Ronald Clements Malo (August 29, 1935 in Illinois – August 15, 1992 in Burbank, California) was an American engineer for Chicago's

Chess Studios Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and rol ...

from 1959 until 1970. He was the engineer for the first sessions

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

did in the US, in Chicago in June 1964, recording songs ("

It's All Over Now "It's All Over Now" is a song written by Bobby Womack and his sister-in-law Shirley Womack. It was first released by The Valentinos, featuring Bobby Womack, in 1964. The Rolling Stones heard it on its release and quickly recorded a cover ver ...

", "I Can't Be Satisfied", "Look What You've Done", "

Around and Around "Around and Around" is a 1958 rock song written and first recorded by Chuck Berry. It originally appeared under the name "Around & Around" as the B-side to the single "Johnny B. Goode". Cover versions The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stone ...

", "

Down the Road a Piece "Down the Road a Piece" is a boogie-woogie song written by Don Raye. In 1940, it was recorded by the Will Bradley Trio and became a top 10 hit in the closing months of the year. Called "a neat little amalgam of bluesy rhythm and vivid, catchy l ...

" etc.) that wound up appearing on the albums ''

12 X 5 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

'', ''

The Rolling Stones, Now! ''The Rolling Stones, Now!'' is the third American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 13February 1965 by their initial American distributor, London Records. Although it contains two previously unissued song ...

'' and ''

December's Children (And Everybody's) ''December's Children (And Everybody's)'' is the fifth American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in December 1965. It is primarily compiled from different released tracks from across the band's recording career ...

''. He was also the engineer at Chess when they returned in November 1964 to do more sessions there, and when they came back a third time in May 1965 (resulting in ''

Out of Our Heads ''Out of Our Heads'' is the third studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in two editions with different covers and track listings. In the US, London Records released it on 30 July 1965 as the band's fourth American ...

'' songs such as "Mercy Mercy" and "That's How Strong My Love Is"). Malo worked with many of the blues and R&B musicians, such as

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known as the Ch ...

Sonny Boy Williamson Sonny Boy Williamson may refer to either of the two 20th-century American blues harmonica players, who both recorded in Chicago: *Sonny Boy Williamson I (19141948), born John Lee Curtis Williamson *Sonny Boy Williamson II Alex or Aleck Mill ...

, and

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

, as well as some jazz musicians including

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered by the general public for the 1966 soul ...

. He went on to work with

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaug ...

, and

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...

. Malo was the engineer in

the Buckinghams The Buckinghams are an American pop band from Chicago. They formed in 1966 and went on to become one of the top-selling acts of 1967, charting their only five top 40 hits in the U.S. that year. The band dissolved in 1970, but re-formed in 1980 ...

Kind of a Drag "Kind of a Drag" is a song written by Jim Holvay and recorded by the Buckinghams. It was the title track of their debut LP. The single reached #1 on the U.S. Hot 100 in February 1967, becoming the first #1 single within the new calendar year, re ...

" recording sessions. "Ron Malo was the engineer," says Dennis Tufano. "He was unbelievably creative. That was a great introduction. We were gifted with some very, very talented people at the beginning. A lot of the guys would get some garage guy that was gonna engineer your album. We got Ron Malo, which was like, 'Whoa!' And just working with him was an education." Bonafede and bandleader Dan Belloc co-produced the LP. "Frank Tesinsky was the arranger," says Dennis. "Dan Belloc played on it. He actually played sax on it. He was a sax player, Tesinsky was a trombonist."

The Daughters of Eve Daughters of Eve were an American all-female garage rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1965. The group was formed and managed by Carl Bonafede, who was managing the Buckinghams as they were gaining national success. The Daughters of Eve ...

, the

all-female band An all-female band is a musical ensemble, musical group in popular music that is exclusively composed of female musicians. This is distinct from a girl group, in which the female members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universa ...

from Chicago managed by

Carl Bonafede Carl Bonafede is an American musician and band manager. Bonafede was born in the Little Italy Chicago community on October 16, 1940. He appeared as a young boy on local television on ''Morris B. Sach's Amateur Hour'' singing and playing the acco ...

got to record at Chess and Malo was the engineer for those sessions. In the 1970s, he worked with

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

, and engineered the lost tapes of "The Brothres" in 1973 at Bolic Sound Studio in Los Angeles (featuring the Kirk brothers from Missouri). He was also the recording engineer on the

Bobby Goldsboro Robert Charles Goldsboro (born January 18, 1941) is an American pop and country singer and songwriter. He had a string of pop and country hits in the 1960s and 1970s, including his signature No. 1 hit "Honey", which sold over 1 million copies i ...

album ''A Butterfly For Bucky'' released in 1976 on the

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

label. In 1976, Malo was the engineer on

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer Alphonse Mouzon a ...

's classic jazz fusion album '' Heavy Weather'', released in 1977 and in 1979 the engineer and co-producer on Bruford's '' Gradually Going Tornado'' released in 1980. Before Chess Records, Malo was a recording engineer for

WJLB WJLB (97.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio station in Detroit, Michigan. Owned by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts an urban contemporary radio format. Its studios are on Halsted Road in Farmington Hills. In morning drive time, WJLB carries ...

-AM in Detroit. During that time, he installed the first studio recording equipment (modest at the time) for

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

at 2648 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Malo, Ron 1992 deaths American audio engineers 1935 births 20th-century American engineers