Russ Terrana

Last updated

Russ Terrana
Occupation Recording engineer
Labels Motown Records

Russ Terrana is an American recording engineer and sound mixer who worked at Motown Records for 18 years, serving as the label's chief engineer.

Contents

Early life and education

Terrana developed an interest in music at a young age, forming a band with his twin brother, Ralph, and a friend when he was ten years old. Terrana later received a degree in electronic engineering, which provided him with a technical foundation for his career in music production. [1]

Career

At age 23, Motown hired Terrana on the spot after his interview in 1966, and he began to develop his audio engineering skills. He quickly gained the trust of Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown, and rose to become the label's chief recording engineer. During his 18 years at Motown, Terrana recorded numerous artists, including Diana Ross, The Supremes, The Jackson 5, and Stevie Wonder. [1] [2] [3] [4]

In 1983, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Film Sound Mixing for a Limited Series or a Special for his work on The Eddie Rabbitt Special. In 1985, he won the Emmy for Outstanding Live and Tape Sound Mixing and Sound Effects for a Limited Series or Special for his work on Motown Returns to the Apollo. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Funkadelic</i> (album) 1970 studio album by Funkadelic

Funkadelic is the debut album by the American funk rock band Funkadelic, released in 1970 on Westbound Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Supremes</span> American Motown female singing group

The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful American vocal band, with 12 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Most of these hits were written and produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland. It is said that their breakthrough made it possible for future African-American R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success. Billboard ranked the Supremes as the 16th greatest Hot 100 artist of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana Ross</span> American singer (born 1944)

Diana Ross is an American singer and actress. She was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. They remain the best-charting female group in history, with a total of 12 number-one pop singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, including "Where Did Our Love Go", "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", "Stop! In the Name of Love", "You Keep Me Hangin' On", and "Love Child".

Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered.

<i>Hot Buttered Soul</i> 1969 studio album by Isaac Hayes

Hot Buttered Soul is the second studio album by American soul musician Isaac Hayes. Released in 1969, it is recognized as a landmark in soul music. Recorded with The Bar-Kays, the album features four lengthy tracks, including a 12-minute version of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David cover "Walk On By" and an almost 19-minute long version of Jimmy Webb's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix;" both songs were edited significantly and released as a double A-side single in July 1969.

<i>G.I.T. on Broadway</i> 1969 soundtrack album by Diana Ross & The Supremes and The Temptations

G.I.T. on Broadway, also known as Diana Ross and The Supremes and The Temptations on Broadway, is a 1969 television special produced by Motown Productions and George Schlatter-Ed Friendly Productions. The special, a follow-up to 1968's successful TCB program, is a musical revue starring Motown's two most popular groups at the time, Diana Ross and The Supremes with the Temptations. Containing primarily Broadway showtunes, the special was taped in mid-1969 and originally broadcast November 12, 1969 on NBC. Like TCB, the title of the program was derived from an acronym, this one standing for "Gettin' It Together".

<i>Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever</i> 1983 television special

Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever is a 1983 television special, produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown, to commemorate its 25th anniversary. The program was taped before a live audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California on March 25, 1983, and broadcast on NBC on May 16. Among its highlights were Michael Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean", Smokey Robinson's reunion with the Miracles, a Temptations / Four Tops "battle of the bands", Marvin Gaye's inspired speech about black music history and his memorable performance of "What's Going On", a Jackson 5 reunion, and an abbreviated reunion of Diana Ross & the Supremes, who performed their final #1 hit, "Someday We'll Be Together" from 1969. The show was written by Buz Kohan, Ruth Robinson, and de Passe. The broadcast was watched by over 47 million viewers.

<i>Lady Sings the Blues</i> (soundtrack) 1972 soundtrack album by Diana Ross

Lady Sings the Blues is the soundtrack to the Billie Holiday biopic of the same name, which starred Diana Ross in her 1972 screen debut. It became Ross' first #1 album, though the only one as a solo artist. It was certified gold in the UK for sales of over 100,000 copies. It was the fourth best-selling R&B album and fifth best-selling Pop album of 1973 in the US.

<i>Diana & Marvin</i> 1973 studio album by Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye

Diana & Marvin is a duets album by American soul musicians Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, released October 26, 1973 on Motown. Recording sessions for the album took place between 1971 and 1973 at Motown Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. Gaye and Ross were widely recognized at the time as two of the top pop music performers.

<i>Diana</i> (album) 1980 album by Diana Ross

Diana is the eleventh studio album by American R&B singer Diana Ross, released on May 22, 1980, by Motown Records. The album is the best-selling studio album of Ross's career, spawning three international hit singles, including the number-one hit "Upside Down".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hal Davis</span> American songwriter and record producer

Harold Edward Davis was an American songwriter and record producer. Davis was a producer and writer for Motown Records for nearly thirty years, and was a key figure in the latter part of the Motown career of The Jackson 5.

<i>Stoney & Meatloaf</i> 1971 studio album by Stoney & Meatloaf

Stoney and Meatloaf is the only album by Stoney & Meatloaf, a collaboration between Meat Loaf and female vocalist Shaun Murphy, released in 1971 on the Motown subsidiary label Rare Earth. Meat Loaf and Murphy met while performing with the Detroit cast of Hair.

<i>Meet The Supremes</i> 1962 studio album by The Supremes

Meet the Supremes is the debut studio album by The Supremes, released in late 1962 on Motown.

"For Once in My Life" is a song written by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden for Motown Records' Stein & Van Stock publishing company, and first recorded in 1965.

<i>Ross</i> (1978 album) 1978 studio album by Diana Ross

Ross is the ninth studio album by American singer Diana Ross, released in September 1978 by Motown Records. The album served as a new album and a compilation, as it was a mixture of old and new songs. Side A consisting of four new tracks recorded in 1978, and Side B of material recorded by Ross between 1971 and 1975, but remixed and/or extended by Motown in-house producer Russ Terrana specifically for the Ross album. Ross peaked at number 49 on the US Pop Albums chart, and number 32 on Black Albums. The album failed to chart in the UK. Its final US sales figures stood at around 150,000 copies. The cover illustration was by Rickey Ricardo Gaskins. A different album also titled Ross was released on the RCA label in 1983.

<i>Workin Overtime</i> 1989 studio album by Diana Ross

Workin' Overtime is the eighteenth studio album by American singer Diana Ross, released on June 6, 1989, by Motown Records. Her first Motown album with new material since To Love Again (1981) after a short stint with RCA Records, Ross reunited with frequent collaborator Nile Rodgers, chief producer of her most successful album to date diana (1980), to make this album which was an attempt to gear her to a much younger audience bringing in new jack swing productions and house music.

<i>Blue</i> (Diana Ross album) 2006 studio album by Diana Ross

Blue, originally titled The Blue Album, is a studio album by American singer Diana Ross. Initially recorded between late 1971 and early 1972, it was released as Ross' twenty-third studio album by Motown Records on June 20, 2006. Overseen by Ross' musical director Gil Askey, the jazz-flavoured album was originally conceived as a follow-up to her soundtrack to the 1972 American biographical drama film Lady Sings the Blues in which Ross starred. Berry Gordy and Motown subsequently decided to shelve the album, and Ross' next release was the more pop-oriented Touch Me in the Morning (1973) album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buttered Popcorn</span> 1961 single by The Supremes

"Buttered Popcorn" is a 1961 song written by Motown executives Berry Gordy and Barney Ales, produced by Gordy, and released as a Tamla label single by Motown singing group The Supremes. It was the group's second single after signing with Motown Records as well as their second, and last, single for the Tamla label, before moving to the Motown label.

Motown Chartbusters is a series of compilation albums first released by EMI under licence on the Tamla Motown label in Britain. In total, 12 editions were released in the UK between 1967 and 1982. Volumes 1 and 2 were originally called British Motown Chartbusters; after this the title Motown Chartbusters was used.

Gilbert Askey was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, producer and musical director who was born in Austin, Texas, and emigrated to Australia in 1988.

References

  1. 1 2 Bisel, Rob (2015). "Chief Engineer of Motown: Russ Terrana Shares 18 Years of Recording for the Iconic Label". Tape Op Magazine. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
  2. Fumo, Dante; Handley, Joel (September 26, 2019). "Video: What Makes Motown Sound Like Motown?". reverb.com. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
  3. Chick, Stevie (October 8, 2014). "Diana Ross & the Supremes: 10 of the best". The Guardian. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
  4. Stavropoulos, Laura (April 21, 2017). "Diana Ross's Landmark 'diana' Chic Mix Finally On Vinyl". uDiscover Music. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
  5. "Russ Terrana". Television Academy. Retrieved September 20, 2024.