Edwin H. (Eddie) Kramer (born 1942 in Cape Town, South Africa) is an audio engineer and producer who has worked with, among others, Led Zeppelin, Triumph, Kiss (and solo Ace Frehley), Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Spooky Tooth, Peter Frampton, Curtis Mayfield, Santana, Anthrax, Carly Simon, Loudness, and Robin Trower.
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Eddie Kramer was born in South Africa, and as a child studied classical piano, cello and violin. He attended the prestigious South African College of Music to learn classical piano, but formed an interest in jazz. He moved to England at 19, where he recorded local jazz groups in a home studio and installed hi-fi equipment as a hobby. He started his career at Advision Sound Studios in 1962.He joined Pye Studios in 1963 where he recorded a variety of artists including Sammy Davis Jr., Petula Clark, The Kinks and The Searchers. He often went on the road with Bob Auger PYE's chief engineer, to record a 90 piece symphony orchestra (using the PYE Mobile) demonstrating a versatility, which Eddie possesses to this day.
In 1965 Kramer established KPS Studios and was later employed by Regent Sound to oversee construction of a new four-track studio.
He joined Olympic Sound Studios in 1966,in London, where he engineered albums for acts including Traffic, Small Faces, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix, for whom Kramer engineered every album from Are You Experienced to The Cry of Love. After Hendrix's death he co-produced War Heroes, Rainbow Bridge and Hendrix in the West.
In 1968 Kramer moved to New York to work at the Record Plant, engineering Hendrix's Electric Ladyland LP and also worked with Vanilla Fudge, Joe Cocker and NRBQ. Working independently from 1969, Kramer engineered Led Zeppelin II – the first of five albums he engineered for the band.
Kramer added his own touch to "Whole Lotta Love" from Led Zeppelin II. He said, "At one point there was bleed-through of a previously recorded vocal in the recording of 'Whole Lotta Love.' It was the middle part where Robert [Plant] screams 'Wo-man. You need it.' Since we couldn't re-record at that point, I just threw some echo on it to see how it would sound and Jimmy [Page] said 'Great! Just leave it.'"[1]
In mid-1969 Kramer was hired to record the Woodstock Festival for both the album and the movie. The project was arduous, as he recalled: [1] "I arrived at dawn and was struck by the sight of the sun rising over what appeared to be the stage. The show was scheduled to start by lunch time. That panic pretty much set the tone for the entire concert. All of us in the crew had Vitamin B shots, so that we would be able to stay up for three days. The whole thing was recorded under the most primitive of conditions, but we got it done."says Kramer. "Woodstock was 3 days of drugs and hell .”
Woodstock established Kramer as one of the most important live music producers of the rock era, recording Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss, John Mayall, The Rolling Stones, Peter Frampton, Joe Cocker, Curtis Mayfield, Santana, David Bowie, Derek and the Dominos, and others.
Kramer subsequently recorded live albums by Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss, John Mayall, The Rolling Stones, Peter Frampton, Joe Cocker, Curtis Mayfield, Santana, David Bowie and Derek and the Dominos.
Kramer was director of engineering at Electric Lady Studios from 1970-1974, producing the posthumous Hendrix records, as well as albums by Carly Simon, Sha Na Na, Jobriath and Peter Frampton. While there he engineered albums for artists as diverse as Dionne Warwick and David Bowie.
In 1975 he left Electric Lady Studios to produce Kiss' Alive!, which began a long time association with the band. His engineering work included Led Zeppelin's The Song Remains the Same and Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive!.
Kramer produced Fastway, Anthrax and Twisted Sister, as well as country and classical acts including the Kentucky Headhunters and guitarist John Williams.
Kramer produced the Hendrix tribute album, Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix, featuring The Cure, Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy, raising $750,000 for the United Negro College Fund as musical scholarships to Berklee College of Music, the Juilliard School of Music and The Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Kramer produced and engineered Buddy Guy's Slippin' In (1995), which received a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Record and a W.C. Handy Blues Foundation Album of the Year award. Buddy Guy and The Saturday Nite Live Band with G.E. Smith, was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award.
He also produced In From the Storm (1995), a compilation of Hendrix tracks featuring: Sting, Steve Vai and Carlos Santana with the London Metropolitan Orchestra.
In 2010, Kramer produced and engineered a single for the Claire Stahlecker Band called "Never Stop Lovin' You". The band included Claire Stahlecker on Vocals/Guitar, Ben Beutel on bass, Derek Bahr on Guitar, and Patrick Scott Seals on Drums.
Kramer worked with John McDermott of Experience Hendrix (a company owned by the Hendrix family) and Janie Hendrix (Jimi's adopted half-sister) to complete and release of Valleys of Neptune in early 2010, an album of previously unheard Jimi Hendrix. Kramer also said that there is much more unreleased material.[2][3]
In 2011, Kramer produced and engineered an album Fire Red for Michael Williams Band. [4]
Kramer has produced an instructional video, Adventures in Modern Recording, which features an interview with guitarist Les Paul. He has co-authored a Hendrix biography, Hendrix: Setting the Record Straight, with John McDermott. He is also compiling a photographic book, From the Other Side of the Glass, which features his photographs and recollections about the artists he worked with in the 60's and 70's. An exhibition of his limited edition photographs is currently being held at Metropolis Studios in London.
In late 2009, Eddie Kramer and Waves released the Eddie Kramer Collection of audio software plug-ins, five application-specific plug-ins targeting guitar, drums, vocals, bass and special effects. [5]
Selected production credits:[6]
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Selected engineering credits:[6]