Al Schmitt

Albert Harry "Al" Schmitt is an American recording engineer and record producer. He has won 23 Grammy Awards for his work with Henry Mancini, Steely Dan, George Benson, Toto, Natalie Cole, Quincy Jones, and others.

Biography

Early career

Schmitt grew up in New York City.^[1] After serving in the U.S. Navy, he began working at Apex Recording Studios at the age of 19. In the late 1950s Schmitt moved to Los Angeles and became a staff engineer at Radio Recorders on Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywood. In the early 1960s he moved to RCA in Hollywood as a staff engineer.^[2] While at RCA he engineered albums for Henry Mancini, Cal Tjader, Al Hirt, Rosemary Clooney, Liverpool Five, The Astronauts, Sam Cooke ("Bring It On Home to Me," "Cupid," "Another Saturday Night") in 1961. He also did a lot of motion picture scoring work for Alex North and Elmer Bernstein. In addition, Schmitt worked with Jascha Heifetz's "Million Dollar Trio", which comprised Heifetz himself, Arthur Rubinstein on the piano, and Gregor Piatigorsky or Emanuel Feuermann on cello. Schmitt once stated that "Mr. Heifetz was very temperamental in the Studio." He has also stated that Heifetz would have angry fits during recording sessions.

From the mid-60s to present

In 1966 Schmitt left RCA and became an independent producer. He produced albums for Jefferson Airplane, Eddie Fisher, Glenn Yarborough, Jackson Browne and Neil Young. In the mid 1970s he began spending more time engineering again, recording and mixing artists from Willy DeVille to Dr. John.

Other career highlights include engineering both Frank Sinatra Duets albums, Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company and some of Diana Krall's albums. Much of his work in the last few years has been with producer Tommy LiPuma. He has also recorded Sammy Davis, Jr., Natalie Cole, Thelonious Monk, Elvis Presley, Tony Bennett, Madonna, Michael Jackson, and many others.

Most recently, in 2014, Schmitt worked on Bob Dylan's album, Shadows in the Night, which was released on January 30, 2015.^[3]

Capitol Records

Since he moved to Hollywood, Schmitt has almost exclusively worked at Capitol Studios, with occasional sessions at United Recording Studios and EastWest Studios, formerly Western Recording. He made an advertisement for AMS Neve's 88R console at Capitol's Studio A, which currently holds an 88R.^[4]

Schmitt has also appeared on the online internet television series "Pensado's Place", hosted by Dave Pensado and Herb Trawick. During one of the segments he mentioned that his favorite microphone is the Neumann U 67 tube (valve) condenser microphone, and explained that he uses the microphone on numerous sources.^[5]

Albums produced

• Jazz Suite on the Mass Texts - Paul Horn, composed and conducted by Lalo Schifrin (RCA Victor, 1965)
• After Bathing at Baxter's - Jefferson Airplane (1967)
• Crown of Creation - Jefferson Airplane (1968)
• Bless Its Pointed Little Head - Jefferson Airplane (1969)
• Volunteers - Jefferson Airplane (1969)
• Hot Tuna – Hot Tuna (1970)
• Late for the Sky - Jackson Browne (1974)
• On the Beach – Neil Young (1974)
• We Got By - Al Jarreau (1975)
• Farther Along – Spirit (1976)
• Glow - Al Jarreau (1976)
• Look to the Rainbow - Al Jarreau (1977) (European title Live in Europe) (co-produced w/Tommy LiPuma)
• All Fly Home - Al Jarreau (1978)
• Dream Machine – Paul Horn (1978)

Star on the Walk of Fame

In 2014, Schmitt was awarded a star on Hollywood's famous walk of Fame by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. He was one of many including Daniel Radcliffe, Bob Kane, Bobby Flay, Seth MacFarlane, Kelly Ripa, Jim Parsons, Amy Poehler, Pitbull, Pharrell Williams, Larry Elder, and others.^[6]

The star was placed on August 13, 2015.

The star recognizes his contribution to the music industry and is located at 1750 N. Vine Street.^[7][8]

Don Was, Joe Walsh, and President/CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Leron Gubler were speakers at Schmitt's Star Unveiling Ceremony.^[9] During the Ceremony, Gubler declared that August 13 would be designated as 'Al Schmitt Day' in Hollywood. Although Natalie Cole and Paul McCartney were not able to attend the ceremony, both released statements that were read by Gubler at the ceremony.

Awards

During his career Al has recorded and mixed more than 150 gold and platinum albums^[10] and was inducted into the TEC Awards Hall of Fame in 1997, and received the Grammy Trustees Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. As a member of The Recording Academy's Los Angeles Chapter, Al served several terms on The Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees. He has won a total of 19 Grammy Awards, more than any other engineer or mixer. In addition he was awarded two Latin Grammy Awards in 2000 including Album of the Year. In 2005 he won five Grammys for his work on Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company including Album of the Year, setting the record most Grammys won by an engineer or mixer in one night. He was also the first person to win both the Grammy and Latin Grammy for Album of the Year.

The Schmitt-engineered song "Moon River" and its associated album won two Grammy awards in 1961 as well as an Academy Award for Best Song with its appearance in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's. Schmitt won his first Grammy in 1963 specifically for engineering the Hatari! soundtrack by Henry Mancini.

In June 2014, Schmitt won the Pensado Giant Award, which was awarded at the Pensado Awards at the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica, CA, hosted by Dave Pensado and Herb Trawick.^[11]

In September 2014, Schmitt received an Honorary Doctorate from the Berklee College of Music.^[12]

Grammy Awards

List of Grammy Awards received by Al Schmitt^[13]

References

External links

• Al Schmitt discography at Discogs
• Al Schmitt at the Internet Movie Database
• "Al Schmitt talks about the Neve 88R" on YouTube
• Al Schmitt Interview NAMM Oral History Library (2011)