Still, while one of the track's distinguishing features is the obligatory heavy drum sound, this was crafted by Clearmountain in unconventional fashion amid fairly adverse conditions. Boasting an idiosyncratic mid-Eighties sound and spirit, it spawned no less than six American Top 30 singles, and the first of these was 'Run To You', that paean to illicit love co-written by Adams and Jim Vallance, and largely built around a chorus that melds melodic hard rock with the singer's trademark raw-throated vocals. Reckless captured Bryan Adams at the top of his game, even if it would subsequently be eclipsed in terms of sales by 1991's Waking Up The Neighbors. For the next album, Bryan brought in a different bass player, Dave Taylor from Vancouver, and these were the guys who also formed the rhythm section for the Reckless album." So, I just called them all up, and that worked out really well for the You Want It, You Got It record. Smith album that I'd produced, and another guy named Brian Stanley who was the bass player, and then I also knew Tommy Mandel, a keyboard player who had worked with Ian Hunter, whom I'd previously engineered. "The Power Station had already been booked, and a couple of weeks before he said, 'Look, do you know any musicians? I've fired every one.' Well, I had worked with Mickey Curry on a G.E. Photo: Fin Costello / Redferns"He had been rehearsing with some musicians there and I guess he was really disappointed with their performance," Clearmountain explains. for the You Want It, You Got It sessions.īryan Adams performing live around the the same period as Reckless. It was on the advice of A&M Records A&R exec David Kershenbaum that Adams initially hooked up with Clearmountain, and the latter duly helped the Vancouver native assemble a band in L.A. Not only did he produce and engineer Hall & Oates' Big Bam Boom and mix Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A, but he also co-produced and engineered Bryan Adams' smash-hit Reckless album, having previously fulfilled the same role on Adams' You Want It, You Got It (1981) and Cuts Like a Knife (1983). Nevertheless, while bigger things ensued at the start of the Eighties courtesy of projects with the Stones, Roxy Music, Bowie and Huey Lewis, 1984 was arguably Bob Clearmountain's halcyon year. Not a bad start, and one that quickly led to several of the aforementioned engineering assignments, as well as productions during the second half of the decade for artists such as The Rezillos, Billy Cobham and Narada Michael Walden. The year was 1972, and although, with much persistence, he was initially hired as a delivery boy, after just a couple of deliveries he found himself assisting on a session for Duke Ellington. However, it was his fascination with recording technology that led him to apply for a job at New York's Media Sound after a band that he played with had cut a demo there. Influenced by his guitar-playing older brother, Clearmountain began playing bass as a teenager. Suffice it to say, it would almost be easier to list the major artists whose records he hasn't worked on, such is the veritable Who's Who of his track record. Indeed, since the 1980s, 'Mixed by Bob Clearmountain' has been an industry catchphrase. One of the most recognisable names among the studio elite of the past 25 years, Bob Clearmountain has certainly earned his stripes as a producer and engineer. The Reckless album was a huge success for Bryan Adams, giving rise to six hit singles - but the first one, 'Run To You', was almost never even recorded.
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