John Palladino (March 29, 1920 – December 20, 2014) was a

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

producer and A&R executive. His most notable recordings were with

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

and

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

, but he also edited records by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

and

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

, and as an A&R man oversaw recordings by

the Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...

and

Quicksilver Messenger Service Quicksilver Messenger Service is an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco. The band achieved wide popularity in the San Francisco Bay Area and, through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe, ...

, among others. He was considered a pioneering recording engineer, being one of the earliest engineers to perfect recordings with analog tape, and developing several new recording techniques.

Early life

Palladino was born on March 29, 1920, in

Ashley, Pennsylvania Ashley is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes Barre. The population was 2,588 at the 2020 census. History Ashley was first settled in 1830. Forty years later, in 1870 ...

but his family moved to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

when he was two years old. Palladino studied architecture at

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the U ...

but also played in a band, and learned how to record in the college's radio station and LACC's recording studio. From 1940 to 1942 Palladino served in the Army Air Force, where he was an arranger and later a radio operator before being discharged due to illness and returning to Los Angeles. In 1941, he found work at Radio Recorders, which recorded radio shows for delayed broadcast. where he met his future wife, Evelyn Blanchard, who did disc dubbing, tape editing, and later was a recording engineer.

Capitol years

Palladino left Radio Recorders for

not long after it opened in 1949. He was promoted to album producer for Capitol Records in 1956. Palladino used a small-studio technique, close-miking musicians and using equalization and reverberation to get sounds. he did not always agree with the move in the 1960s towards multitracking and overdubbing instruments one at a time, preferring to record all the musicians playing live simultaneously. Palladino gained a reputation as a pioneer of developing new recording technology, including the use of

Ampex Ampex Data Systems Corporation is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name ''AMPEX'' is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excell ...

recording tape, the creation of the "duophonic sound" system, and twin pack tape cartridges. He was also in demand as a tape editor, where he would re-edit or shorten tracks on albums. These included Paul McCartney and Wings' " Band on the Run" and " Silly Love Songs", Little River Band's "It's A Long Way There" and he removed profanity from the single of Pink Floyd's "Money". As well as engineering and producing, Palladino joined the A&R department of Capitol Records in 1959 and was promoted to director of A&R Recording in 1976. As an A&R man he worked with artists such as

, Steve Miller, Sons of Champlin, and Joy of Cooking.

Awards

Before the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences began awarding

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

in 1959, Palladino received a special recognition for '' In the Wee Small Hours''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palladino, John 1920 births 2014 deaths American audio engineers Record producers from Pennsylvania Place of death missing 20th-century American engineers Capitol Records Los Angeles City College alumni People from Ashley, Pennsylvania