Beatles sound engineer Norman Smith dies at 85.

Beatles sound engineer Norman Smith dies at 85.

Norman Smith, sound engineer extraordinaire, who worked on all the studio recordings the Beatles did between ’62 and ’65 until EMI promoted him to producer, has passed away at the age of 85. The last Beatles album he

 recorded was Rubber Soul, and Smith engineered the sound for approximately 180 Beatles songs in total.

His first session with the band was at Abbey Road, and he was nicknamed “Norman Norman” by Lennon. Once promoted to producer, he said he signed Pink Floyd after being impressed by their stage presentation at one of their gigs.

“I can’t in all honesty say that the music meant anything at all to me,” he later recalled. “In fact, I could barely call it music.”A mood creation through sound is the best way that I could describe Floyd.” He produced 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.

Under the recording artist pseudonym “Hurricane Smith” he had a UK hit with “Don’t Let It Die”. In 1972, he enjoyed a transatlantic hit with “Oh Babe What Would You Say?”, which became a U.S. # 1 Cashbox hit. Some minor hits followed, like “My Mother Was Her Name” (1972), “Beautiful Day, Beautiful Night” (1973) and “To Make You My Baby” (1974). However, his subsequent attempts at producing successful recordings proved elusive.

He also recorded an instrumental track entitled ‘Theme From an Unmade Silent Movie’ which the West Midlands-based radio presenter Tony Butler adopted as his theme music.

His record label EMI described him as “a legendary figure in the history of EMI and British music”.

“We were very saddened to hear of his passing away, and our thoughts and condolences go out to his family at this time,” the statement said.

Smith, born in Edmonton, North London, died on 3 March.