Gerry Brown

Last updated
Gerry Brown
Birth nameGerald E. Brown
Origin Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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Occupation(s)

Gerald E. "The Gov" Brown (also known as Gerry Brown; born 1951) is a recording engineer, mixer and music producer based in Los Angeles, best known for his work with artists including Whitney Houston, John Legend, Earth, Wind & Fire, Madonna, Sting, Prince, Phil Collins, Marcus Miller, Wayne Shorter and Victor Wooten. [1] [2] He is credited on multiple RIAA Gold and Platinum certified albums. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Brown has won 3 Grammy awards, one in the Best Contemporary Jazz Album category for his work as a producer and engineer on Stanley Clarke's 2010 album The Stanley Clarke Band [6] [7] and another one in the Best R&B Album category for his work as an engineer on John Legend's 2020 album Bigger Love. [8] He also won a Billboard Award for his work as a producer on the 1993 single “Love Is” by Vanessa Williams and Brian McKnight. [9] [10]

Early life and career

Brown's interest in recording technology started at a young age. At age 5, he received a tape recorder as a gift, which he used to record sounds around him. During his teenage years, Brown played the trombone for the Los Angeles High School band. The school band director invited Brown to work at his home studio and continued to mentor him in recording engineering after graduating high school. Brown was also raised Catholic and experienced choir music at his local parish. [11]

Brown obtained a degree at Sound Masters Recording Engineer School. In 1977, he started working at ABC Recording Studios in Los Angeles, organizing the studio's magnetic tapes. The studio was later known by the names Scott-Sunstorm Recording Studios, Concorde Recording Center and then Lion Share Studios. [12] Six months after he started working at Concorde, Brown was promoted to assistant engineer. There, he engineered Debra Law's album Very Special, produced by Ronnie Laws and Hubert Laws. [13] [14] Brown later became a freelance engineer in 1982. [15]

In 1988, Ed Eckstein, who at the time was president of Wing Records, hired Brown to mix the single "Lay Your Troubles Down" by Angela Winbush and Ronald Isley. The song peaked at Nr. 10 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. [16] In 1991, Brown worked on Vanessa William's album The Comfort Zone for PolyGram. [4] Brown continued working with Eckstein and moved to New York in 1992 when Eckstein became co-president of PolyGram. While in New York, Brown also worked on singles for Capitol Records. [17] He returned to Los Angeles in 1996. [15]

Brown engineered and mixed tracks on Alicia Keys' 2001 album Songs in A Minor . Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson was recording at the studio next to Brown. Questlove describes Brown's recording sessions: "Gerry is world famous for his all-year-round Christmas decorations during his sessions". [18]

Brown currently works with engineer Bobby Campbell under the name "Mixed by Humanz". They mixed John Legend's 2020 album Bigger Love , produced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the mobility limitations due to the pandemic, Brown and Campbell mixed the album in their home studios, working remotely. [2]

Selected credits

Albums and singles

YearAlbum/SingleArtistRole
1971Salisbury Uriah Heep Producer
1978 Here, My Dear Marvin Gaye Producer, engineer, mixer
1980 Don't Look Back Natalie Cole Engineer, remixer
1981Very Special Debra Laws Engineer
1987 Circumstantial Evidence Shalamar Engineer
1988"The Right Stuff" Vanessa Williams Engineer, mixer
1988"Silhouette" Kenny G Engineer
1989 Kenny G Live Kenny G Engineer
1990 The Revival Tony! Toni! Toné! Engineer, Mixer
1991 The Comfort Zone Vanessa Williams Producer, vocal arranger, engineer, mixer
1992Mastertouch Torsten de Winkel Engineer
1992 Brian McKnight Brian McKnight Producer, composer, background vocals, engineer, mixer
1992 Beverly Hills, 90210 Original TV Soundtrack -Producer
1993 Sons of Soul Tony! Toni! Toné! Engineer, mixer
1994 Storyteller Crystal Waters Engineer
1994 Sweetest Days Vanessa Williams Producer, composer, arranger, mixer
1996 Star Bright Vanessa Williams Producer, arranger, engineer
1996 House of Music Tony! Toni! Toné! Engineer, mixer
1997 Still Waters Bee Gees Engineer, mixer
1997 Lo Mejor de Mí Cristian Castro Engineer
1998 Never Say Never Brandy Mixer
1999"Almost Doesn't Count" Brandy Mixer
2001 Songs in A Minor Alicia Keys Engineer, Mixer
2002 3D TLC Mixer
2003All Hits at the House of Blues Raphael Saadiq Engineer
2004 Complex Simplicity Teedra Moses Engineer
2005 Illumination Earth, Wind & Fire Engineer
2007 The Toys of Men Stanley Clarke Engineer
2008Thunder SMV Engineer, mixer
2008 The Way I See It Raphael Saadiq Engineer
2010 The Stanley Clarke Band Stanley Clarke Producer, engineer
2011 Stone Rollin' Raphael Saadiq Engineer
2014Up Stanley Clarke Engineer, mixer
2017 War & Leisure Miguel Mixer
2017 Strength of a Woman Mary J. Blige Engineer, mixer
2018 A Legendary Christmas John Legend Mixer
2019 Jimmy Lee Raphael Saadiq Engineer
2020 Bigger Love John Legend Mixer

[1]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Gerry Brown | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  2. 1 2 Andy Jones21 July 2020 (21 July 2020). "Mixed by Humanz on mixing John Legend's new album in lockdown: "Mixing at really low levels in the bedroom, you discover a different style"". MusicRadar. Retrieved 2020-07-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ "RIAA Gold & Platinum". www.riaa.com.
  4. 1 2 "Audio Track". Billboard. 1992-07-18.
  5. ↑ "Evening at Pops 2004: Vanessa Williams". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  6. ↑ "Gerry "The Gov" Brown". GRAMMY.com. 2019-11-19. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  7. ↑ "53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards". Grammy.com.
  8. ↑ "63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards". GRAMMY.com. 2020-12-15. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  9. ↑ "Whitney Houston big winner at Billboard Music Awards". UPI. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  10. ↑ "Billboard Charts Archive". Billboard .
  11. ↑ Sam. "Bernadette Cooper & Gerry Brown [Artist & Engineer] | Speakhertz - Talk Audio" . Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  12. ↑ Cash Box. March 1980.
  13. ↑ "Audio Track". Billboard. 1980-08-02.
  14. ↑ Very Special - Debra Laws | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic , retrieved 2020-07-11
  15. 1 2 Sam. "Bernadette Cooper & Gerry Brown [Artist & Engineer] | Speakhertz - Talk Audio" . Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  16. ↑ "Angela Winbush". Billboard. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  17. ↑ "Audio Track". Billboard. 1987-12-26.
  18. ↑ Thompson, Ahmir "Questlove"; Greenman, Ben (2013-06-18). Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN   978-1-4555-0136-6.
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