Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, and Giles Martin have all paid tribute to legendary recording engineer Geoff Emerick, who passed away Tuesday at age 72 from a heart attack.

Elvis:

McCartney:

I first met Geoff when he was a young engineer working at Abbey Road Studios. He would grow to be the main engineer that we worked with on many of our Beatles tracks. He had a sense of humour that fitted well with our attitude to work in the studio and was always open to the many new ideas that we threw at him. He grew to understand what we liked to hear and developed all sorts of techniques to achieve this. He would use a special microphone for the bass drum and played it strategically to achieve the sound that we asked him for. We spent many exciting hours in the studio and he never failed to come up with the goods. After The Beatles, I continued to work with him and our friendship grew to the point where when he got married to his beautiful wife Nicole, it was in the church close to where we lived in the country.

He came with me to Lagos Nigeria to record my album ‘Band on the Run’. I remember arriving at the half built studio with a handful of 45s which I played for him to explain what direction I wanted to take on this particular album. I remember asking him to make sure that the tracks had a lot of space and he was happy to deliver that. We kept in touch through the years and our phone calls or messages always gained a giggle or two.

Having seen him as recently as this year when he came to visit us at Henson Studio in LA, where we were putting the finishing touches to ‘Egypt Station’, he was his usual cheerful friendly self and gave me the thumbs up to the mixes we played him.
I’ll always remember him with great fondness and I know his work will be long remembered by connoisseurs of sound.

Lots of love Geoff, it was a privilege to know you.

Giles Martin:

RIP @GeoffEmerick one of finest and most innovative engineers to have graced a recording studio. I grew up with him as he worked so much with my father. We have all been touched by the sounds he helped create on the greatest music ever recorded.

Mike McCartney, recording artist and Paul’s brother:

Wow! Just heard the sad news! Geoff ‘Freaky Freaky’(as r kid & I used to call him) joins So many up there. A luvly, kind, very talented man..one of the inner sanctum. A lot will miss him..RIP Geoff

Mariah Carey has been fishing around for a new sound, and a hit record. She may have it with “With You,” her breathy new R&B ballad that has a nice pace, is well sung, and has its eye on the top of the charts. “With You” is a HUGE improvement over “GTFO,” too. If this is the direction of her new album, Mariah’s on the right track. “With You” is written and produced by Dijon McFarlane aka DJ Mustard, who definitely cuts the mustard. Maybe Mariah can perform her cover of Harry Nilsson’s “Without You” as a book end to “With You.” Then she can cover “With or Without You” by U2.

Mainly, it’s nice to hear her wonderful voice put to good use. More like this, please.

Cher, that’s right, Cher, is dancing her way to number 2 this week on all charts.

Since Friday Cher has sold 90,000 copies of her ABBA album, “Dancing Queen.” By the end of Thursday she could be up to around 140,000.

Of course, the “Dancing Queen” sales are aided by ticket bundles. Everyone who buys a ticket to see Cher in concert gets a copy of the album. But this has become common procedure in the modern age. Paul McCartney recently reached number 1 the same way with his “Egypt Station” album. The RIAA counts those albums.

Something tells me “Dancing Queen” will have legs. Cher is always on tour, for one thing. And you know she, like McCartney, should be featured on the Grammys this year. She’s 72, he’s 76, and we need them both to keep on rocking!

Terrible news: Geoff Emerick, the beloved recording engineer who worked on most of the Beatles recordings with George Martin, has reportedly died of a heart attack at age 72.

Emerick was the engineer on the later, more complicated Beatles records from “Revolver” through “Abbey Road” and “Let it Be.” He also engineered a lot of Paul McCartney’s solo records including “McCartney” and “Band on the Run.”

Emerick’s work was not unnoticed by subsequent generations. His ear helped make Elvis Costello’s great albums like “Get Happy” and “Imperial Bedroom” get that cushiony sound that’s made them classics, as well.

He continued to work alternately with McCartney and Costello on most of their solo work, plus then lent his talents to the Beatles re-issue projects including the 2009 “black box” remaster of their albums and the mono box set.

Among Emerick’s other jobs with Martin was the rescuing of the group America in the mid 70s with hits like “Tin Man” and “Sister Golden Hair.”

Emerick, working out of Capitol Studios in Hollywood, most recently produced the “This is Us” soundtrack album for the popular TV show. Everyone in the music business wanted him, and he was hard to get as a result. I met Emerick about 20 years ago and he was a great story teller. His name was just invoked at the listening session for the 50th anniversary edition of “The White Album.” Think of it– he went to work at Abbey Road when he was just 19!

Condolences to his family and friends.