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Kevin Beamish

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Kevin Keith Beamish was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but is a naturalized American record producer, sound engineer and mixer. His family relocated to New York City, NY during his childhood when his father took a professors position and continued his education towards his PhD. Kevin played stick ball in the streets and slipped onto the train to see The NY Yankees, much to his parents surprise. Kevin excelled in school and skipped a grade, while studying woodwind instruments and singing with his mother, Mary Francis Ross Beamish, an opera and classical music lover. He became a naturalized American citizen at the age of 9.
His family relocated again, this time to Modesto, California when his father took a position as the Dean of Students in a prestigious university in the San Francisco area. His father, Jerome J. Beamish garnered three PhD's during his lifetime as an educator and scholar. Beamish graduated from the University of Berkeley, CA in advanced mathematics and studies in physics and music. Classically trained on woodwind instruments, he secured a recording deal for his band "The Weathervane" by the age of 16.

Beamish, a guitar player, keyboardist and singer would venture out to concerts in the local San Francisco area where the music scene of the 60's was breaking out. He watched and listened to the music of Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, The Who and The Beatles on their American tour. This glimpse of the early 60's was his entrance into music, knowing exactly what he wanted to do. This love and immediate step into the industry stopped his own PhD move into a scholarship to a prestigious university, disappointing his father and mother, but who quickly realized he was on the right path. After a backpack tour of Europe with coins in his pocket and a rest from heavy studies, he returned to California, and sent out letters to every studio in L.A. Only one came back, Crystal Recording Studio's who hired him to be a studio assistant; short for make coffee, answer the phones and stand in the studio all day and night, learning and helping. While there on his first week, James Taylor was recording "Mud Slide Slim" and Jackson Browne was recording "The Pretender." He was on the other side of the studio but could hear these sounds while he cleaned and worked. His entrance into recording was while assisting on Cisco Kid by War, and offering a few lines to help them when they were stuck. Their songs were long, cascading jams and they were short on lyrics.
Beamish, who had been writing poetry since the age of 5, quickly added a few ideas, naively. Told quickly by a manager (after they used a few words he suggested), to never mention it again; when Beamish asked how he would be credited. This was a quick study on the publishing business and perils of the business.

While assisting in engineering and any and all studio help to the then key engineers, he learned the difference between the producer and the engineer. Stevie Wonder was recording at Crystal and would find Kevin intuitively. Beamish stated that no matter how many knobs were on a board, Stevie knew every single setting. If you moved one a minuscule of an inch to the left or right, he would know. And no matter what, he could record and know when to punch in, punch out, come in and fade, with no sight. During this time at Crystal, The Miracles were recording and as the story goes, the Producer who started the project got a call for a family emergency. Beamish had been staying up nights in the studio remixing old tapes, learning and absorbing every note and every effect, creating his own original sounds, mesmerized with amps as a guitar player and creating sounds.

His first break came when the producer/engineer said "can you drive this thing" and Beamish said sure. So, he jumped in and mixed his first number one, worldwide, #1 Record "Love Machine" with his cool effects and sounds. It would catapult him into being one of the top recording engineers and producers for 30 years. "Love Machine" is a 1976 number-one single recorded by Motown group The Miracles, taken from their album City of Angels.[1]

This single was one of two Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hits recorded by The Miracles with Billy Griffin as lead vocalist; the other is 1973’s "Do It Baby". Griffin had replaced Miracles founder and lead singer Smokey Robinson as lead singer in 1972. The song features a growling sound by Miracles tenor Bobby Rogers.

Kevin Beamish produced and engineered REO Speedwagon’s No. 1 album Hi Infidelity and sang parts on the hit single "Keep on Loving You", with 15 million albums and four million singles sold worldwide. Beamish produced five (5) of REO's catalog.

In 1982, Beamish produced and engineered/mixed Jefferson Starship's Winds of Change (1982), Saxon’s Crusader (1984)[2] and Y&T's Contagious (1987). He started producing heavier rock such as Keel, Leatherwolf, and into the 1990s with Contraband and Michael Schenker Group.[3][4]

Billboard Magazine Archive Google Books[5] Notes Recorded at The Automatt, San Francsico Mixed and mastered at Kendun Recorders, Burbank ℗ 1971, 1982 RCA Records Produced and engineered for Kevin Beamish Productions, Inc. Barcode and Other Identifiers Label Code: LC 2484 Rights Society: GEMA Matrix / Runout (Runout Side 1): RCA FL - 14 372 - A Matrix / Runout (Runout Side 2): RCA FL - 14 372 - B http://www.discogs.com/Jefferson-Starship-Winds-Of-Change/release/1979133 Jefferson-Starship-Winds-Of-Change[6]

References

  1. ^ March 6, 1976, Billboard Magazine Charts
  2. ^ "Industry Profile – Producer Kevin Beamish". Metal-Rules.com. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
  3. ^ "Kevin Beamish Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
  4. ^ [1] Archived July 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Released on Grunt Records a Label launched by Jefferson Airplane in 1971 as an outlet for their own albums as well as side projects like Hot Tuna and solo recordings by band members. The label was deactivated in 1987, coincidentally fitting in with the de-evolution into commercial Top 40 pop-rock that the by-then Starship (2) had taken.
  6. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Jefferson-Starship-Winds-Of-Change/release/1979133
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