Jack Richardson
record producer, sonic pioneer | 1929 - 2011
BornJuly 23, 1929 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DiedMay 13, 2011 in London, Ontario, Canada
Biographyby Greig Dymond
Before Jack Richardson arrived on the scene, homegrown rock ’n’ roll was decidedly parochial. Canadian bands rarely played south of the 49th parallel and seldom made Top 40 charts outside of their country. Richardson’s ambitious, chart-friendly recordings with The Guess Who in the late 1960s overturned those rules. By pairing a confident producing style with first-rate technology, Richardson thrust Canadian music on to the global stage and became arguably the most influential producer in the early days of Canadian rock.
IN DEPTH
Jack Richardson cut his teeth in the big-band era. In the 1950s, he played stand-up bass for Billy O’Connor, a jazz singer who appeared regularly on CBC television. But when the popularity of large-scale orchestras began to wane, Richardson found an entirely new gig: He became an ad man.
As an executive at McCann-Erickson in Toronto, Richardson worked on the youth-friendly Coca-Cola Canada account. He urged his client to use local musicians to record their jingles and began marketing homegrown bands as a way to sell more soft drinks. As part of Richardson’s plan, kids could mail in a dollar and 10 Coca-Cola bottle caps in exchange for an LP featuring up-and-coming artists.
Jack Richardson single-handedly raised the bar for contemporary recording in Canada at a time when we were fairly insular.—producer Bob Ezrin
In 1967, Richardson approached The Guess Who, then a struggling group from Winnipeg, to appear on one such album. The band had just returned from a disastrous tour of the U.K. and was on the verge of breaking up. With nothing to lose, they laid down tracks for one side of the LP. (An Ottawa outfit called The Staccatos recorded the flip side.) The final product, A Wild Pair, was a blockbuster, selling a remarkable 85,000 copies (though according to some estimates, that number may be closer to 150,000). With that record, Richardson proved he had an innate sense of which hooks would prove irresistible on AM radio and how to arrange The Guess Who’s music. It was the start of a formidable creative union.
When it came to The Guess Who, Richardson’s faith was unwavering. He left McCann-Erickson to create Nimbus 9 Productions, taking a crucial risk that changed the course of Canadian music. Richardson applied for a second mortgage on his suburban Toronto home to finance the recording of a full Guess Who album in a state-of-the-art, eight-track studio in New York City. The sessions for Wheatfield Soul took place over five days in September 1968, and spawned the band’s first North American chart success, “These Eyes.” In rapid succession, Richardson and the band rolled out “Laughing,” “Undun,” “No Time” and “American Woman,” which became the first number one single by a Canadian rock band on the Billboard Top 100.
Word spread about the commanding presence known as Jack the Bear. In 1971, Richardson and his protégé, Bob Ezrin, co-produced Love It To Death for Alice Cooper, the shock-rocker’s first mainstream hit. The following year, Richardson used the spoils of his success to launch his own world-class recording facility in Toronto. At Nimbus 9 Soundstage Recording Studio, he produced “Night Moves” for Bob Seger, many other Guess Who albums and records for Poco, Badfinger, Kim Mitchell and Rough Trade.
“Jack was a great teacher,” recalls Ezrin, who went on to work with Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel and Lou Reed. “He single-handedly raised the bar for contemporary recording in Canada at a time when we were fairly insular. He brought all the best practices and technology back home from around the world.”
The Bear’s legacy was furthered in other ways. Richardson became a professor in the Music Industry Arts program at Fanshawe College in London, Ont. until his retirement from teaching in 2007. His son, Garth, is a sound engineer and producer who has collaborated with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nickelback, and Rage Against the Machine. Today, the JUNO Award for best producer is known simply by another name: the Jack Richardson Award.
Before Jack Richardson arrived on the scene, homegrown rock ’n’ roll was decidedly parochial. Canadian bands rarely played south of the 49th parallel and seldom made Top 40 charts outside of their country. Richardson’s ambitious, chart-friendly recordings with The Guess Who in the late 1960s overturned those rules. By pairing a confident producing style with first-rate technology, Richardson thrust Canadian music on to the global stage and became arguably the most influential producer in the early days of Canadian rock.
IN DEPTH
Jack Richardson cut his teeth in the big-band era. In the 1950s, he played stand-up bass for Billy O’Connor, a jazz singer who appeared regularly on CBC television. But when the popularity of large-scale orchestras began to wane, Richardson found an entirely new gig: He became an ad man.
As an executive at McCann-Erickson in Toronto, Richardson worked on the youth-friendly Coca-Cola Canada account. He urged his client to use local musicians to record their jingles and began marketing homegrown bands as a way to sell more soft drinks. As part of Richardson’s plan, kids could mail in a dollar and 10 Coca-Cola bottle caps in exchange for an LP featuring up-and-coming artists.
Jack Richardson single-handedly raised the bar for contemporary recording in Canada at a time when we were fairly insular.—producer Bob Ezrin
In 1967, Richardson approached The Guess Who, then a struggling group from Winnipeg, to appear on one such album. The band had just returned from a disastrous tour of the U.K. and was on the verge of breaking up. With nothing to lose, they laid down tracks for one side of the LP. (An Ottawa outfit called The Staccatos recorded the flip side.) The final product, A Wild Pair, was a blockbuster, selling a remarkable 85,000 copies (though according to some estimates, that number may be closer to 150,000). With that record, Richardson proved he had an innate sense of which hooks would prove irresistible on AM radio and how to arrange The Guess Who’s music. It was the start of a formidable creative union.
When it came to The Guess Who, Richardson’s faith was unwavering. He left McCann-Erickson to create Nimbus 9 Productions, taking a crucial risk that changed the course of Canadian music. Richardson applied for a second mortgage on his suburban Toronto home to finance the recording of a full Guess Who album in a state-of-the-art, eight-track studio in New York City. The sessions for Wheatfield Soul took place over five days in September 1968, and spawned the band’s first North American chart success, “These Eyes.” In rapid succession, Richardson and the band rolled out “Laughing,” “Undun,” “No Time” and “American Woman,” which became the first number one single by a Canadian rock band on the Billboard Top 100.
Word spread about the commanding presence known as Jack the Bear. In 1971, Richardson and his protégé, Bob Ezrin, co-produced Love It To Death for Alice Cooper, the shock-rocker’s first mainstream hit. The following year, Richardson used the spoils of his success to launch his own world-class recording facility in Toronto. At Nimbus 9 Soundstage Recording Studio, he produced “Night Moves” for Bob Seger, many other Guess Who albums and records for Poco, Badfinger, Kim Mitchell and Rough Trade.
“Jack was a great teacher,” recalls Ezrin, who went on to work with Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel and Lou Reed. “He single-handedly raised the bar for contemporary recording in Canada at a time when we were fairly insular. He brought all the best practices and technology back home from around the world.”
The Bear’s legacy was furthered in other ways. Richardson became a professor in the Music Industry Arts program at Fanshawe College in London, Ont. until his retirement from teaching in 2007. His son, Garth, is a sound engineer and producer who has collaborated with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nickelback, and Rage Against the Machine. Today, the JUNO Award for best producer is known simply by another name: the Jack Richardson Award.
amplifier-maker, electronic engineer, musician | 1921 - 2006
