Interview with Shel Talmy - British Invasion Producer

Shel Talmy is the producer of the Brit Sound!  From The Kinks & The Who to
Bowie & The Easybeats to Nancy Boy.

Anyway I would like to Rewind to your past & then Fast Forward to the
present ! Here goes.....

Geo:  Where did you grow up?  When & why the move to England?

Shel Talmy:  Grew up in Chicago and moved to Los Angeles when I was 15.
England was just supposed to be a short trip, but I wanted to
work a little if I could to make some of the expenses and managed
to BS my way into a producer's job with Decca by listing a bunch
of 'hits' I supposedly did and was told 'you start today!'
By the time they found out it was BS, I had a first big hit and
decided to stay, which lasted for 17 years.

Geo:   Who or what was the influence that brought you to producing?

Shel Talmy:  No real influence.  I was a recording engineer and like any
engineer I've ever met, thought I could produce better than the
guys I was working for, so set out to prove it.

Geo:   What was your first production & at what studio?

Shel Talmy:  My first production was at the original Conway studio in L.A.
where I was an engineer and it was called 'Falling Star' by
Debbie Sharon.  It made some noise but didn't sell.

Geo:   How did it come about that you produced the Kinks?

Shel Talmy:  Being in the right place at the right time.  The Kinks manager
came into a music publisher I was visiting and asked if anybody
would listen to their demo, I volunteered, liked what I heard and
brought them into Pye for a deal.

Geo:   The early signals & L.P.'s  of the Kinks that you produced seemed to
capture that great 'Garage' sound that they never were to produce again. How
did you approach the band in the early days for that kind production?

Shel Talmy:  I guess the answer to that is that's the way 'I' heard them, and
as no two people hear things exactly the same way, 'that' sound
was 'my' sound, never to be re-produced exactly the same way.

Geo:    Did you try for that 'live' first take on most sessions?

Shel Talmy:  I always tried for a first take and sometimes even got it.

Geo:   Do you print slap-back or other effects to tape when cutting a track?

Shel Talmy:  I try not to as would rather add it later, but back when we only
had 3-track, sometimes it was unavoidable.

Geo:   Did you use compression / limiting to tape & if so, was it on vocals,
guitar, bass,drums or all?

Shel Talmy:  No, I only used compression / limiting on the mix.

Geo:   Do you have a typical set up for cutting vocals?

Shel Talmy:  No.  Every vocalist is different and I try to pick a mike and
configuration to fit the voice.

Geo:   How about for recording drums?

Shel Talmy:  I have what I suppose is 'my standard' setup, but it's very
flexible and changes with the drummer and the kit he's using.

Geo:    On the Kinks Pye single 'See My Friends' did you have Ray Davies play a
12 string guitar to get that Indian style drone effect & was it your
arrangement idea?

Shel Talmy:  It was my arrangement idea and the sound was done with a detuned
6-string that was double-tracked.

Geo:   Were most of the Kinks recording's that you've done cut on three track?
Did the Davies brothers ever fight in the studio?

Shel Talmy:  Yes and yes!

Geo:    I just purchased the Deluxe Edition of the Who 'My Generation' on CD.
When I put the CD on I notice a big difference in sound from the Kinks
recordings. How did you approach the Who in production as say to the Kinks.

Shel Talmy:  I'm not sure how to answer that apart from saying that the Kinks
and The Who were entirely different kinds of bands whose music
and playing varied widely and I recorded them like they 'were'
The way I recorded Pentangle and Chad & Jeremy were entirely
different again from the others, so guess I'm trying to say I
tailored recording to the group.

Geo:   With the Who's first L.P.  it seems as if there may have been a direct
signal with the bass along with a mic on the bass amp. Is this a possibility back then?

Shel Talmy:  When I could, I did both mike and DI and mixed the signal.

Geo:   How did you get that feedback section with the 1965 David Bowie single
'You've Got A Habit Of Leaving?'

Shel Talmy:  Just mike techniques, which I experimented a lot with when engineering at
Conway.

Geo:    In 1966 you produced 'Making Time' with The Creation on your new
'Planet' label .  How did this venture start w/ the Creation & how long did
the Planet label last?

Shel Talmy:  Signed Creation after hearing them the first time, they were the
best group to not become super-stars I'd ever heard and still
regret not being able to keep them together.  Planet lasted about
a year and a half and I kiiled the label when I couldn't
renegotiate the onerous distrib contract.

Geo:   I have noticed on some of your productions that you have Nicky Hopkins
& Jimmy Page. Were you the one to hire certain session players for your
records?  And who were the cats you hired to play on records back in the
60's?

Shel Talmy:  I had Nicky on everything and Jimmy was my 'ace in the hole' if
the band guitarist couldn't play well enough.  My favorite session guys were Clem Catini on drums, Herbie Flowers on bass and Tom Parker as arranger/piano.

Geo:   Were you influenced at all by the sounds from Cameo Parkway in
Philadelphia in the early 60's?

Shel Talmy:  No, different genre from the Brit sound.

Geo:    What stands out in a new artist that says yes, I want to produce you.

Shel Talmy:  If I could tell you that I'd bottle it and just sit around making sales.

Geo:    Since you arrange along with production, do you play an instrument?

Shel Talmy:  I play guitar, but not well enough to record myself.

Geo:   In  the early days the studios you have worked in must have been very
cold . How has the studio changed for you today for cutting tracks with
atmosphere as opposed to then?  Do you use Pro Tools?

Shel Talmy:  Why do you assume the studios were 'cold?'  They varied as much
then as now, some were great and some I wouldn't use, same
applies today. I'll use anything that will help a recording whether it's analog
or digital, including Pro Tools when appropriate.

Geo:    Where are you working out of now  (location & studio)?

Shel Talmy:  I still use a lot of different studios and use Cherokee in L.A. a lot.

Geo:    What is next for you?

Shel Talmy:  As long as it's 'music', I'm open to offers!

The Creation - Planet Records - A Shel Talmy production
 

Thank you Shel for sharing your time & expertise.

Visit Shel at  Shel Talmy Productions:  http://www.sheltalmy.com/

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