WEBVTT - From Robert Margouleff | Shaping Sounds: Stevie Wonder, DEVO, the Synth Revolution and My Life Behind the Music

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<v Speaker 1>Pushkin. I hope you enjoyed our episode with iconic music

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<v Speaker 1>producer and engineer and author of the new audiobook Shaping

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<v Speaker 1>Sounds Stevie Wonder devo the Synth Revolution in My Life

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<v Speaker 1>Behind the Music, Robert mark Lev If you haven't heard

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<v Speaker 1>it yet, be sure to check it out. Today I'm

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<v Speaker 1>sharing an excerpt from Shaping Sounds. Robert talks about working

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<v Speaker 1>alongside not only Stevie Wonder on his classic albums, but

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<v Speaker 1>with artists like Minnie Riperton on our hit Loving You

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<v Speaker 1>and the Isisley Brothers on their three plus three album,

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<v Speaker 1>which brought together incredible guitar leads and smooth vocals to

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<v Speaker 1>blend old in new school R and B. Here's the clip,

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<v Speaker 1>but if you want to hear more, check out Shaping Sounds.

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<v Speaker 1>Stevie want to devo the Synth Revolution in My Life

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<v Speaker 1>Behind the Music. Wherever you get audio books, you can

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<v Speaker 1>use the code Sounds twenty five. That's so o U

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<v Speaker 1>n DS two five at pushkin dot fm slash Shaping

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<v Speaker 1>Sounds to save twenty five percent on the audiobook. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening.

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<v Speaker 2>Chapter thirteen our non stop studio. While we were with

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<v Speaker 2>Stevie Besides working on his own albums. We worked alongside him,

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<v Speaker 2>continuing as a team on two albums he produced, one

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<v Speaker 2>for his ex wife, Sita Wright, the other for Minnie Riperton.

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<v Speaker 2>Sorita Wright was a receptionist at the Motown offices in

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<v Speaker 2>Detroit when Edward Holland of the Holland Dozier Holland songwriting

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<v Speaker 2>team heard her singing and was impressed enough that he

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<v Speaker 2>had her sing on some demos. She met Stevie in

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen sixty eight and they began dating about a year later.

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<v Speaker 2>Their relationship was both personal and professional. Stevie encouraged her

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<v Speaker 2>to write her own songs, and the two collaborated on

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<v Speaker 2>his hit signed Seal Delivered I'm Yours. They married on

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<v Speaker 2>September fourteenth, nineteen seventy, and although they divorced only eighteen

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<v Speaker 2>months later, they remained good friends and collaborators. We worked

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<v Speaker 2>on Sorita's debut solo album, Serta, released on June twentieth,

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen seventy two, as I recollect. Part of the divorce

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<v Speaker 2>settlement was that Stevie would produce an album for her.

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<v Speaker 2>They worked amazingly well together and she remained an important

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<v Speaker 2>part of his team. Providing lyrics, background vocals and compositions

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<v Speaker 2>for several years. Yvonne Wright, no relation to Serrita, was

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<v Speaker 2>another important collaborator. She wrote the lyrics to Girl Blue

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<v Speaker 2>and Evil. She would sit next to him at the

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<v Speaker 2>piano while he was recording and whisper or lining to

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<v Speaker 2>him a few bars ahead as he was playing and singing.

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<v Speaker 2>He was very tight with her. Music of My Mind

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<v Speaker 2>Ends with Evil, a simple and incisive piece of social

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<v Speaker 2>commentary that opened the door to our collective consciousness. Evil,

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<v Speaker 2>Stevie asks, exasperated, why have you engulfed so many hearts?

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<v Speaker 2>Why have you destroyed so many minds? The lyrics ring

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<v Speaker 2>true to this day and musically it has a fantastic

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<v Speaker 2>opening tanto front and center, with a nobo sound and

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<v Speaker 2>a foreboding bass. The sound is simple, singular, sad and compelling.

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<v Speaker 2>We first met Minnie Riperton when she came to the

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<v Speaker 2>Fulfillingness Sessions to add background vocals. We were so impressed that,

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<v Speaker 2>even though we were in the thick of it with

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<v Speaker 2>our own project, it didn't matter. Malcolm, Stevie and I

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<v Speaker 2>all jumped at the chance to work with her. When

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<v Speaker 2>her husband and songwriting partner Dick Rudolph asked us to

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<v Speaker 2>help make her second record, Perfect Angel. I remember putting

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<v Speaker 2>the bird sounds on her song Loving You, which were

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<v Speaker 2>reminiscent of the sound effects we used with Stevie on

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<v Speaker 2>Living for the City. Minnie had an extraordinary voice, especially

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<v Speaker 2>in her false register. It was totally under her control

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<v Speaker 2>and its clarity was astounding. Loving You became Ripurton's biggest

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<v Speaker 2>hit and topped the Billboard Hot one hundred chart on

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<v Speaker 2>April fifth, nineteen seventy five. It went on to sell

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<v Speaker 2>over a million copies. We recorded most of the album

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<v Speaker 2>at the Record planned LA and mixed it at Westlake Audio,

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<v Speaker 2>Tom Hidley's new place. We went there because it had

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<v Speaker 2>the first API console with fader automation, and we tracked

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<v Speaker 2>many of Many's vocals in the control room with all

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<v Speaker 2>of us on headphones. Tom had built Westlake as a

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<v Speaker 2>showroom to sell the latest studio gear. He used the

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<v Speaker 2>control room in the back to demo whose studio design concepts,

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<v Speaker 2>the latest and recording consoles and all the new gear

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<v Speaker 2>coming to market. It wasn't really a studio, just a

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<v Speaker 2>control room. The store in the front was the showroom

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<v Speaker 2>and it gave us access to all the latest outboard

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<v Speaker 2>gear in the industry. We came our lounge during our

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<v Speaker 2>nighttime sessions. Sometimes we would sit on the floor up front,

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<v Speaker 2>leaning against all these new racks of gear with its

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<v Speaker 2>pistachio and brown shag carpeting, eating pizza or a bucket

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<v Speaker 2>of Kentucky fried chicken. The API console only remembered fader levels.

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<v Speaker 2>The rest was done in real time. As usual, the

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<v Speaker 2>memory was stored on the first and last tracks of

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<v Speaker 2>the master tape, so every time we made an update,

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<v Speaker 2>we would have to jockey back and forth printing the

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<v Speaker 2>update on the alternate track, which caused the fader moves

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<v Speaker 2>to come back later and later and was overly complicated.

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<v Speaker 2>So Malcolm and I would make as many moves as

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<v Speaker 2>possible and use the automation as little as possible. In

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<v Speaker 2>the end, we were happy with the record. Once again,

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<v Speaker 2>using the latest and greatest technology fed our creative spirit.

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<v Speaker 2>While we were working with Stevie on his project, there

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<v Speaker 2>was little room or desire to work with anyone else.

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<v Speaker 2>There were down times, though, especially when Stevie was on

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<v Speaker 2>the road. That's when Malcolm and I kept busy working

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<v Speaker 2>on albums with other artists. We recorded The Isley Brothers

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<v Speaker 2>three plus three in nineteen seventy three while Stevie was

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<v Speaker 2>touring and promoting Inner Visions. The Isleys were a true

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<v Speaker 2>family affair. The original Isley Brothers consisted of O'Kelly Issley Junior,

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<v Speaker 2>Rudolph Issley and Ronald Eisley. Three plus three would be

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<v Speaker 2>the first album to formerly include the younger brothers Ernie

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<v Speaker 2>on guitar and Marvin on bass, and brother in law

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<v Speaker 2>Chris Jasper on keyboards. The original trio officially became a sextet,

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<v Speaker 2>hence the album title. It was both old school and

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<v Speaker 2>new school. Laur and B with Ronald's incomparable smooth lead

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<v Speaker 2>vocals and Ernie's hardage guitar leads. Chris and Marvin brought

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<v Speaker 2>new funk rock entersery to the band, and the combination

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<v Speaker 2>proved to be a significant artistic advance for them. Our

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<v Speaker 2>first meeting came when they walked in on us while

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<v Speaker 2>we were mixing Don't You Worry About a Thing? With Stevie.

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<v Speaker 2>We already knew about them and figured out pretty quickly

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<v Speaker 2>what they had in mind, which was precisely what we

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<v Speaker 2>had on our table. As usual, we had a lockout

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<v Speaker 2>in Studio B to ensure our setup remained intact. We

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<v Speaker 2>would arrive early in the afternoon and prepare the room

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<v Speaker 2>for work. Once again. We tracked the basics with quad

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<v Speaker 2>monitoring and the players in the control room. The guys

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<v Speaker 2>would usually arrive an hour or so after us and

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<v Speaker 2>get started right away. There was no dilly dallying around

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<v Speaker 2>the canteen. They were always very single minded and down

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<v Speaker 2>to business. They came in well prepared, having played and

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<v Speaker 2>perfected all the songs in rehearsal or on the road.

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<v Speaker 2>Ronald's lead vocals were terrific. He was at the top

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<v Speaker 2>of his form and we could feel his gospel roots.

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<v Speaker 2>We used an RI twenty mic in the same close

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<v Speaker 2>confessional approach we deployed for Stevie's vocals. Working with Ernie

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<v Speaker 2>on guitars was a sonic adventure. He regaled us with

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<v Speaker 2>tales of Howe as a little boy, he played guitar

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<v Speaker 2>with Jimmy Hendrix in the family's kitchen. Jimmy was there

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<v Speaker 2>because the senior Isisley's had recruited Jimmy to play in

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<v Speaker 2>their backup band in the early sixties. We developed a

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<v Speaker 2>very original sound for Ernie's lead guitar parts. We recorded

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<v Speaker 2>a ZAM through a Dolby three sixty one noise reduction unit,

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<v Speaker 2>but didn't decode the signal. We left it raw and

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<v Speaker 2>then compressed it with a flickin' er tube limiter. You

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<v Speaker 2>can hear the results of our labor on the guitar

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<v Speaker 2>leads on Who's that Lady in Summer Breeze, among others

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<v Speaker 2>on the record. The rest of the tracking was very straightforward,

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<v Speaker 2>with our traditional approach being tight and close, with the

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<v Speaker 2>drums recorded from the drummer's point of view. Marvin Space

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<v Speaker 2>was recorded direct to the board, as were all of

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<v Speaker 2>Chris's electronics, scents and keys. There was z improv experimenting with

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<v Speaker 2>percussion and figuring out the background vocal arrangements in the studio.

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<v Speaker 2>O'Kelly and Rudolph, along with the rest of the guys,

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<v Speaker 2>sang the background vocal parts. They also oversaw all the business,

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<v Speaker 2>financials and logistics. O'kelly's one eccentricity was that he had

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<v Speaker 2>very long fingernails, at least two or three inches long

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<v Speaker 2>on his left hand. Rudy ran the show both on

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<v Speaker 2>and off the road. He made sure everybody got to

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<v Speaker 2>the studio on time. If any of the brothers were late,

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<v Speaker 2>they would hear it from him and it wouldn't be pleasant.

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<v Speaker 2>They were a very professional, well oiled machine. We never

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<v Speaker 2>connected outside the studio. It was all strictly business. Malcolm

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<v Speaker 2>and I had the feeling that in their eyes we

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<v Speaker 2>were like the studio itself, simply tools to be used.

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<v Speaker 2>They wanted what Malcolm and I could do to enhance

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<v Speaker 2>their sound by bringing in new techniques and technologies to

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<v Speaker 2>the album. We were there strictly to serve those needs,

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<v Speaker 2>which was totally fine with us. When we finished, O'Kelly

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<v Speaker 2>brought in a briefcase with a stack of one hundred

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<v Speaker 2>dollars bills and paid our twelve thousand dollars fee in cash.

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<v Speaker 2>A year later, when Stevie was on the road once again,

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<v Speaker 2>we recorded a second album with the Oisley Brothers. The

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<v Speaker 2>Heat Is On continued with three play us three left

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<v Speaker 2>off with the same lineup. By now, the Isleys had

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<v Speaker 2>found their pocket and perfected their soul funk sound. Malcolm

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<v Speaker 2>and I felt like we had never left the studio,

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<v Speaker 2>as if we'd recorded three plus three the day before.

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<v Speaker 2>The big difference was that we tracked the record at

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<v Speaker 2>Kendon Recorders in the San Fernando Valley on the other

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<v Speaker 2>side of the Santa Monica Mountains from Hollywood and the

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<v Speaker 2>record plant. It was another Tom Hidley design and the

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<v Speaker 2>console was an API with custom Dean Jensen transformers. We

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<v Speaker 2>felt right at home. We mixed the album at Tom's

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<v Speaker 2>Westlake Audio. The Heat Is On was unusual because all

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<v Speaker 2>the uptempo funk was on side one and the smooth

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<v Speaker 2>ballads were on side two, which helped it set a

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<v Speaker 2>certain mood. It first charted on June fourteenth, nineteen seventy five,

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<v Speaker 2>and spent forty weeks on the Billboard two hundred. It

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<v Speaker 2>was the Isley Brothers first album to hit number one

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<v Speaker 2>once again. When we were done, O'Kelly showed up with

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<v Speaker 2>his famous briefcase and paid us in cash. We never

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<v Speaker 2>saw or heard from them again.