Geoff Emerick, Beloved Beatles Engineer, Dead at 72

Geoff Emerick, the legendary Beatles chief recording engineer who worked on some of their most iconic recordings, has died at the age of 72.

Emerick was just 15 when he first met The Beatles at London’s now-legendary Abbey Road studios.  After impressing with his work on hits including ‘Love Me Do’, ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ and ‘She Loves You’, he eventually became the band’s chief engineer.

Other than George Martin, he was the behind-the-scenes brains that helped shape the band's sound — particularly, the weird ones.

R.I.P. Geoff... One of a kind... 🙏🏻 https://t.co/jZ1ng82ZIm

— Julian Lennon (@JulianLennon) October 3, 2018

During his time in the role, he oversaw some of the group’s most iconic records – such as ‘Revolver’, ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,’ ‘The White Album’ and ‘Abbey Road’.

 Emerick was the behind-the-scenes brains that helped shape the Beatles sound. When John Lennon asked Emerick to make him sound like “the Dalai Lama singing on a mountain” for “Tomorrow Never Knows” on “Revolver,” one of the effects Emerick used was to put Lennon’s voice through a spinning Leslie speaker. As Andy Babiuk describes in the book “Beatles Gear,” Emerick’s “open-minded approach and willingness to ignore standard recording practices and techniques when necessary was exactly what the group was looking for.”

Emerick’s manager, William Zabaleta, posted a video, in which he said he was on the phone with Emerick when the engineer suddenly fell ill. Zabelta immediately called 911 but by the time an ambulance arrived it was too late. “Geoff suffered from heart problems for a long time,” Zabaleta said. “He had a pacemaker and, you know, when it’s your time, it’s your time. We lost a legend and a best friend to me, and a mentor.”

“Geoff Emerick was a groundbreaking engineer, particularly in terms of his eagerness to try anything and everything to meet his artists’ expectations. He famously captured John Lennon sounding like the Dalai Lama on a mountaintop for Revolver‘s ‘Tomorrow Never Knows,’ later bringing the Beatles’ career to a close in fine style on Abbey Road. Like his mentor, producer George Martin, Emerick was always laser-focused on getting the best out of the track that his artists presented. Working at that granular level, he proved himself to be the greatest engineer of his generation.”