Inside Tracks

Behind every classic pop record is a musical mentor whose job it is to coax the finest performance from an artist, while a technical virtuoso captures that unforgettable sound for posterity. In this book, the great record producers and engineers come out from behind the control room glass to talk about their work with popular music's most legendary performers. Bestselling author and journalist Richard Buskin interviews more than sixty producers and engineers, taking us in their own words on a multi-decade musical odyssey ranging from big band, jazz and folk to rhythm & blues, rock, pop, punk, disco, metal, alternative and every other nook and cranny that has brought exciting performances together with an experienced recording hand. We meet the people who recorded Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Elton John, Paul Simon, Michael Jackson, Nirvana, Alanis Morissette, and more -- and find out what those sessions were really like. Here is a very personal history of popular music told from a vantage point that may be new to us, but not to the many musicians who have labored in the studio: here is how it felt to help them make history. Conversations with: Sam Phillips -- Chet Atkins -- Jerry Wexler -- Lieber & Stoller -- Mickie Most Sir George Martin -- Roy Halee -- Bruce Botnick -- Lamont Dozier Eddie Kramer -- Tom Dowd -- Gus Dudgeon -- Alan Parsons Giorgio Moroder -- Dave Edmunds -- Hugh Padgham -- Quincy Jones Don Was -- Phil Ramone -- Glen Ballard -- Butch Vig and many, many more