Roy Halee |
Born |
Roy Decker Halee
1934 (age 89–90)
Long Island, New York |
Residence |
Boulder, Colorado [1]
Stuart, Florida [2] |
Nationality |
American |
Occupation |
record producer and audio engineer |
Known for |
recording engineer for Simon and Garfunkel |
Children |
Roy Halee, Jr.[3] |
Parent(s) |
Roy Halee (father) |
Roy Halee is an American record producer and engineer, best known for working with Simon and Garfunkel.
Early life
He grew up on Long Island, New York. His father, also named Roy Halee, provided the singing voice for Mighty Mouse in late 1940s Terrytoons cartoons, as well as the voices of Heckle and Jeckle from 1951 through 1961.
Career
Halee started working as a cameraman for CBS Television in the 1950s. He was also studying to be a classical trumpet player.[2]
He became an audio engineer for CBS Television, working on many shows and the top rated The $64,000 Question TV quiz show.[2]
As television shows moved to the West Coast, he lost his job in a union dispute and layoff at CBS Television. He went to work for Columbia Records in New York as an editor and later as a studio engineer, working with Bob Dylan, including the first long-format radio single, "Like a Rolling Stone".[4]
After working with the Lovin' Spoonful, the Dave Clark Five and the Yardbirds, he began his partnership with Simon and Garfunkel.[4] He has also worked with other groups such as the Byrds, Journey (on their first album Journey), Willie Nile, Laura Nyro, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Blue Angel. Halee was named to the TEC Awards Hall of Fame in 2001.
Simon & Garfunkel
Halee discovered that the uniqueness of Simon & Garfunkel harmonies could only be achieved by recording both voices on the same microphone at the same time. That technique did well, as the song "Mrs. Robinson", from the 1968 album The Graduate, won him a Grammy Award.[4]
Three more Grammy Awards followed in 1970 for his work on the album Bookends and the song "Bridge Over Troubled Water".[4]
He was best known for producing several albums with Simon & Garfunkel. He is mentioned in their 1965 song "A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)", written by Paul Simon. He also co-produced Simon's first solo album after the Simon & Garfunkel years and went together with Simon to South Africa in 1985 to record something new that "wasn't written yet, we were going with nothing, so it was a gamble. A lot of people thought we were nuts", Halee says. It led to the Grammy Award-winning album Graceland. "I was having a ball recording these guys. For a guy from my background, everything was so organised generally. Here in the rawness of this, the earthiness, I was in seventh heaven."[5] After Graceland, Roy Halee continued travelling with Simon as an engineer, this time to Brazil and West Africa, which resulted in the album The Rhythm of the Saints, with "all congas, bass drums, bata...everything imaginable.[6]"
Personal life
His son, Roy Halee, Jr., is a post-production mixer for the CBS television program 60 Minutes in New York City.[3]
References
- ↑ Buskin, Richard, "Paul Simon 'You Can Call Me Al' : Classic Tracks", Sound on Sound magazine, September 2008
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Jackson, Blair, "Interview: Roy Halee", Mix magazine, October 1, 2001
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Vilkomerson, Sara, "Countdown to Bliss: Roy Halee Jr. and Yvonne Miller", The New York Observer, April 4, 2005
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Mix Foundation. 2001 Hall of Fame Inductee Roy Halee
- ↑ Marre, J., (Documentary, ISIS Productions/Daniel Television/Paul Simon 1997)
- ↑ Luftig, S., The Paul Simon Companion, Four Decades of Commentary, pp. 197–198 (Biography, Schirmer Books/Omnibus Press New York, 1997)
External links
|
1958−1979 |
- "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)" by Domenico Modugno (1958)
- "Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin (1959)
- "Theme from A Summer Place" by Percy Faith (1960)
- "Moon River" by Henry Mancini (1961)
- "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" by Tony Bennett (1962)
- "Days of Wine and Roses" by Henry Mancini (1963)
- "The Girl from Ipanema" by Astrud Gilberto & Stan Getz (1964)
- "A Taste of Honey" by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (1965)
- "Strangers in the Night" by Frank Sinatra (1966)
- "Up, Up and Away" by The 5th Dimension (Billy Davis Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamonte McLemore & Ron Townson) (1967)
- "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon & Garfunkel (Art Garfunkel & Paul Simon) (1968)
- "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" by The 5th Dimension (Billy Davis Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamonte McLemore & Ron Townson) (1969)
- "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel (Art Garfunkel & Paul Simon) (1970)
- "It's Too Late" by Carole King (1971)
- "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack (1972)
- "Killing Me Softly with His Song" by Roberta Flack (1973)
- "I Honestly Love You" by Olivia Newton-John (1974)
- "Love Will Keep Us Together" by Captain & Tennille (Daryl Dragon & Toni Tennille) (1975)
- "This Masquerade" by George Benson (1976)
- "Hotel California" by Eagles (Don Felder, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner & Joe Walsh) (1977)
- "Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel (1978)
- "What a Fool Believes" by The Doobie Brothers (Jeffrey Baxter, John Hartman, Keith Knudsen, Michael McDonald, Tiran Porter & Patrick Simmons) (1979)
|
1980−1999 |
- "Sailing" by Christopher Cross (1980)
- "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes (1981)
- "Rosanna" by Toto (David Hungate, Bobby Kimball, Steve Lukather, David Paich, Jeff Porcaro & Steve Porcaro) (1982)
- "Beat It" by Michael Jackson (1983)
- "What's Love Got to Do with It" by Tina Turner (1984)
- "We Are the World" by USA for Africa (1985)
- "Higher Love" by Steve Winwood (1986)
- "Graceland" by Paul Simon (1987)
- "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin (1988)
- "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler (1989)
- "Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins (1990)
- "Unforgettable" by Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole (1991)
- "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton (1992)
- "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston (1993)
- "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow (1994)
- "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal (1995)
- "Change the World" by Eric Clapton (1996)
- "Sunny Came Home" by Shawn Colvin (1997)
- "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion (1998)
- "Smooth" by Santana (Rodney Holmes, Tony Lindsay, Karl Perazzo, Raul Rekow, Benny Rietveld, Carlos Santana & Chester Thompson) featuring Rob Thomas (1999)
|
2000−2019 |
- "Beautiful Day" by U2 (Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge & Larry Mullen Jr.) (2000)
- "Walk On" by U2 (Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge & Larry Mullen Jr.) (2001)
- "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones (2002)
- "Clocks" by Coldplay (Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland, Will Champion, Phil Harvey & Chris Martin) (2003)
- "Here We Go Again" by Ray Charles & Norah Jones (2004)
- "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day (Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt & Frank Edwin Wright III) (2005)
- "Not Ready to Make Nice" by Dixie Chicks (Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines & Emily Robison) (2006)
- "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse (2007)
- "Please Read the Letter" by Alison Krauss & Robert Plant (2008)
- "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon (Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill) (2009)
- "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum (Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley & Dave Haywood) (2010)
- "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele (2011)
- "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra (2012)
- "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk (Thomas Bangalter & Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo) featuring Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers (2013)
- "Stay with Me" (Darkchild version) by Sam Smith (2014)
- "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars (2015)
- "Hello" by Adele (2016)
- "24K Magic" by Bruno Mars (2017)
- "This Is America" by Childish Gambino (2019)
- "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish (2019)
|
2020−present |
|
|
1958−1979 |
- "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)" by Domenico Modugno (1958)
- "Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin (1959)
- "Theme from A Summer Place" by Percy Faith (1960)
- "Moon River" by Henry Mancini (1961)
- "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" by Tony Bennett (1962)
- "Days of Wine and Roses" by Henry Mancini (1963)
- "The Girl from Ipanema" by Astrud Gilberto & Stan Getz (1964)
- "A Taste of Honey" by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (1965)
- "Strangers in the Night" by Frank Sinatra (1966)
- "Up, Up and Away" by The 5th Dimension (Billy Davis Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamonte McLemore & Ron Townson) (1967)
- "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon & Garfunkel (Art Garfunkel & Paul Simon) (1968)
- "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" by The 5th Dimension (Billy Davis Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamonte McLemore & Ron Townson) (1969)
- "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel (Art Garfunkel & Paul Simon) (1970)
- "It's Too Late" by Carole King (1971)
- "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack (1972)
- "Killing Me Softly with His Song" by Roberta Flack (1973)
- "I Honestly Love You" by Olivia Newton-John (1974)
- "Love Will Keep Us Together" by Captain & Tennille (Daryl Dragon & Toni Tennille) (1975)
- "This Masquerade" by George Benson (1976)
- "Hotel California" by Eagles (Don Felder, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner & Joe Walsh) (1977)
- "Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel (1978)
- "What a Fool Believes" by The Doobie Brothers (Jeffrey Baxter, John Hartman, Keith Knudsen, Michael McDonald, Tiran Porter & Patrick Simmons) (1979)
|
1980−1999 |
- "Sailing" by Christopher Cross (1980)
- "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes (1981)
- "Rosanna" by Toto (David Hungate, Bobby Kimball, Steve Lukather, David Paich, Jeff Porcaro & Steve Porcaro) (1982)
- "Beat It" by Michael Jackson (1983)
- "What's Love Got to Do with It" by Tina Turner (1984)
- "We Are the World" by USA for Africa (1985)
- "Higher Love" by Steve Winwood (1986)
- "Graceland" by Paul Simon (1987)
- "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin (1988)
- "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler (1989)
- "Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins (1990)
- "Unforgettable" by Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole (1991)
- "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton (1992)
- "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston (1993)
- "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow (1994)
- "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal (1995)
- "Change the World" by Eric Clapton (1996)
- "Sunny Came Home" by Shawn Colvin (1997)
- "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion (1998)
- "Smooth" by Santana (Rodney Holmes, Tony Lindsay, Karl Perazzo, Raul Rekow, Benny Rietveld, Carlos Santana & Chester Thompson) featuring Rob Thomas (1999)
|
2000−2019 |
- "Beautiful Day" by U2 (Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge & Larry Mullen Jr.) (2000)
- "Walk On" by U2 (Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge & Larry Mullen Jr.) (2001)
- "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones (2002)
- "Clocks" by Coldplay (Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland, Will Champion, Phil Harvey & Chris Martin) (2003)
- "Here We Go Again" by Ray Charles & Norah Jones (2004)
- "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day (Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt & Frank Edwin Wright III) (2005)
- "Not Ready to Make Nice" by Dixie Chicks (Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines & Emily Robison) (2006)
- "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse (2007)
- "Please Read the Letter" by Alison Krauss & Robert Plant (2008)
- "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon (Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill) (2009)
- "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum (Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley & Dave Haywood) (2010)
- "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele (2011)
- "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra (2012)
- "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk (Thomas Bangalter & Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo) featuring Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers (2013)
- "Stay with Me" (Darkchild version) by Sam Smith (2014)
- "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars (2015)
- "Hello" by Adele (2016)
- "24K Magic" by Bruno Mars (2017)
- "This Is America" by Childish Gambino (2019)
- "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish (2019)
|
2020−present |
|
|
1959–1979 |
|
1980–1999 |
|
2000–2019 |
|
2020–present |
|
|
1959–1979 |
|
1980–1999 |
|
2000–2019 |
|
2020–present |
|