Paul McCartney honors Emerick: Geoff was the ONE!

Paul McCartney has honored former Beatles-engineer Geoff Emerick, who passed away today. Geoff Emerick was 72 and believed to have suffered a heart attack. McCartney and Emerick had a lifelong relationship, after the Beatles break-up they continued working together. In a statement on social media McCartney said:

Woke up this morning to the sad news of Geoff Emerick’s passing. He was a great engineer and friend, and even though The Beatles had many great engineers over the years, Geoff was the ONE. He was smart, fun-loving and the genius behind many of the great sounds on our records. I worked with him after The Beatles and it was always fun and the sounds he managed to conjure up were always special. Having seen him earlier this year when he came round to our studio, I’m shocked and saddened to have lost such a special friend. God bless you Geoffrey – love Paul x

pic.twitter.com/RnqVlISLLs

— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) 3 oktober 2018

Emerick began working as an assistant engineer at EMI at the age of 15. On his second day of work at EMI, Emerick was lucky enough to witness the first-ever EMI recording session by the finalized line-up of the Beatles in 1962, during which the group recorded for the first time with new drummer Ringo Starr on what would eventually become their first hit single "Love Me Do".



At the request of producer George Martin, Emerick became the Beatles' chief engineer when the band started to work on the album Revolver. "Tomorrow Never Knows" was the first track recorded for these sessions and the first that he worked on. In 1967, Emerick engineered "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!", one of the most musically complex songs on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and co-created the "carnival atmosphere" of the circus poster that inspired the song.

Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Geoff Emerick, who has sadly passed. Geoff’s work as audio engineer on their music was integral, resulting in multiple highly deserved Grammy Awards. pic.twitter.com/PWKO5i2EIc

— The Beatles (@thebeatles) 3 oktober 2018

Emerick stopped working for The Beatles during the White Album-sessions in the summer of 1968, fed up with the tensions within the band. Despite his departure from the White Album sessions, Emerick remained on good terms with the Beatles and he returned to work with them on Abbey Road. Emerick received Grammy Awards for the engineering of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road.



Following the Beatles' break-up in 1970, Emerick continued to work with Paul McCartney. He was recording engineer on his album Band on the Run (1973), with which he won another Grammy. He also collaborate with McCartney on albums such as London Town (1978), Tug of War (1982), Pipes of Peace (1983) and Flaming Pie (1997). 
Emerick also worked on albums by Elvis Costello, Badfinger, Supertramp, Cheap Trick, Split Enz, and Big Country. He also contributed to Kate Bush's demo tape to EMI, which lead to her record deal.

Geoff Emerick helped transform music recording with his creative flair, innovation and passion, playing a paramount part not only in Abbey Road Studios' own history, but in music history itself. Discover the fascinating story of Geoff Emerick: https://t.co/yKUQnwsVYs pic.twitter.com/QNuCVDCyiY

— Abbey Road Studios (@AbbeyRoad) October 3, 2018

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André Homan

André Homan is a Dutch writer and journalist.

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