Roger Nichols: From nuclear operator to recording engineer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Nichols_%28recording_engineer%29

Roger Nichols (recording engineer)
For the songwriter, see Roger Nichols (songwriter).

Roger Scott Nichols (September 22, 1944 – April 9, 2011) was an American seven-time Grammy Award-winning recording engineer and producer.

Nichols was best known for his work with the group Steely Dan and John Denver, <1> but his work includes numerous major music acts including the Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder, Frank Zappa, Crosby Stills & Nash, Al Di Meola, Roy Orbison, Cass Elliot, Plácido Domingo, Gloria Estefan, Diana Ross, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Rickie Lee Jones, Kenny Loggins, Mark Knopfler, Eddie Murphy, Michael McDonald, James Taylor, and Toots Thielemans, among others. In 2006 Nichols' work was formally recognized by The Recording Academy (Grammys) Producers and Engineers Wing.

In May 2010 Nichols was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He died at his home, surrounded by his family, on April 9, 2011 from the disease.<2> <3> In his subsequent New York Times obituary, Nichols was refered to in the headline as an 'Artist Among Sound Engineers.' <4>

Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 From nuclear operator to recording engineer
* 3 The Steely Dan years
o 3.1 First meeting
o 3.2 Engineering the birth of Steely Dan
o 3.3 Nickname: "The Immortal"
o 3.4 Innovations for 'Countdown to Ecstasy', and 'The hand'
o 3.5 Steely Dan's studio-only years
* 4 Inventions
* 5 Other activities
* 6 Personal life
* 7 Death
* 8 Grammy Awards
* 9 References
* 10 External links

Early life

Roger Nichols was born in Oakland, California. His father was an U.S. Air Force B-47 pilot; as a result the Nichols family lived in various spots in the U.S. for the first eleven years of his life. In 1957 his family settled in Cucamonga, California, where Nichols attended High School. One of his classmates was Frank Zappa; Zappa would drop by Nichols' house to "play guitar, and we would do multiple passes of guitars and bounce them together" on Nichols' first recording device, a reel-to-reel tape deck using quarter inch tape.

He attended Oregon State University where he studied nuclear physics. From 1965 to 1968 he was a nuclear operator at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (aka SONGS).<5><6>

From nuclear operator to recording engineer

Nichols and some friends created their own recording studio, Quantum Studios, in Torrance, California in 1965. The facility originally was a four-car garage; it was converted into a four-track studio to record high school bands. A hi-fi supply store, created as a side business by Nichols and his partners, brought in clients and contacts that led to recording commercials, with future stars Karen Carpenter and Larry Carlton performing on some of the spots; another musician Nichols recorded is this era was the former Mouseketeer Cubby O'Brien, on the drums. Nichols also recorded Kenny Rogers, then with the First Edition; the studio was expanded into a former post office and upgraded to 16 tracks.<5>

Sales of recording equipment and machinery to ABC Records' first recording studio led to a contact with Phil Kaye, who was in charge of the facility. Nichols was hired in 1970 to maintain the equipment and do engineering work with Kaye and Steve Barri. Some of the clients Nichols recorded at this time included John Phillips and Denny Doherty of the Mamas and the Papas, the Grass Roots, and Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds.<5>

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