miami hurricanes combat jersey, Norman Smith was one of the true \"unsung heroes\" of the Beatles\' story -- he rarely gets a mention in any of the biographies, yet his work was an important part of their sound, as was that of other EMI engineers like Geoff Emerick, Ken Scott, Chris Thomas and Phil McDonald. In the last year or two, Emerick has drawn some attention, thanks to his recent memoirs, but \"Normal\" Smith has largely been left out of the limelight.
IN JUNE 1962, recording engineer Norman Smith was assigned to a test recording by an unknown Liverpool group for EMI\'s Parlophone label. \"Go and pick up George from the canteen,\" said Smith to tape operator Chris Neal after hearing the demo, \"and see what he thinks of this.\"
The \"George\" was George Martin, head of artist and repertoire for Parlophone, and he was equally impressed by what was to be the Beatles\' first EMI single, Love Me Do. From then on, Martin and Smith supervised all the Beatles\' recordings until the end of 1965, concluding with the Rubber Soul album — in all about 180 songs. Smith, who miami hurricanes combat jersey has died of cancer in East Sussex, England, aged 85, was later entrusted with remixing Beatles tracks into stereo sound. He had been a teenager in the 1930s, a world away from the the Beatles and their contemporaries from the early 1960s. And, just like other EMI employees, Smith was smartly dressed and politely spoken. On first encountering the band, he told author Brian Southall, he \"couldn\'t believe what louts they looked with their funny haircuts\". The bands Smith engineered included another highly successful Liverpool group, Gerry and the Pacemakers. Smith, said the Pacemakers\' leader, Gerry Marsden, was \"shocked that these Scousers invaded his recording studio, bringing rum and Coke and swearing and smoking, putting their feet up on the mixing console\". The Beatles called him \"two-decibels Smith\" because kept asking group members to turn down the volume on guitar amplifiers; John Lennon nicknamed him \"Norman Normal\". Smith was born in Edmonton, north London. He trained as a glider pilot in the RAF during World War II, but did not see combat. In 1959, Smith lied about his age (EMI\'s limit was 28 and he was 35) when he applied to become an apprentice engineer at the Abbey Road studios. Beginning as a tape operator, Smith was soon promoted to balance engineer, miami hurricanes combat jersey in which capacity he was assigned to work with Martin. He engineered hits by Helen Shapiro and Frank Ifield. After moving up the EMI hierarchy he received an invitation to the UFO Club. There he saw a group that even had a light show, Pink Floyd. \"What I saw absolutely amazed me. I was still into creating and developing new electronic sounds in the control room, and Pink Floyd, I could see, were exactly into miami hurricanes combat jersey the same thing; it was a perfect marriage,\" he said. Smith persuaded EMI to offer a very high advance payment, £5000, against royalties and produced the group\'s second hit single See Emily Play, in 1967, followed by Pink Floyd\'s first four albums. He helped to construct the spacy sounds on the group\'s debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967). Smith was \"old-school, with a dry sense of humour\", recalled the Floyd\'s Roger Waters. \"I liked him enormously.\" Smith had played trumpet in a traditional jazz band in the 1950s and was an accomplished pianist, drummer and songwriter. But his decision to launch his own recording career in 1971 was a surprise. Using the nom de disque \"Hurricane\" Smith and a gravelly vocal delivery, his first single Don\'t Let It Die, reached No. 2 in the British charts. It was followed by Oh Babe, What Would You Say, a top five hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Later records were less successful and Smith reverted to producing and engineering.
Norman Smith aka Hurricane Smith (born 22 February 1923; died 3 March 2008) was a musician and record producer. He was the engineer on all of the recordings by the Beatles up until 1965 when EMI promoted him from engineer to producer. The last Beatles album he recorded was Rubber Soul, andnormansmith.jpgSmith engineered the sound for approximately 180 Beatles songs in total. A native of the North London area of Edmonton, Smith was working with the Beatles on 17 June 1965 when he was offered 15,000 pounds by the band\'s music publishing company, Dick James Music, to buy outright a song he had written. In early 1967, he began working with a new group, Pink Floyd, producing their first three studio albums The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, A Saucerful of Secrets, and Ummagumma. During the sessions for the song, \"Remember a Day\", drummer Nick Mason became agitated that he could not come up with the right drum part for the song. Smith, however, knew what he wanted with the drums, so he played the part himself. In 1968, Smith produced one of the first rock concept albums, The Pretty Things\' S.F. Sorrow. In 1971, Smith, using his recording artist pseudonym of \"Hurricane Smith,\" had a UK hit with \"Don\'t Let It Die\". In 1972, he enjoyed a transatlantic hit with \"Oh Babe What Would You Say?\", which became a U.S. # 1 Cashbox hit.[4] This recording was a demo of a song that he had written for a different artist to record. When he played it for fellow record producer Mickie Most, Most was impressed enough to tell him to release it as it was. Also included on Smith\'s self-titled debut album was a third hit single, a cover of Gilbert O\'Sullivan\'s \"Who Was It?\" Some minor hits followed, like \"My Mother Was Her Name\" (1972), \"Beautiful Day, Beautiful Night\" (1973) and \"To Make You My Baby\" (1974). However, his subsequent attempts at producing successful recordings proved elusive.
In 2004, Smith released a new CD, From Me To You (SFMCD030), including new recordings of his biggest self-penned hits, \"Don\'t Let It Die\" and \"Oh Babe, What Would You Say?\", and includes messages in the liner notes from Sir Paul McCartney and members of Pink Floyd. Norman Smith has written a book, his memoirs, entitled John Lennon Called Me Normal. It debuted on 16 March 2007 as a limited edition at The Fest for Beatles Fans in Secaucus, New Jersey. There, Smith appeared and sang \"Oh Babe\". An expanded market edition of the book is due for release in the summer of 2007. The book contains never-before-published pictures, newly revealed historical facts about the Beatles and Pink Floyd at Abbey Road Studios
He was in virtual retirement in the 1980s and \'90s, breeding horses for a while, but returned to the recording studio in 2003, aged 80, to record From Me to You.
Produced by his son Nick Smith, this album reprised the Hurricane Smith hits and also included a series of spoken reminiscences about his career. Smith\'s final public appearance was at a Beatles convention in New Jersey last year, where he launched a limited edition memoir, John Lennon Called Me Normal.
