Beatles recording engineer Geoff Emerick has died at the age of 72, following a heart attack.
10/02/2018
RIP Sir Geoff Emerick pic.twitter.com/ARKx164s7U— Geoff Emerick (@GeoffEmerick) October 3, 2018
Emerick was hugely influential to the creation of the Beatles’ music. He was born in London on 5 December 1945, and joined EMI at the age of 15. On 4 September 1962, in his first week working at EMI Studios on Abbey Road, he sat in on The Beatles’ first recording session with Ringo Starr in the group.
Legendary EMI/Abbey Road recording engineer Geoff Emerick, has sadly passed away at the age of 72. We are hugely honoured to be part of Emerick’s story and we are committed to ensuring his legacy lives on at the studios. pic.twitter.com/r6qyBroAmV
— Abbey Road Studios (@AbbeyRoad) October 3, 2018
By 1966 he had been promoted to the position of balance engineer, and worked on The Beatles’ albums Revolver, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Beatles (White Album). He moved on during the sessions for the latter album, but returned to the fold for the single ‘The Ballad Of John And Yoko’ and the group’s swansong Abbey Road.
Brian Epstein, George Martin and Geoff Emerick at the worldwide satellite broadcast of All You Need Is Love (Our World), 25 June 1967
Following The Beatles’ split, Emerick retained a bond with Paul McCartney, and engineered the albums Band On The Run, London Town, Tug Of War and Flaming Pie.
Emerick received Grammy Awards for his work on Sgt Pepper, Abbey Road, and Band On The Run, and in 2003 received a Special Merit/Technical Grammy Award.
Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Geoff Emerick, who has sadly passed. Geoff’s work as audio engineer on their music was integral, resulting in multiple highly deserved Grammy Awards. pic.twitter.com/PWKO5i2EIc
— The Beatles (@thebeatles) October 3, 2018
He also worked on albums by acts including Elvis Costello, Badfinger, Art Garfunkel, America, Jeff Beck, Stealers Wheel, The Zombies, Supertramp, Cheap Trick, Nazareth, Split Enz, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Ultravox.
In 2006 Emerick published a memoir – Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles – which he co-authored with music journalist Howard Massey. Although it drew criticism for its negative portrayal of figures such as George Martin and George Harrison, the book nonetheless remains an invaluable insight into The Beatles’ recording processes.
In later years Emerick moved to the USA, living in Los Angeles.
His death was announced on 2 October 2018, in a YouTube video posted by his manager William Zabaleta.
Everybody thinks there’s like a rumour going around that Geoff Emerick is dead. Well it’s not a rumour, it’s the truth. Just today, at around two o’clock I was making my way back from Arizona [to] Los Angeles to go pick up Geoff so we can transport some gold records and platinum plaques to our show in Tucson.While on the phone to Geoff Emerick he… had complications, dropped the phone. At that point I called 911, but by the time they got there it was too late. Geoff suffered from heart problems for a long time, he had a pacemaker and, you know, when it’s your time it’s your time.
We lost a legend, and a best friend to me, and a mentor. And that’s all I can say on the matter. I’m not going to be answering phone calls because everyone’s calling me at the same time. That’s why I’m issuing this statement and I’ll share it everywhere. So yeah, it’s not a rumour. Geoff passed away today. May he rest in peace.
RIP @GeoffEmerick, EMI trainee selected at 20 as balance engineer on Revolver, then Sgt Pepper, the White Album (until he walked away), Abbey Road and the Anthology. He engineered and produced many fine records and was a key interview for the Recording Sessions book in 1987–88.
— Mark Lewisohn (@marklewisohn) October 3, 2018
Also on this day...
- 2017: Paul McCartney live: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit
- 2015: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Vina Robles Amphitheatre, Paso Robles
- 2015: Beatles live Cavern Club recording found in desk drawer after 50 years
- 2014: Paul McCartney live: United Spirit Arena, Lubbock
- 2014: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, Catoosa
- 2012: Paul McCartney attends Magical Mystery Tour screening
- 2011: McCartney, Starr, Ono and Olivia Harrison attend the world première of Scorsese documentary Living In The Material World
- 1969: Mixing: Across The Universe
- 1968: Recording: Honey Pie
- 1967: Recording, mixing: Your Mother Should Know, Hello, Goodbye
- 1964: Rehearsal: Shindig!
- 1962: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (lunchtime)
- 1960: The Beatles live: Indra Club, Hamburg
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
A few days ago I finished reading Geoff Emerick’s memoirs as a sound engineer for The Beatles. I hardly knew anything about him until I decided to read this book about the recordings he worked on with the Liverpool band. And I discovered a person who was sensitive, intelligent and in love with music and his work as a sound engineer and producer of some of the greatest works in the history of pop and rock music.
Rest in peace, Geoff. Thank you for the wonderful legacy you left us. In my case, I will remember you especially every time I hear Tomorrow Never Knows: those majestic Ringo drums and John’s voice sounding from the top of the mountain. We will all miss you.
Carlos.
I saw on the news, the day after he died as one of those tiny headlines. Someone in that huge Beatles family was gone, one that helped create some of the Beatles’ best works of art. For example, the Abbey Road medley. It wasn’t his idea to begin with, sure, but it turned out great and is an icon of that iconic album. Just wish he’d put Her Majesty before the whole medley, though, but whatever. I can live with it if he’s the reason for the incredible sounds we’ve got to enjoy.
R.I.P Geoff Emerick
God bless you, and all the other legends up there, or wherever.
Wow just a few weeks ago I was learning more about him, this is truly sad.
I know it’s been a month but I’m still very saddened by his death. I had the honor of seeing him in person at Abbey Road on the River, and although I didn’t have the courage to say anything to him, just being able to look him in the eyes is something that I will remember for many, many years.
R.I.P. Geoff Emerick, you will surely be missed.
I don’t think he was overly critical of George Harrison in his book. I think he honestly stated his opinion of Harrison as a musician who started out with some struggles and eventually blossomed into a very good musician as well as a producer. I know many people would disagree with his assessment, but I don’t think that his opinion is completely without merit. Paul McCartney was famously critical of George’s playing as well.
I agree. Many of George’s solos were less-than-glorious in those days (an apparent source of frustration for Paul who bought a guitar and started playing solos himself). It took George a while to mature, gain his self-confidence, and find his “voice”, both on guitar and vocally (he wasn’t a particularly good lead vocalist in the early days, either).
I disagree with you – George was a very good guitarist, songwriter and singer and he played very good guitar solos.
Paul didn’t play guitar solos very often – he was The Beatles’ usual bassist, not usual lead guitarist – and even so, he did not quit playing bass at all.
George was a great Guitar player! All his leads on Beatles records were great!!
Any one who thinks differently doesn’t know music and stupid!!!!!!!!!!
Every one of Georges licks are melodic!!! God Bless you in Heaven George 😉
Geoff Emerick was essential to the Beatles mid to late period sound which was the best of any rock recordings from that time p. Also as a fly on the wall , so to speak, his book is the source for what really happened in the studio with the Beatles. As for his comments on George Harrison, he was a bit harsh at times , but I disagree that Harrison was a poor guitarist. Listen to a lot of the early live recordings and the BBC sessions and George really shines. He had trouble in the studio at times as especially early on he’d have a very limited time to come up with a solo as those recordings were usually done in at most 4 or 5 takes.
I respect Geoff Emerick and his work a LOT – and I wish our very brief Email-contact had expanded. He actually asked me for my telephone number but sadly never called.
I had contacted him because of the many, many inaccurate parts of his book. I told him surely he didn’t owe me anything, but he owed everything to the Beatles and so I felt it was his duty to set the record straight and tell people that most of this book hadn’t been written by him but his ghostwriter.
There’s an interview with Emerick from the 70s where he doesn’t even remember who played the piano on A day in the life – and in his book from the 90s he suddenly remembers word for word communications?! No way, and fellow Beatle-engineer Ken Scott pointed out these flaws right after the book came out, saying that Geoff was desperately asking people about their memories because – as the interview proved – he didn’t have any of his own.
You can see him in youtube-clips repeating these made up stories from the book as actual facts, and that’s what always makes me a bit mad – why does he mess up Beatles history and confuse the fans?!
Any controversial stuff written in his book was probably done just for commercial reasons – controversy always creates more attention.
So be aware when you read this book that it is mostly a work of fiction, similar to a script for a bio-pic like Bohemian Rhapsody, which contains a LOT of made up conversations and mixed up data.
No. NOT a work of fiction. He never claimed it was a historical account, but HIS rememberances. Calling them “made-up” is absurd.
You also make some rather broad assumptions as to his motives which, in turn, destroys your own credibility. Your post should be regarded with that in mind…..
There is only one problem with what you say. It is that it was Paul McCartney himself that said, that if anyone really wanted to know what it was like with the beatles in those days. They should read Geoff Emericks book. Ken Scott makes out he is the expert on the beatles including the times before he had anything to do with them and after when he was ditched by the beatles. It speaks volumes that Paul McCartney continued to use Geoff consistently. When it comes to the development of the beatles music I am pretty certain that Geoff made much more of a contribution than Scott did
So you’re calling Geoff Emerick a liar.
What motivation would he have to lie? None. He had no need for extra money at that stage of his life.
Do memories sometimes come back to people when said memories are jogged by others? Yes, of course.
Does Geoff Emerick strike me as a completely credible, honest, earthy, authentic man? Indeed he does.
Can I say the same about someone who flat-out calls him a liar? Hmm, let me get back to you on that.