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Al Schmitt, record producer and engineer celebrated for his work with such varied artists as Frank Sinatra and Steely Dan – obituary

Al Schmitt in 2010 - Maury Phillips/WireImage
Al Schmitt in 2010 - Maury Phillips/WireImage

Al Schmitt, who has died aged 91, was an American record producer and recording engineer who in a career spanning more than 70 years worked with artists as various as Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and Jefferson Airplane, and who won a record 20 Grammy Awards, for his work with Henry Mancini, Steely Dan, George Benson, Toto and Quincy Jones, making him the most honoured recording engineer of all time.

Schmitt’s calm, equable temperament and gentlemanly demeanour combined with his expertise at the mixing desk made him one of the most in-demand engineers in the recording business, working with a huge array of performers across a variety of styles.

Among the hundreds of albums he engineered or mixed were George Benson’s In Flight (1977), Natalie Cole’s Unforgettable: With Love (1991), in which he pioneered the art of pairing vocals from different eras, combining Natalie Cole’s vocals with those of her late father, Nat “King” Cole, which had been recorded in 1952, and Frank Sinatra’s Duets (1993). All told, Schmitt recorded and mixed more than 150 gold and platinum albums.

Albert Harry Schmitt was born on April 17 1930 in New York. His uncle was the recording engineer Harry Smith, who had opened the first independent recording studio on the East Coast, and from the age of eight Schmitt would ride the subway himself from his family home in Brooklyn to Manhattan, where anyone from Frank Sinatra to the Andrews Sisters might be in session.

After serving in the US Navy, at the age of 19, on a recommendation from his uncle, he began working at Apex Recording Studios as an apprentice to Tom Dowd, who would go on to record albums by artists including Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton and Willie Nelson. One of Schmitt’s earliest jobs was assisting on a session with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Due to an oversight he was the only person from the studio who turned up for the session, meaning he would have to do it himself.

He recalled how he told the bandleader: “Mr Ellington, I’m not qualified to do this. Duke Ellington sat next to me, he looked into my eyes, and he just knew I was ready to die. And so he patted my knee, smiled at me, and said: “Don’t worry son, we’re gonna get through this”.’

After Bathing at Baxter's, by Jefferson Airplane, took five and a half months to record: 'I had never been in the studio for more than two weeks on an album,' Schmitt recalled
After Bathing at Baxter's, by Jefferson Airplane, took five and a half months to record: 'I had never been in the studio for more than two weeks on an album,' Schmitt recalled

In 1958 Schmitt moved to Los Angeles and became a staff engineer at Radio Recorders. His first break came when there was an argument between the producer and engineer during the recording sessions for Henry Mancini’s The Music From Peter Gunn. Schmitt stepped in to complete the album, going on to work with Mancini on numerous projects, including Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Hatari!

Musicians would be on strict union-enforced hours, invigilated by a union official at the studio. Schmitt recalled: “We would get the final take [of a track] about two or three minutes before 11, and we’d say: ‘OK, Hank. That’s it, man. It’s great. We’ve got it. Hank would say, “No. I heard a little thing over here. We have to do it once more.’ He would do one more [take] and all of the guys got a half-hour over time. He did that on every session. It was his way of thanking the musicians. They loved him for that.”

In 1963 Schmitt became the first engineer hired at RCA’s new Hollywood studios, where he engineered albums for Mancini, Cal Tjader and Rosemary Clooney, and recordings for Sam Cooke including Bring It On Home to Me and Another Saturday Night.

Natalie Cole's Unforgettable: With Love won Schmitt one of his record 20 Grammys  - DWD-Media/Alamy 
Natalie Cole's Unforgettable: With Love won Schmitt one of his record 20 Grammys - DWD-Media/Alamy

In 1965 he produced Cooke’s hit Shake, but matters came to a head when he found himself working with the crooner Eddie Fisher from 2-5 in the afternoon, and with the psychedelic group Jefferson Airplane from 8pm until four the next morning. When he complained to Ernie Altschuler, RCA’s head of A&R, about the unreasonable hours, Altschuler said: “Well, truck drivers do it.” Schmitt replied: “Ernie, get yourself a couple of truck drivers. I quit.”

He became an independent producer; his first clients were Jefferson Airplane. Altogether he produced four albums with the group, including Volunteers and After Bathing at Baxter’s. Asked to compare working with Fisher and the Airplane Schmitt said: “I learnt a lot from both of them,” although the latter indulged in marijuana and cocaine and kept a tank of nitrous oxide in the studio. “After Bathing at Baxter’s took five and a half months to do,” he recalled. “I had never been in the studio for more than two weeks on an album. To produce something that took that long was crazy.”

On the Beach by Neil Young was one of Schmitt's last production jobs before he returned to engineering  - Granamour Weems Collection/Alamy
On the Beach by Neil Young was one of Schmitt's last production jobs before he returned to engineering - Granamour Weems Collection/Alamy

Schmitt went on to produce and co-produce albums including Jackson Browne’s Late For the Sky and Neil Young’s On the Beach, before phasing out production and returning to engineering.

In a career spanning one-track mono recordings, multitrack mixing desks and the advent of auto-tune to “perfect” a singer’s voice, Schmitt was able to talk authoritatively about changes in recording practices – and vocal talent. He lamented the absence of craft and the microphone technique of singers like Rosemary Clooney and Ella Fitzgerald. Taylor Swift, he said in an interview in 2009, is “a lovely young lady, and a reasonably good songwriter. But she’s not a good singer. Years ago, I don’t know if she would have been signed. The people signed in those days all could sing. They were all in tune. Nobody tuned Frank Sinatra, Nat Cole, Peggy Lee or any of the others.”

Schmitt’s last two Grammy awards came for working with Paul McCartney, on his album of standards, Kisses on the Bottom (2012) and its video sequel Live Kisses (2013). In 2014 he worked on Shadows In the Night, Bob Dylan’s album of songs made popular by Frank Sinatra, and the following year he became the only recording engineer to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Schmitt was in the studio to the end of his life. In 2020 he worked with Diana Krall on This Dream of You, and aged 89 engineered and mixed 86-year-old Willie Nelson’s tribute album to Sinatra, That’s Life, released in 2021.

He was a hugely respected and popular figure in the industry, and his parting words at any speaking engagement were: “Please be kind to all living things.”

Al Schmitt, who was married twice, is survived by his second wife Lisa and by five children.

Al Schmitt, born April 17 1930, died April 26 2021