Enoch Light
Enoch Henry Light ( born August 18, 1905 in Canton, Ohio; † July 31, 1978 in West Redding, Connecticut ) was an American classical violinist, bandleader, producer and sound engineer. He was the founder, A & R chief and vice-president of Grand Award Records record companies and Command Records.
Production and sound engineering
Light is one of the first musicians who were anxious to extremely high-quality stereo recordings and subjected to the full advantage of the technical possibilities of the art studio of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was a pioneer in the recording technique, and dealt early with multitrack recording, using 35 mm magnetic film instead of the conventional magnetic recording tape to reduce various parasitics. He also relied heavily on stereo effects, wander the sounds between the right and left channel back and forth left (so-called Ping -Pong effect ).
He was the first producer who arranged the stakes of his musicians with regard to the kind of desired by him sounds. The first album he produced for his label Command Records, Persuasive Percussion was that sold very well, but hardly or not at all ran into the radio as the radio stations by default sent a mono signal at this time. Also on Command appeared the Command test record, a record with which you could check the installation and function of his stereo.
Artwork
His album covers were generally designed with abstract, minimalist art and thus stood out strongly from other covers from this period. The artwork of the first publications was created by Josef Albers.
Light was so fascinated by the sound of his productions that he described the individual sounds of each track in a long prose. To fit all descriptions on the cover, he let make shells in double size, which could be open like a book, and thus made the so-called fold -out cover or gatefold popular. This Gatefold were very popular in later decades and used for many publications, such as for the Beatles album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Labels and Publications
Enoch Light released myriad albums in various genres, under different names in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Plates, which were intended more for the older generation, he publicated on his, founded earlier, sub-label Grand Award Records, which ran as a sublabel of Command now.
It published several albums in the Persuasive Percussion series, their first release " Enoch Light / Terry Snyder & The All Stars - Persuasive Percussion" (1960 ) # 1 on the album charts reached.
The recordings on 35mm magnetic film ( see above) were used as the " 35 MM" series has been published, which started (on Command Records) with the album " Stereo/35 MM". With " Enoch Light & Light Brigade - Stereo/35 MM" Light reached another number -one ranking in the American charts.
Musicians who participated on his albums were among the other musicians in the band The Free Design, The Critters, Rain and Doc Severinsen, Tony Mottola, Dick Hyman, and arranger Lew Davies.
In 1965, Light Command Records sold to the label ABC Records, which was then in turn bought out by MCA. After the sale, the quality of the plates that came out under these labels declined dramatically. Publications with gatefold cover format and "Light - prose " were not implemented as of this date, the covers were usually pressed and the plates from recycled vinyl. In 1975, the labels were completely set.
After the sale of Light continued to take plates on and released it on his newly founded label " Project 3", put here, however, on the use of stereo effects no increased value more. Light recorded several successful albums of his, which was founded in the Command - time, big band Enoch Light And The Light Brigade. He kept the scores and arrangements as close as possible to the original. In 1974, he withdrew all the way back from the music. Four years later he died. Enoch Light was buried in the Umpawaug Burial Ground in West Redding, Connecticut.
Lights recording of Autumn Leaves was sampled by RJD2 for the title song of the AMC series Mad Men A Beautiful Mine.
Disco Graphical Notes
- I want to Be Happy Cha Cha 's ( Grand Award, 1958)
- Percussion ( Vares Vintage, circa 1959 )
- Bongos performances by Los Admiradores ( Command, 1959)
- Stereo/35 MM ( Command, 1961)
- Dimension " 3" ( Command, 1964)
- Discotheque dance dance dance ( Command, 1964)
- Big Band Bossa Nova: New Beat from Brazil. Big Hits of the 70's, Vol 1 ( Compilation )