Sound City Studio’s

My ambitions to be an artist really started in 1964, the first time I saw the Beatles on the “Ed Sullivan Show.” This was the actual show I saw that literally changed my life forever.

I immediately proceeded to somehow talk my parents into buying me an acoustic guitar. That turned into playing in many bands in high school to then going on the road touring in high profile club bands. I was very frustrated with the fact that I was not able to break in the music industry in the way that I had envisioned. So, after many trials and tribulations, I made my way out to California in 1976.

The first step was I joined a service called, Musicians Contact Service. At that time, it was $25 dollars to join. I could find bands that were looking for lead guitar player/singers and in my case, register myself as a lead guitar player/singer looking for a touring recording act on major label. I think the service was awesome and is still in existence, www.musicianscontact.com.

During my searching around every week, I happened to see this guy Rick Springfield. I hadn’t heard of him and at that point, he wasn’t really that recognized. He had some success, but I was mostly intrigued with his talent and music, so I moved forward.

I immediately called and scheduled an audition that he had listed in Musicians Contact Service for a lead guitar player/singer. Then, I went out and bought his most recent album “Wait For Night” the night before. The next day, I think Rick was so impressed that I came in prepared with a lot of genuine enthusiasm, that he called me back after auditioning a total of forty guitar players. It was down to myself and one other guy and had us both go in the room with the band and play at the same time. I had no idea what was going on so I wasn’t looking at this as some sort of competition. Maybe he wanted two lead guitar players? What I found out later is, we were his two top choices and at the end of the day, I got the gig.

I still can’t figure it out, but it’s turned into the most amazing phenomenon. That was in 1976 and to this day, I can attribute just about any friend (and even my wife!); to six degrees of separation, and it all stems from this family tree that started back with Rick.

This is where Joe Gottfried, Tom Skeeter and Sound City Studios enter into the picture. Rick was signed to Joe and Tom’s production company called Carman Productions. Joe and Tom also owned Sound City Studios.

Shortly after I met Rick, Joe and Tom came to me and said, “We believe you have great artist potential with your voice and your songs, so we would love to sign you up as an in-house production.” I thought about it for about 2 seconds and then said, “YES!” Joe and Tom knew the true meaning of artist development and utilized the income from the studio to fund their productions. I remember waiting on pins and needles for the call from Jemima, the studio manager at that time, telling me that the studio had some down time if I wanted to reserve it. OF COURSE I DID!!!

I had all these aspirations of being a solo artist myself. It was my dream, but it was going to take someone to really believe in me. Joe and Tom did and gave me this incredible opportunity to go in and spend over two hundred hours, in a world-class studio with Bill Drescher, who soon became a world class engineer and producer!

Bill Drescher
Bill became Rick’s engineer and co-producer for several of his albums. Bill and I co-produced an album and a half worth of material and then began searching for a record deal. I know I will never be able to thank Bill enough for all his long hours in the studio and for giving me my “college education” on how to make great records! He gave me new meaning to the words “flat, sharp, early, late, once again for me, one more time, I think you can do better, etc., etc., etc., and with a smile!” HA!

During this production deal, Joe gave me the opportunity to work with 3 time Grammy Award winning composer/arranger/conductor, Jimmie Haskell doing full string arrangements to several of my songs. Other players on my project were Reggie McBride (bass player / Stevie Wonder) Rosemary Butler (singer for Jackson Brown), Alan Pasqua (piano player for people like Bob Dylan, Santana, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Ray Charles and Queen Latifa), Jack White (drummer for Rick Springfield, Redbone, Roger Miller), Phil Shenale (Tori Amos string arranger, keyboard player extraordinaire for acts such as Tracy Chapman, Janes Addiction and Billy Idol) and many, many more. Lots of great musicians joined in to make my artist project something I’ll never forget.

During that time I also did numerous vocal and guitar sessions at Sound City for artists such as The Allman Brothers, Rick Springfield, Nick Gilder, and Bill Wray.

The “Deal” never came to fruition, but we made the best possible record that we could and I had opportunities that I later realized were major influences in my life. During this time, Rick and I continued to tour and write and produce songs together. I also played guitar on several of his albums.

Prior to Rick’s first tour on “Working Class Dog,” I decided not to go back out on the road. Shortly after, I ended up getting my first deal on Motown as a writer. It was Motown’s Publishing division (Stone Diamond) based in Los Angeles, and that’s when my career finally started to take shape; writing, producing, engineering, mixing and audio mastering with other artists in my digital recording studio, like I was doing with Rick.

Like so many other artists, my experience at Sound City Studios played a big part in who I have become. I am thankful for the friendships I made and all the many opportunities I was given to help me develop my craft and make me the person and producer I am today.

For more info on Sound City Studios:
https://buy.soundcitymovie.com
https://soundcitystudios.net

A Very Special Thanks to: Kimberly Durham for her article on Jeff which appeared in the July/August 2012 issue of “K*Chele Magazine.” Some of this text was taken from their interview.