Jim Boyer (audio Engineer)

James Boyer (May 19, 1951 – June 15, 2022) was an American audio engineer, known for having recorded and mixed many recordings including Billy Joel's '' The Stranger'', ''52nd Street'' and ''The Nylon Curtain'', and the soundtracks for Yentl and Silkwood, as well as producing Billy Joel's ''The Matter of Trust: A Bridge to Russia'', Rupert Holmes' '' Partners in Crime'' and Peter Cetera's ''Peter Cetera''.

Biography

Boyer was born in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Cedar Crest High School and went on to earn a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Delaware in 1973. During his high school and college years, he played keyboards in a number of east coast regional bands including Rain, which he was with from 1970–1975. Boyer attended and graduated from the Institute of Audio Research to prepare him for work in the business. His first job in the industry was at Phil Ramone's A&R Recording Studios where he was hired by Don Frey as an assistant engineer. Initially, he assisted on commercial jingles with engineers Elliot Scheiner and Don Hahn. Soon after, Boyer became Phil Ramone's assistant engineer. His first credit with Ramone was on the film '' A Star is Born'' with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. Over the years, Boyer engineered many of Billy Joel's records including '' The Stranger'', ''52nd Street'', ''The Nylon Curtain'' and ''An Innocent Man'' as well as produced Joel's documentary, ''The Matter of Trust: A Bridge to Russia'' and ''Концерт'' ive Rupert Holmes' '' Partners in Crime'' featuring "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" and " Him"/"Get Outta Yourself", and Peter Cetera's ''Peter Cetera''.

In 1987, Boyer, along with David Dering, founded AmericanHelix, a primary CD manufacturer for the independent record label industry. After it was sold, Boyer worked in Silicon Valley as a software services sales executive, and 2015 found him returning to Pro Tools studio mixing, live concert technical management and FOH mixing for a number of Bay area communities during their summer concert seasons.

Boyer died in the San Francisco Bay area of California on June 15, 2022.

Selected works

Recording and mixing

*1977 '' Celebrate Me Home'' – Kenny Loggins
*1977 '' Never Letting Go'' – Phoebe Snow
*1977 ''Marquee Moon'' – Television
*1977 '' The Stranger'' – Billy Joel (Just The Way You Are-Grammy for Record and Song of the Year)
*1977 ''Futures'' – Burt Bacharach
*1977 '' Libby Titus'' – Libby Titus
*1977 ''Watermark'' – Art Garfunkel
*1978 '' Hot Streets'' – Chicago
*1978 ''52nd Street'' – Billy Joel (Grammy for Album of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance)
*1978 ''Angie'' – Angela Bofill
*1978 ''Love Is The Stuff'' – Henry Gross
*1978 ''Ruby Ruby'' – Gato Barbieri
*1979 ''Chicago 13'' – Chicago
*1979 '' Partners in Crime'' – Rupert Holmes
*1979 ''Browne Sugar'' – Tom Browne
*1979 ''Ready and Waiting'' – Vivian Reed
*1979 ''Morning Island'' – Sadao Watanabe
*1980 '' Glass Houses'' – Billy Joel
*1980 '' Out of Control'' – Peter Criss
*1980 ''How's Everything'' – Sadao Watanabe
*1980 ''Won't Let Go'' – Brooklyn Dreams
*1980 ''Late In The Evening'' – Paul Simon
*1981 '' Songs in the Attic'' – Billy Joel
*1981 Peter Cetera – Peter Cetera
*1981 ''Get Wet'' – Get Wet
*1982 ''The Nylon Curtain'' – Billy Joel
*1982 ''The Hunter'' – Joe Sample
* 1982 '' In Harmony II'' – Various (Grammy for Best Recording for Children)
*1983 ''An Innocent Man'' – Billy Joel
*1983 ''Such is Love'' – Peter, Paul & Mary
*1983 ''Rhythm Hymn'' – Whitren Cartwright
*1984 ''Dangerous Moments'' – Martin Briley
*1984 ''20/20'' – George Benson
*1984 ''Secrets & Sins'' – Luba
*1985 ''Lovelines'' – The Carpenters
*1985 '' Gettin' Away With Murder'' – Patti Austin
*1986 '' The Bridge'' – Billy Joel
*1986 ''Back in the High Life'' – Steve Winwood
*1986 '' Only Love Remains'' – Paul McCartney
*1987 ''Whitney'' – Whitney Houston
*1987 ''At Home'' – Janis Siegel
*1987 ''Концерт'' – Billy Joel
*1988 '' Twice the Love'' – George Benson
*1988 ''Talkin' 'Bout You'' – Diane Schuur
*1990 ''No Separate Love'' – Roland Vazquez

Film scores and soundtracks

*1976 '' A Star Is Born'' – Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson
*1980 '' One-Trick Pony'' – Paul Simon
*1981 ''Arthur'' – Burt Bacharach
*1983 Silkwood – Georges Delerue
*1983 '' Yentl'' – Barbra Streisand
*1983 Easy Money – Billy Joel
*1987 Orphans – Michael Small
*1988 '' The Serpent and the Rainbow'' – Olatunji

Broadway albums
*1978 ''Eubie!''
*1980 ''Live from New York'' – Gilda Radner

Radio and television

*1978 Saturday Night Live – Billy Joel
*1978 Kennedy Center Inaugural Broadcast
*1982 ''The Concert in Central Park'' – Simon and Garfunkel (post production)
*1987 Live Broadcasts from Moscow and Leningrad

Production

* 1979 '' Partners in Crime'' – Rupert Holmes
* 1981 ''Peter Cetera'' – Peter Cetera
* 1987''The Matter of Trust: A Bridge to Russia'' – Billy Joel
*''1987 Концерт ive' – Billy Joel

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyer, Jim
1951 births
2022 deaths
American audio engineers
Record producers from Pennsylvania
People from Lebanon, Pennsylvania