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RIP Roger Nichols

Machineghost

Machineghost

Ghost in the machine
It is with sadness that I bring the news of Mr Roger Nichols' passing.

Roger Nichols was the engineer responsible for the Steely Dan albums as well as Donald Fagen. Especially "The Nightfly".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Nichols_(recording_engineer)

Walter Becker and Donald Fagen: The Steely Dan years
[edit]First meeting
In 1971 Nichols met Gary Katz, newly hired at the ABC Dunhill label as a record producer. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were also working at ABC as song writers; one night Nichols was drafted, when no one else on the staff wanted to be involved, to stay and engineer a demo session that Becker and Fagen were holding to record their tunes for use by other artists.[4] Nichols discovered he had a great deal in common with the then-unknown duo, including sharing a taste for impeccable audio quality. Nichols was asked to engineer their first record album in 1972, and he would wind up working with Katz, Becker and Fagen in recording the first, decade-long incarnation of the band that became known as Steely Dan.[3]
[edit]Engineering the birth of Steely Dan
As a result of working with Nichols, Becker and Fagen and producer Katz were determined to have him seated behind the recording console for the 1972 start of studio sessions their first album, Can't Buy a Thrill. This conflicted with Nichols' summer vacation, and the decision was made to postpone recording until Nichols returned, much to ABC president Jay Lasker's annoyance, due to the amount of money advanced to the fledgling band. Once begun, the process was exacting. Nichols later commented: "We finished it in six months, which was quick for them. But even then their acceptance level was way above everyone else's. They never had the attitude of 'It's getting late that's good enough', or 'No-one else will notice'. Everything had to be as near perfect as technically and humanly possible." The album sold well and yielded two hit singles, ensuring Nichols would be tied to the band's fortunes.[5] Indeed, Nichols has been involved in engineering every Steely Dan album to date.[6]
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Grammy Awards

1977 "Best Engineer Non-Classical" Steely Dan Aja
1978 "Best Engineer Non-Classical" Steely Dan FM (soundtrack)
1981 "Best Engineer Non Classical" Steely Dan Gaucho
1997 Producer "Best Children's Album" John Denver "All Aboard!"
2000 "Best Pop Vocal Album" Steely Dan Two Against Nature
2000 "Album of the Year" Steely Dan Two Against Nature
2000 "Best Engineer Non-Classical" Steely Dan Two Against Nature
 
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There are some out there

Musicians, producers and technicians with exacting standards for the finished audio product. I thank them and Roger Nichols. You will be missed. Jim
 
I knew that Roger had been quite ill but kept hoping that he'd make it thru. Too sad for sure...he was a very well-rounded man. Not only one of the premier audio engineers...but a pilot, ham radio operator & many more interests. RIP, Mr. Nichols. I'll be spinning examples of your work today in your memory.
 
R.I.P. Roger Nichols.

He left a corpus of great recordings (some of the best!) that will live on, continuing to bring pleasure to many people around the world, for many years to come. Not a bad legacy, at all. We can all be grateful that he lived, and remember him and his contributions to our lives and our enjoyment, when we play those recordings. Thank you, Mr. Nichols.
 
Sorry to hear this. I've always thought Steely Dan albums sounded better than most and I've often used them as a reference source when testing equipment. It was pretty obvious that the engineer really cared about his work on them, now I know why.
 
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I think he also had a hand in some of the tunes the Carpenters sang. RIP
 
Very serendipitous, synchronistic one could say, that he and the future Dan met and meshed so well.

Thanks and RIP.

Lar
 
I did some quick, on-line research today regarding the apparent connection between cancer and the various recording engineers/producers who succumbed to it over the years.
Here is a very partial list of some great (and not-so-great) producer/engineers who died from cancer:

Roger Nichols....pancreatic cancer

Arif Mardin....pancreatic cancer

Bob Liftin.....lung cancer

Wally Heider....lung cancer

Iain Burgess (Chicago punk scene)....pancreatic cancer

Joanna Nickrenz (Classical engineer)....lung cancer

Norman Smith (Early Beatles engineer)....cancer

Fritz Richmond....lung cancer

Jim Williamson (Nashville engineer).....cancer

Jerry Paquette (Canadian)......pancreatic cancer

Bob Jones (Mastering engineer)....cancer
....and there are many others.

I wonder if this is more than coincidental evidence? These folks all spent most of their adult lives in close proximity to strong electro magnetic fields (more commonly known as EMF). I'm curious to know if anyone has ever done a study of the possible link of that kind of workplace hazard (EMF) and serious illnesses such as cancer. Just wondering.

regards,
 
ElPee said:
I did some quick, on-line research today regarding the apparent connection between cancer and the various recording engineers/producers who succumbed to it over the years.
Here is a very partial list of some great (and not-so-great) producer/engineers who died from cancer:

I wonder if this is more than coincidental evidence? These folks all spent most of their adult lives in close proximity to strong electro magnetic fields (more commonly known as EMF). I'm curious to know if anyone has ever done a study of the possible link of that kind of workplace hazard (EMF) and serious illnesses such as cancer. Just wondering.

regards,
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Ohh... I think it is really just coincidence. A recording studio is not that much more "congested" with EMF than any other "normal" environment. Actually we prefer not to have radio waves and LF currents in the studio as this corrupts the audio signals.

Stress could be a more rational explanation as well as the smokey environments - cigarette smoke...
 
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