Roy Decker Halee (born 1934) is an American record producer and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

, best known for working with Simon & Garfunkel, both as a group and for their solo projects.

Early life

He grew up on Long Island, New York. His father, also named Roy Halee, provided the singing voice for

Mighty Mouse Mighty Mouse is an American animated anthropomorphic superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. The character was originally called Super Mouse, and made his debut in the 1942 short ''The Mouse of Tomorro ...

in late 1940s

Terrytoons Terrytoons was an American animation studio in New Rochelle, New York, that produced animated cartoons for theatrical release from 1929 to 1973 (and briefly returned between 1987 and 1996 for television in name only). Terrytoons was founded by ...

cartoons, as well as the voices of

Heckle and Jeckle Heckle and Jeckle are postwar animated cartoon characters created by Paul Terry, originally produced at his own Terrytoons animation studio and released through 20th Century Fox. The characters are a pair of identical anthropomorphic yellow-bi ...

from 1951 through 1961. His mother, Rebekah Cauble, was a former stage actress with several

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

credits.

Career

Halee started working as a cameraman for CBS Television in the 1950s. He was also studying to be a classical trumpet player.Jackson, Blair
"Interview: Roy Halee"
, ''

Mix magazine ''Mix'' magazine is a periodical, billing itself as "the world's leading magazine for the professional recording and sound production technology industry". The magazine is headquartered in New York City and distributed in 94 countries. Its Korea ...

'', October 1, 2001 He became an audio engineer for CBS Television, working on many shows and the top rated ''

The $64,000 Question ''The $64,000 Question'' was an American game show broadcast in primetime on CBS-TV from 1955 to 1958, which became embroiled in the 1950s quiz show scandals. Contestants answered general knowledge questions, earning money which doubled as the ...

'' television quiz show. 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 Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, including the first long-format radio single, "

Like a Rolling Stone "Like a Rolling Stone" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on July 20, 1965, by Columbia Records. Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted fro ...

".Mix Foundation. ''2001 Hall of Fame Inductee Roy Halee''
After working with

the Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful is an American rock band popular during the mid- to late-1960s. Founded in New York City in 1965 by lead singer/songwriter John Sebastian and guitarist Zal Yanovsky, the band is widely known for a number of hits, including ...

the Dave Clark Five The Dave Clark Five, also known as the DC5, were an English rock and roll band formed in 1958 in Tottenham, London. Drummer Dave Clark served as the group's leader, producer and co-songwriter. In January 1964 they had their first UK top ten sin ...

and

the Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...

, he began his partnership with Simon & Garfunkel. He has also worked with other groups such as

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

(on their first album ''Journey''),

Willie Nile Willie Nile (born Robert Noonan; June 7, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter. In 1980, Nile released his self-titled debut album. His early career was interrupted by various problems, but he eventually returned to recording and performing i ...

Laura Nyro Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968 ...

Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura N ...

Mark-Almond Band Mark–Almond was a jazz-influenced English pop group of the 1970s and early 1980s, sometimes also called The Mark-Almond Band. The core members were Jon Mark, who sang lead and played guitar, percussion, and harmonica and Johnny Almond who pla ...

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's vocal harmonies could only be achieved by recording both voices on the same microphone at the same time. The song "Mrs. Robinson", from the 1968 album ''

The Graduate ''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from W ...

'', won him a Grammy Award. Three more Grammy Awards followed for his work on the album '' Bookends'', and the song " Bridge Over Troubled Water" in 1970. Halee is 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) "A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into Submission)" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. Originally recorded for Simon's 1965 UK-only debut, '' The Paul Simon Songbook'', it was recorded soon afte ...

", written by Paul Simon. After the duo split up, he co-produced Simon's first solo album. Later, in 1985, Halee went with Simon to South Africa to record something new that, he said, "wasn't written yet, we were going with nothing, so it was a gamble. A lot of people thought we were nuts." It led to the Grammy Award-winning album ''

Graceland Graceland is a mansion on a estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, which was once owned by rock and roll icon Elvis Presley. His daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited Graceland after his death in 1977. Graceland is located at 3764 Elv ...

''. "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." After ''Graceland'', Roy Halee continued travelling with Simon as an engineer, to Brazil and West Africa, for the album ''

The Rhythm of the Saints ''The Rhythm of the Saints'' is the eighth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon, released on October 16, 1990 on Warner Bros. In much the same way that Simon's 1986 album ''Graceland'' drew upon South African music, this alb ...

'', with "all congas, bass drums, bata...everything imaginable."Luftig, S., The Paul Simon Companion, Four Decades of Commentary, pp. 197–198 (Biography, Schirmer Books/Omnibus Press New York, 1997)

Personal life

Halee owns three

German Shorthaired Pointer The German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP) is a medium to large sized breed of pointing dog developed in the 19th century in Germany for hunting. A versatile hunting breed, being an all-purpose gun dog suitable for both land and water, they are strea ...

s. He has been married to Katherine for 53 years. Halee has three children: Roy Halee Jr., a post-production mixer for the CBS television program '' 60 Minutes'' in New York City; Walter Halee, a former book publicist and now a ski instructor at Beaver Creek in Colorado; and Laurie Halee, a mother and massage therapist who resides in Nederland, Colorado.

References

External links

2001 interview with MIX Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halee, Roy American audio engineers American male voice actors Living people Grammy Award winners 1934 births Record producers from New York (state) Paul Simon Art Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel