Listen Up!

April 1, 2019

Producer, mixer, and engineer Mark Howard has had a storied career recording some of the great musical artists of our time, from Bob Dylan to Tom Waites to R.E.M. Thankfully his diligence and attention to detail have served him well in recording memories as well as music. When Howard left school in the ninth grade, his guidance counselor told him he'd end up in prison. Instead he became a Grammy-winning producer, and his memoir, cowritten with his brother, painter and author Chris Howard, is an education in itself. Howard is a brilliant, driven producer, and although he recounts plenty of entertaining tales about the habits and eccentricities of some of the most successful musicians of the last 30 years, his accounts of the studios he's created, his methods of drawing out the best from the artists he's recorded, and the minutiae of the instruments and recording systems with which he works are just as captivating. Like the perfect album side, this is one of those books readers can't put down, and Howard has perfectly calculated the effect to linger after the last note has ended. VERDICT This title, like much of Howard's recorded work, sets the perfect tone. Highly recommended for music lovers.--Bill Baars, formerly with Lake Oswego P.L., OR

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