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Man with a golden ear for the pop generation
Date: March 13 2008
Norman "Hurricane" Smith, 1923-2008
IN JUNE 1962 the recording engineer Norman Smith was assigned to a test recording by an unknown Liverpool group for EMI's Parlophone label. "Go and pick up George from the canteen," said Smith to the tape operator Chris Neal after hearing the demo, "and see what he thinks of this."
"George" was George Martin, head of artist and repertoire (A&R) for Parlophone, and he was equally impressed by what was to be the Beatles' first EMI single, Love Me Do. From then, he and Smith supervised all the Beatles' recordings until the end of 1965, concluding with the Rubber Soul album.
Smith had been a teenager in the 1930s, a world away from the early 1960s. On first meeting the Beatles, he told author Brian Southall, he "couldn't believe what louts they looked with their funny haircuts".
The Beatles in return called him "two-decibels Smith" because of his habit of asking group members to turn down the volume on a guitar amplifier, and John Lennon nicknamed him "Norman Normal".
Smith was born in north London. He trained as a glider pilot in the RAF during World War II but did not see combat. After the war his day jobs were supplemented by his role, mainly as a drummer, in the Bobby Arnold Quintet.
Then, in 1959, and lying about his age - EMI's limit was 28 and he was 35 - Smith applied to become an apprentice engineer at the Abbey Road studios. He was soon promoted to balance engineer, in which capacity he was assigned to work with Martin. He engineered hits by Helen Shapiro and Frank Ifield on EMI's then more prestigious Columbia label before the arrival of the Beatles.
He became the head of Parlophone A&R. On a visit to the "underground" UFO Club he saw a group which even had a light show, Pink Floyd. Smith persuaded EMI to offer a very high advance payment, £5000 against royalties, and produced the group's second hit single, See Emily Play, in 1967 and its first four albums. In 1968 he produced the Pretty Things' early "rock concept album" S.F. Sorrow.
Smith had played trumpet in a traditional jazz band in the 1950s and was an accomplished pianist, drummer and songwriter, but his decision to launch his own recording career in 1971 was a surprise. Using the nom de disque Hurricane Smith and a gravelly vocal delivery, his first single, Don't Let it Die, reached number two in the British charts. It was followed by Oh Babe, What Would You Say, a top five hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
Later records were less successful and Smith reverted to producing and engineering.
He was in virtual retirement in the 1980s and '90s, breeding horses for a while, but returned to the recording studio aged 80 in 2003 to record From Me To You. Produced by his son, Nick Smith, the album reprised the Hurricane Smith hits and included spoken reminiscences about his career.
Norman Smith is survived by his wife, Eileen, children Nick and Dee and a grandson.
http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2008/03/12/1205126007082.html
http://www.brain-damage.co.uk/obituaries/norman-hurricane-smith.html
Date: March 13 2008
Norman "Hurricane" Smith, 1923-2008
IN JUNE 1962 the recording engineer Norman Smith was assigned to a test recording by an unknown Liverpool group for EMI's Parlophone label. "Go and pick up George from the canteen," said Smith to the tape operator Chris Neal after hearing the demo, "and see what he thinks of this."
"George" was George Martin, head of artist and repertoire (A&R) for Parlophone, and he was equally impressed by what was to be the Beatles' first EMI single, Love Me Do. From then, he and Smith supervised all the Beatles' recordings until the end of 1965, concluding with the Rubber Soul album.
Smith had been a teenager in the 1930s, a world away from the early 1960s. On first meeting the Beatles, he told author Brian Southall, he "couldn't believe what louts they looked with their funny haircuts".
The Beatles in return called him "two-decibels Smith" because of his habit of asking group members to turn down the volume on a guitar amplifier, and John Lennon nicknamed him "Norman Normal".
Smith was born in north London. He trained as a glider pilot in the RAF during World War II but did not see combat. After the war his day jobs were supplemented by his role, mainly as a drummer, in the Bobby Arnold Quintet.
Then, in 1959, and lying about his age - EMI's limit was 28 and he was 35 - Smith applied to become an apprentice engineer at the Abbey Road studios. He was soon promoted to balance engineer, in which capacity he was assigned to work with Martin. He engineered hits by Helen Shapiro and Frank Ifield on EMI's then more prestigious Columbia label before the arrival of the Beatles.
He became the head of Parlophone A&R. On a visit to the "underground" UFO Club he saw a group which even had a light show, Pink Floyd. Smith persuaded EMI to offer a very high advance payment, £5000 against royalties, and produced the group's second hit single, See Emily Play, in 1967 and its first four albums. In 1968 he produced the Pretty Things' early "rock concept album" S.F. Sorrow.
Smith had played trumpet in a traditional jazz band in the 1950s and was an accomplished pianist, drummer and songwriter, but his decision to launch his own recording career in 1971 was a surprise. Using the nom de disque Hurricane Smith and a gravelly vocal delivery, his first single, Don't Let it Die, reached number two in the British charts. It was followed by Oh Babe, What Would You Say, a top five hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
Later records were less successful and Smith reverted to producing and engineering.
He was in virtual retirement in the 1980s and '90s, breeding horses for a while, but returned to the recording studio aged 80 in 2003 to record From Me To You. Produced by his son, Nick Smith, the album reprised the Hurricane Smith hits and included spoken reminiscences about his career.
Norman Smith is survived by his wife, Eileen, children Nick and Dee and a grandson.
http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2008/03/12/1205126007082.html
http://www.brain-damage.co.uk/obituaries/norman-hurricane-smith.html
