Customer Reviews

Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings

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4 star:		(2)
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David N. Howard does a wonderful job showing how the folks behind the scenes created not only unique songs, but entire genres of music. From Rock and Roll to Dub, to Avant-Garde, and even Hip Hop, this book explains the birth of some of the most influential facets of contemporary music. Mr. Howard's enthusiasm for the music caused me to listen to familiar music in a new light and gave me a new found appreciation for music I had previously not enjoyed.

Precious little writing has been devoted to the people behind the sounds of classic albums, but this book greatly serves to right that wrong with concise yet detailed chapters on the well-known greats (Phil Spector, George Martin...) and the cult favorites (best piece on David Axelrod to date, includes contemporary interview). Sonic Alchemy rises to the top of the music book glut with ease...

Combining solid research, impeccable taste and a fluid writing style, David Howard lays open what had previously been, for me, a mysterious component in the creation of some music I can't live without. It's a great read, reliably told and entertaining, by someone who clearly must be a diehard music fan himself.

I found this book to be a very enjoyable read. I don't believe I've found another book like this that covers such a diverse and exciting spectrum of producers. Yes, there is plenty of writing out there about George Martin, Brian Wilson and Phil Spector. But, how many books out there cover the three mentioned, plus Dr. Dre, Brian Eno, John Cale, David Axelrod, and Lee Perry...oh yeah, and MARTIN HANNETT? If any of those names mean anything to you, then we might be on the same page here.

I know this won't earn many 'Was this review helpful' votes, but whatever...I'm going to get right to the point.

The Producers:
Martin Hannett, Lee Perry, John Cale, Eno, Shel Talmy, Chris Thomas, Dr. Dre, King Tubby, Steve Albini, Curt Boettcher (just to name a few).

The Artists affected:
the Talking Heads, Devo, Public Enemy, Ice Cube, the Pixies, Nirvana, the Stooges, David Bowie, the Byrds, the Who, Led Zeppelin, New Order, the Sex Pistols, Pulp, Joy Division, Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Congos, Al Green, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Ronettes, the Temptations (in their psychedelic-era), and N.W.A., to name a few (not to mention the albums and singles that many of the producers themselves performed on).

Plus tangential connections to Doris Day and Charles Manson (via Terry Melcher). My main criticism is the lack of a chapter concerning Joe Meek.

This book is about innovative producers working with innovative artists, making innovative, important albums. I think the names mentioned above yield way more convincing power than any opinion of mine.

As a longtime music junkie I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It not only managed to shed valuable insight into the creative process involved with the recording of many of my favorite albums (The Stones' "Exile On Main Street", The Who's Who's Next, The Taking Heads' "Remain In Light", Patti Smith "Horses", Joy Division "Unknown Pleasures"), it exposed me to several fascinating artist/producers I wasn't that familiar with like David Axelrod, reggae dub dude King Tubby and sunshine-pop wacko Curt Boettcher. As this book shows, many of the producers were more outrageous than the band's they were producing!

Unlike other books about music production I've read, this one managed to clearly illuminate what the producer's roles and hallmarks were in shaping these albums without getting overly bogged down in technical minutia. I found the writing engaging, well-researched and entertaining. Highly recommended!

Centering around some of the most widely successful and arguably avant-garde producers in modern pop music, Howard gives the dedicated Stones or Beach boys fan an insight into the mind of the person "putting it all together". He points out as in Traffic's case; A sound engineer that throws a lead singer a tambourine or pair of maracas can completely change the outlook of a session, and never see anything but a credit. Known well to the public, Dr. Dre, Phil Spector, and John Cale are also covered relatively extensively; following up on minutia for the audiophiles. Producers often don't get the credit they deserve, but in mainstream music they usually are usually as active as the individual band members. Negotiating everything from the sound production to submarine sandwiches, they are the ones that make it happen. All content copyright www.maximumink.com

Sonic Alchemy: Visonary Music Producers And Their Maverick Recordings by professional music journalist David N. Howard presents the true stories of some of the most influential producers in the history of music, from pioneers like Phil Spector and George Martin to the technocrats of today. The roles that producers have had in crafting nuances of popular music is thoroughly explored, in this eminently readible and enjoyable anthology. Black-and-white photographs and meticulous research and listings complement the engaging tales.

This is a fun read. I can't personally comment on the accuracy of some of the author's stories, but he does give lots of references.

For anyone who doesn't realize what a producer does, or how important they have been in pop music history, this is a must. He ranges from Phil Spector to George Martin (better known) to Chris Thomas, John Cale, Brian Eno, a clutch of Jamaican dub pioneers and others.

The two glaring problems could have been avoided with a little editing or proofreading. In one case he uses "unnerving" twice in a short sentence. It's like fingernails on a blackboard. There are all kinds of misspellings, all of them are the kind of things that a computer spell checker will pass but a human spots immediately as an error ("off" for "of", "through" for "though", "a hard road to hoe".) There are an awful lot of these throughout the book.

Howard is also extremely liberal with his adjectives, sometimes sacrificing coherency. To pick a typical sentence; "Notable amongst [Arthur Baker's] high-profile jobs was a heavily electronic remix of the Rolling Stones' gory _Too Much Blood_, whose alacritous rhythms and disconcertingly sequenced sound swarmed straight towards the pullulating British house and Detroit techno scenes."

But that aside I do recommend this book.

This book is an excellent primer for anyone interested in digging deeper into the sounds they've heard on their favorite records. Howard uses extensive interviews and great anecdotes to flesh out a thorough history of groundbreaking record producers, from the masters -- George Martin, Shel Talmy, Brian Wilson -- to cult favorites like Brian Eno and John Cale. For anyone who's curious about where the sound comes from, this is a great starting place.

I couldn't read past the first chapter. Phil and George, Producers of hits at a similar point in time, yes. But beyond that, comparisons between the two - David toggles back and forth between the similarities and "connection" between them - well, there is really very little to compare. Each deserves his own section of a book.

Perhaps it's because I am a linear thinker - I like to process one thing at a time. Perhaps also it's because I am a recording engineer and have spent a lifetime in this biz, but people who have not spent time recording and mixing - as I suspect David has not - should not write about the technical aspects of recording without a technical editor at the ready.