Roy Joel Cicala (March 28, 1939 – January 22, 2014) was an American producer, engineer, songwriter and musician. His body of work includes over 10 Platinum Records for producing, writing, engineering and management for talent from the 1970s through to 2014.

Biography

Roy Cicala was born ''Roy Joel Cicala'' in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

.https://saplantstudio.wordpress.com Since his 1968 start at

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Studios in New York, he recorded and produced some of the greatest artists of modern music, including

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, Four Seasons,

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, Patti La Belle,

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, Franklin Kiermyer with

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and many others. Cicala began working freelance engineering jobs in New York when he took over

Record Plant Studios The Record Plant was a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and last operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it produced highly influential albums, including the New York ...

piloting mega-albums hits as chief engineer. He was an engineer on the first album ever recorded at Record Plant Studios, ''

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'' by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, released in 1968. Through the years, he worked on hundreds of albums. During the 1970s, house engineers

Shelly Yakus Sheldon Gershon "Shelly" Yakus (born November 1945) is an American music engineer and mixer. Formerly chief engineer and vice president of A&M Records, he was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Yakus is referenced ...

and Roy Cicala gave many local bands their start by donating session time and materials to upcoming artists, engineering and producing their demo tapes. While at Record Plant, Cicala was involved with a wide range of projects, including doing the remote work for the "

Live Aid Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a m ...

" concert in 1985. Record Plant closed in 1989. Cicala first worked with John Lennon just before

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

broke up in 1970. Cicala did engineering work for Lennon and Ono on various albums, including '' Imagine'', ''

Mind Games Mind games (also power games or head games) are actions performed for reasons of psychological one-upmanship, often employing passive–aggressive behavior to specifically demoralize or dis-empower the thinking subject, making the aggressor ...

'' and ''

Double Fantasy ''Double Fantasy'' is the fifth collaborative studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and the final one before Lennon's death. Released in November 1980 on Geffen Records, the album marked Lennon's return to recording music full-time, followin ...

''.

Works

;Selected engineering, production and Record Plant NYC credits *The

Experience: ''

'' – 1967-68 *

: ''Watertown'' - 1969 * Four Seasons: "Genuine Imitation Life Gazette" - 1969 *John Lennon: ''Imagine'' – 1971 *John Lennon & Yoko Ono: ''Sometime in New York City'' - 1972 *John Lennon: ''Mind Games'' - 1973 *John Lennon: ''Walls and Bridges'' -1974 *

: ''Get Your Wings'' – 1973-74 *

: ''Born to Run'' – 1974-75 *Aerosmith: ''Toys in the Attic'' – 1975 *John Lennon: ''Rock and Roll'' - 1975 *Bruce Springsteen: ''Darkness on the Edge of Town'' – 1977-78 *

Patti Smith Group Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

: ''

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

'' – 1978 *

: ''Lodger'' – 1979 * Jerome T. Youngman & Hooks: ''Young and Boring'' – 1980 *John Lennon & Yoko Ono: ''Double Fantasy'' - 1980 *

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

: ''Who Made Who'' - 1986 * Franklin Kiermyer with

: ''Solomon's Daughter'' - 1994 *

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

: ''

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'' - 1997 *Forgotten Boys: ''Louva-a-Deus'' – 2007 *

Garland Jeffreys Garland Jeffreys (born June 29, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter in rock and roll, reggae, blues, and soul music. Career Jeffreys is from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, of African American and Puerto Rican heritage. He majored in art histo ...

: ''The King of In Between'' – 2011
Optic Yellow Felt
''Optic Yellow Felt'' - 2011 *The Moondogs: "Black & White Woman" - 2013 ;Selected live engineering, production and Record Plant Remote credits *

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

& Friends,

Concert for Bangladesh The Concert for Bangladesh (or Bangla Desh, as the country's name was originally spelt)Harry, p. 135. was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and the Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows we ...

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- August 1, 1971 *

, Concert on the Great Lawn in

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- September 13, 1980 *

- a multi-venue rock music concert. July 13, 1985. ;Selected songwriting credits * John Lennon: ''Incantation'' - 1974 ;Other credits * John Lennon: ''Walls and Bridges'': Strings and Remixing * Johnny Rivers: " Secret Agent Man" - Theme to the American Broadcast of the British series ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again ...

''. Cicala had been working in Brazil since the 1970s in various engineering and production capacities. He was producing and managing major label artists like

Charlie Brown Jr. Charles or Charlie Brown may refer to: People Arts and entertainment Music * Charlie Brown (singer) (born 1986), British singer * Charlie Brown (born 1970), American rapper and member of Leaders of the New School * Charles Brown (musician) (1922� ...

at the newly launched Record Plant South. He sat on the advisory board for a New York City-based start-up founded by his nephew Craig Alberino.

References

* John Blaney, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, ''Lennon and McCartney - Together Alone: A Critical Discography of Their Solo Work'' (Paperback), Jawbone Press (March 28, 2007). , * Richard, Burgess, ''The Art Of Music Production'' (Paperback), Omnibus Press; 3rd edition (May 1, 2005), , * Maureen Droney, ''Mix Masters: Platinum Engineers Reveal Their Secrets for Success'' (Paperback), Berklee Press; Pap/Com edition (January 1, 2003). , * Mark Cunningham, ''Good Vibrations: A History of Record Production'' (Sanctuary Music Library) (Paperback), Alan Parson (Introduction), Brian Eno (Introduction) Sanctuary Publishing, Ltd; 2 edition (September 1, 1999). , * David Simons, ''Studio Stories: How the Great New York Records Were Made: From Miles to Madonna, Sinatra to the Ramones'' (Paperback), Backbeat Books (November 19, 2004). , * Albert Goldman, ''The Lives of John Lennon'' (Paperback), Chicago Review Press; New Ed edition (September 1, 2001) # Language: English # , * Billy James, ''A Dream Goes on Forever: The Continuing Story of Todd Rundgren'' (Paperback), Golden Treasures Pub (December 2002). , *

Bruce Spizer David "Bruce" Spizer (born July 2, 1955) is an American tax attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana, who is also recognized as an expert on the Beatles. He has published thirteen books about the band, and is frequently quoted as an authority on th ...

, ''The Beatles Solo on Apple Records'' (Hardcover), Allan Steckler (Foreword), Four Ninety-Eight Productions (April 30, 2005). , * Richard Williams, ''Phil Spector: Out Of His Head'' (Paperback), Omnibus Press; Revised edition (August 1, 2003). , * Michael J. Hockinson, ''The Ultimate Beatles Quiz Book II'' (Paperback), St. Martin's Griffin (November 13, 2000). , * Dan Muise, Rory Gallagher, Steve Marriott, and Rick Derringer, ''Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer, Trower: Their Lives and Music'' (Paperback - April 2002), Hal Leonard; 1 edition (April 2002). , * Yoko Ono, ''Memories of John Lennon'' (Hardcover), Harper Entertainment (November 29, 2005). ,
Matt Gallagher, "Garland Jeffreys 'The King of In Between'"
''Mix Magazine'' (July 1, 2011).

External links

Shelly Yakus Interview on Pro Sound's Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cicala, Roy 1939 births 2014 deaths Musicians from New Haven, Connecticut Record producers from Connecticut Record producers from New York (state) American audio engineers American expatriates in Brazil American male songwriters American people of Italian descent Engineers from Connecticut Songwriters from New York (state) Songwriters from Connecticut