitt) was speaking about the question of analogue versus digital recording, and the reason I remember it was because his words helped to loosen me (a bit) from my analogue high-horse!
Anyway, my point is, the man’s a recording genius with a CV to make any audiophile go weak at the knees. So it was great to happen upon a couple of podcasts over at AudioStream.com (posted a couple of months ago, in December 2018) in which host Brian Hunter interviews the great man himself.
The interview is split into two parts: Part 1: Paul McCartney to Frank Sinatra and Part 2: Bob Dylan to Neil Young. In it, Schmitt “walks us down the historical path that earned him 150 gold/platinum albums and 22 Grammys, sharing his experiences and engineering know-how working with the likes of Duke Ellington, Sam Cook, Toto, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and more”.
Heartily recommended, and kudos to Brian Hunter and AudioStream.com for managing to chat with such a music industry great!
Dave Denyer: The Reel-to-Reel Rambler 