Norman Smith
Norman “Hurricane” Smith (22 February 1923 – 3 March 2008) was an English musician, record producer and engineer.
He was the engineer on all of the EMI studio recordings by the Beatles until 1965, when EMI promoted him from engineer to producer. The last Beatles album he recorded was Rubber Soul, and Smith engineered the sound for almost 100 Beatles songs in total.
John Lennon first bestowed upon Smith the nickname of “Normal”, and it was quickly picked up by the other Beatles. Lennon did so as a humorous reference to Smith’s very unhurried and unflappable nature.
While working with The Beatles on 17 June 1965, he was offered £15,000 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, second, and fourth 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.
He produced early recordings by Barclay James Harvest, including their album Once Again, and many years later was name-checked in John Lees‘ song “John Lennon’s Guitar”.
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