Norman "Normal" Smith

[mervap]

Norman "Normal" Smith, who engineered the Beatles first six albums from 1962-1965, died Monday in England at the age of 85. I understand he had been ill for some time.

I found this interview with him from last year:

[2 of 3]

I had no idea that this is Hurricane Smith too! Wow, I loved this song when I was a kid.

[Kylenz]

Awwww this is sad.

This album here, features the coolest Norman Smith production sound I've ever heard. Everything is mixed so loud, the small insignificant things that normally get buried are so alive and vivid. The songs are awesome.

http://lost-in-tyme.blogspot.com/2007/12/pretty-things-1968-sf-sorrow.html

It's incredible that he worked on 3 stunning albums all at the same time: Sgt Pepper, Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and SF Sorrow by The Pretty Things. All 3 albums are brilliant in their own way, especially in the production sense. Listen to 'She Says Good Morning' on the SF Sorrow album - how the heck does he get that snare sound, like it's smashing a window over and over, double tracked, then the solo has a loud fuzzy guitar on one channel with the acoustic guitar on the other channel, then you have duelling 'Turning Japanese' pre- new wave style electric guitars and ad libs to the fade out.

For these 3 albums alone, Norman Smith will forever be a genius in my eyes. A great visualiser of melodic psychedelic music.

[mervap]

Listen to 'She Says Good Morning' on the SF Sorrow album - how the heck does he get that snare sound, like it's smashing a window over and over

Sounds to my ears like the drummer is doing the work you're admiring here...he's either hitting a quick, bright crash cymbal on each snare hit or he's opening the hi-hats on each snare hit...not terribly difficult to do, but VERY difficult to record well...in fact, everything I heard on that album was recorded startlingly well for the time, and with a band that wasn't all that well-known at the time, right?

[MeanMrMustard]

I had no idea that this is Hurricane Smith too! Wow, I loved this song when I was a kid.

 note, "Hurricane" Smith--"Oh Babe What Would You Say?"---kind of a novelty "hit" on the radio in 70's

[Kylenz]

Listen to 'She Says Good Morning' on the SF Sorrow album - how the heck does he get that snare sound, like it's smashing a window over and over

Sounds to my ears like the drummer is doing the work you're admiring here...he's either hitting a quick, bright crash cymbal on each snare hit or he's opening the hi-hats on each snare hit...not terribly difficult to do, but VERY difficult to record well...in fact, everything I heard on that album was recorded startlingly well for the time, and with a band that wasn't all that well-known at the time, right?

Heh, you're right, they're open hi-hats or a quick bright cymbal crash! It's a great sound though, and very well-recorded. Sounds like Norman Smith was hailed and welcomed as like another band member, unlike Pink Floyd, who didn't get on with him as well. 

Got another couple of gems on that SF Sorrow - how about 'Baron Saturday' - the vocals in the chorus remind me very much of John Lennon with the other Beatles on backing vocals.. and it has the mellotron mixed up high and the drums sound very much like Ringo on 'Pepper'. And then there's 'Old Man Going' - with an evil Black Sabbathy metal guitar lick, the drums have a heavy thudding sound rather than the bright and crisp sound on Baron Saturday.. been getting into this album a lot, and SF Sorrow showcases Norman Smith for sure!