The Great British Recording Studios
By Howard Massey with a Foreword by Sir George Martin
Montclair, NJ - From the time that Thomas Alva Edison invented the phonograph in the 1870s, music has become an integral part of everyday life. Nine decades later, the "British Invasion" spearheaded what was inarguably one of the most important and creative periods in the development of recorded music.
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In The Great British Recording Studios (November 2015, Hal Leonard Books, $34.99), Howard Massey tells the story of the iconic British facilities where many of the most important recordings of all time were made. The first comprehensive account of British recording studios ever published, it was written with the cooperation of the British APRS (Association of Professional Recording Services, headed by Sir George Martin) to document the history of the major British studios of the 1960s and 1970s and to help preserve their legacy.
The Great British Recording Studios surveys the era's most significant British studios, including Abbey Road, Olympic, and Trident, with complete descriptions of each studio's physical facilities and layout, along with listings of equipment and key personnel, as well as details about its best-known technical innovations and a discography of the major recordings done there.
Seamlessly interweaving narrative text with behind-the-scenes anecdotes from dozens of internationally renowned record producers and a wealth of photographs - many never published before - Massey brings to life the most famous British studios and the people who created magic there. His "Stories from the Studio" take readers behind the scenes of the making of some of the world's best-loved records, including The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, The Kinks' "You Really Got Me," and the Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet.
Meticulously researched and organized, The Great British Recording Studios will inform and inspire students of the recording arts, music professionals, casual music fans, and anyone interested in the acoustically pristine facilities, groundbreaking techniques, and innovative artists and technicians that have shaped the course of modern recording.
About the Author:
HOWARD MASSEY is a longtime music journalist and consultant to the professional audio industry. Formerly a touring/session musician, songwriter, recording engineer, and producer, Massey has also written hundreds of magazine articles and was an editor of Musicianmagazine. He has authored more than a dozen other books used in recording school curricula worldwide, including Behind the Glass and Behind the Glass II, collections of interviews with the world's leading engineers and producers, both published by Backbeat Books. He is also the coauthor of legendary Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick's autobiography Here, There and Everywhere. Massey has lectured extensively at colleges and universities extensively throughout the United States. He lives in New York.
Hal Leonard Books is an imprint of Hal Leonard Corporation
