Jack Arnold Richardson
CM (23 July 1929 – 13 May 2011
) was a Canadian
Juno Award
The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...
-nominated
record producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
and
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...
recipient. He is perhaps best known for
producing the biggest hit records from
The Guess Who
The Guess Who was a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1965. The band found their greatest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, under the leadership of singer/keyboardist Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman, wit ...
from 1969 to 1975. He was part of the faculty at
Fanshawe College
Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology, commonly shortened to Fanshawe College, is a public college in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is partnered with private ILAC International College. One of the largest colleges in Canada, it ha ...
in
London, Ontario
London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...
as an educator in the
Music Industry Arts program for almost 20 years, as well as at the Harris Institute for the Arts in
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
. His son is record producer
Garth Richardson
Garth "GGGarth" Richardson, (born ), is a Canadian record producer and sound engineer. He is the son of music producer Jack Richardson.
He has worked with such musical acts as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Motley Crüe, Nickelback, Rage Against ...
.
Biography
Richardson was born in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, and had early musical training playing in various school bands. By 1949 he was playing professionally in "The Westernaires"
[ who had a regular radio program. In 1958 he was working as an account executive for McCann-Erickson,][ a firm that produced a regular television program and in the mid-1960s Richardson and three others from this firm decided to form their own production company, Nimbus 9. Initially, audio recording was only one aspect of Nimbus 9, which was formed to provide multi-media production to their clients. Within a brief period of time, however, audio recording became the single focus of operations.
In 1968, Richardson approached the Canadian branch of the ]Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
company with an idea to produce and market a long-playing album through a type of bottle-cap reimbursement scheme. On one side of the release were The Guess Who
The Guess Who was a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1965. The band found their greatest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, under the leadership of singer/keyboardist Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman, wit ...
, and on the flip-side, a group from Ottawa, Ontario
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
called The Staccatos (later to become the Five Man Electrical Band
The Five Man Electrical Band (known as The Staccatos from 1963 to 1968) is a Canadian rock music, rock band from Ottawa, Ontario. They had many hits in Canada, including the top 10 entries "Half Past Midnight" (1967) (as The Staccatos), "Absol ...
). Both of these groups were already well known within Canada: The Guess Who were featured as the house band on the weekly CBC CBC may refer to:
Media
* Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico
* Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster
** CBC Television
** CBC Radio One
** CBC Music
** ...
TV show ''Let's Go'' and had ten top 40 hits in Canada between 1965 and 1967, while The Staccatos had reached the Canadian top 40 twice in that same period of time. The split album the two groups recorded, ''A Wild Pair'', could only be obtained by sending ten Coca-Cola bottle cap liners and $1 (for shipping expenses) to Coca-Cola. Guess Who guitarist Randy Bachman
Randolph Charles Bachman ( ; born September 27, 1943) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. He was the writer and singer of several hit rock songs, ...
estimates that the album sold enough units to qualify for gold record status in Canada; however, no certification figures are available as the LP was not distributed through normal retail channels.
After the success of ''A Wild Pair'', Richardson mortgaged his own home to obtain funds to produce an album with The Guess Who.[ He took the group to ]Phil Ramone
Philip Rabinowitz (January 5, 1934March 30, 2013), better known as Phil Ramone, was a South African-born American recording engineer, record producer, violinist and composer, and co-founder of A & R recording studio. Its success led to expansion ...
's A&R Recording studio in New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, and produced the1968 '' Wheatfield Soul'' album, which spawned an international hit, " These Eyes".
Richardson and The Guess Who had many more hits in the next few years (including the US and Canadian #1 single "American Woman
"American Woman" is a song by Canadian rock band the Guess Who, released January 1970, from the album of the same name. It was later released in March 1970 as a single backed with " No Sugar Tonight", and it reached number one for three weeks ...
"), and as Richardson's reputation as a producer grew, so did his list of famous clients. From the early 1970s on, Richardson produced some of the biggest selling records of the era: Alice Cooper's '' Love It to Death'', The Irish Rovers
The Irish Rovers is a group of Irish musicians that formed in Toronto, Canada in 1963'Irish Rovers are Digging out those old Folk songs', By Ballymena Weekly Editor, Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, N. Ireland – 20 August 1964 and named after the ...
' #1 hit "Wasn't That A Party", Bob Seger
Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is a retired American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded with the groups Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throu ...
's " Night Moves", Badfinger
Badfinger were a Welsh rock music, rock band formed in Swansea in 1961. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham (guitar), Mike Gibbins (drums), Tom Evans (musician), Tom Evans (bass), and Joey Molland (guitar). They are recognised for th ...
, Moxy, Poco
In software engineering, a plain old CLR object, or plain old class object (POCO) is a simple object created in the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR) that is unencumbered by inheritance or attributes. This is often used in opposition to the comp ...
, Max Webster and many others. This was in addition to the hits he was producing for The Guess Who, who were for a time (1970) the best selling rock group in the world.
From 1984 to 1986, Richardson was the music producer for the television show, ''Party with the Rovers'' (The Irish Rovers
The Irish Rovers is a group of Irish musicians that formed in Toronto, Canada in 1963'Irish Rovers are Digging out those old Folk songs', By Ballymena Weekly Editor, Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, N. Ireland – 20 August 1964 and named after the ...
) for Global TV in association with Ulster TV in Ireland.
Later, Richardson decided on another career change and became a professor in the Music Industry Arts (MIA) program at Fanshawe College
Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology, commonly shortened to Fanshawe College, is a public college in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is partnered with private ILAC International College. One of the largest colleges in Canada, it ha ...
in London, Ontario
London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...
, until he retired from teaching in 2007.
In 1998, Richardson was awarded the Special Achievement Award at the SOCAN Awards in Toronto.
A non-profit organisation and associated award was started in 2005 as the Jack Richardson Music Awards. The award was given to up-and-coming musical acts and artists from London in a variety of categories. In 2018, the nonprofit and its awards were renamed the Forest City London Music Awards.
When Jack Richardson died at the age of 81, The Guess Who
The Guess Who was a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1965. The band found their greatest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, under the leadership of singer/keyboardist Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman, wit ...
frontman Burton Cummings paid tribute on his blog by writing: "He was a great friend... bright, talented and funny. He taught me infinite amounts of about producing and arranging."
Selected discography
Among Richardson's producer credits are the following:
*The Guess Who
The Guess Who was a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1965. The band found their greatest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, under the leadership of singer/keyboardist Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman, wit ...
- '' Wheatfield Soul'', '' Canned Wheat'', ''American Woman
"American Woman" is a song by Canadian rock band the Guess Who, released January 1970, from the album of the same name. It was later released in March 1970 as a single backed with " No Sugar Tonight", and it reached number one for three weeks ...
''
*FLICKER - Everybody's Everyday
*The Irish Rovers
The Irish Rovers is a group of Irish musicians that formed in Toronto, Canada in 1963'Irish Rovers are Digging out those old Folk songs', By Ballymena Weekly Editor, Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, N. Ireland – 20 August 1964 and named after the ...
- ''Wasn't That A Party'', '' Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer''
*Bob Seger
Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is a retired American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded with the groups Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throu ...
- '' Night Moves''
*Alice Cooper
Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...
- '' Love It to Death'' (co-producer with Bob Ezrin
Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezri ...
), '' Muscle of Love'' (co-producer with Jack Douglas)
* Kim Mitchell - '' Kim Mitchell'' (co-producer with Mitchell)
* Manowar - '' Hail to England'', '' Sign of the Hammer''
* Max Webster - ''Universal Juveniles
''Universal Juveniles'' was Max Webster's fifth and last studio album, released in 1980 in Canada by Anthem Records. It was released internationally on the Mercury Records label outside of Canada.
The album was produced by Jack Richardson who ...
''
*Starz
Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...
- '' Coliseum Rock''
* Moxy - '' Moxy II''
*Poco
In software engineering, a plain old CLR object, or plain old class object (POCO) is a simple object created in the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR) that is unencumbered by inheritance or attributes. This is often used in opposition to the comp ...
- '' A Good Feelin' to Know'', '' Crazy Eyes'', '' Seven''
*Badfinger
Badfinger were a Welsh rock music, rock band formed in Swansea in 1961. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham (guitar), Mike Gibbins (drums), Tom Evans (musician), Tom Evans (bass), and Joey Molland (guitar). They are recognised for th ...
- '' Say No More''
*Sword
A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...
- '' Sweet Dreams''
* Dan Schafer- ''A Day Without You, Dear'' (RCA US & Canada single)
*Tufano & Giammarese - Dennis Tufano and Carl Giammarese - ''The Tufano & Giammarese Band'', Ode (1975)
See also
* :Albums produced by Jack Richardson (record producer)
References
External links
Jack Richardson Music Awards
renamed the Forest City London Music Awards in 2018)
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Jack
1929 births
2011 deaths
20th-century Canadian male musicians
Canadian record producers
Members of the Order of Canada
Musicians from Toronto
The Guess Who