Norman Smith (22 February 1923 – 3 March 2008) was an English musician, record producer and engineer. In the 1960s, he notably engineered all of the Beatles' EMI studio recordings up to the end of 1965 and produced three Pink Floyd albums including their first, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967). He later had a successful recording career as Hurricane Smith, achieving a transatlantic hit single with "Oh Babe, What Would You Say" in 1972.

Early life

Smith was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, and served as an RAF glider pilot during World War II. Smith began pursuing his interest in music after the war, playing drums and piano with several trad jazz combos. After an unsuccessful career as a jazz trumpeter and struggling as a session pianist and drummer, Smith joined EMI as an apprentice sound engineer in 1959.

Career as producer and engineer

Smith was the engineer on all of the EMI studio recordings by the Beatles until the autumn of 1965, Smith engineered the sound for almost 100 Beatles songs.

As a reference to Smith's amiable and calm demeanor, John Lennon bestowed upon him the nickname of "Normal" and eventually Smith referenced this directly in the title of his self-published autobiography.

In early 1967, he began working with Pink Floyd, During the sessions for the song "Remember a Day", drummer Nick Mason became agitated that he could not come up with the right drum part for the song. Smith, however, knew what he wanted with the drums, so he played the part himself. Smith additionally contributed backing vocals to their song "Paint Box" in what engineer Ken Scott described as Smith's "entry into singing on record".

In 1968, Smith produced one of the first rock concept albums, The Pretty Things' S. F. Sorrow.

Recording career as "Hurricane Smith"

In 1971, Smith, using a recording artist pseudonym of Hurricane Smith, had a UK No. 2 hit with "Don't Let It Die". This recording was a demo of a song that he had written with the hope that John Lennon would record it. When he played it for fellow record producer Mickie Most, Most was impressed enough to tell him to release it as it was. In 1972, he enjoyed a transatlantic hit with "Oh Babe, What Would You Say", which became a US No. 1 Cash Box and a Billboard Pop No. 3 hit. It reached No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart.

In 2004, Smith released a new CD, From Me to You (SFMCD030), featuring new recordings of his biggest self-penned hits, "Don't Let It Die" and "Oh Babe, What Would You Say". Included in the liner notes were messages from Sir Paul McCartney and members of Pink Floyd.<!-- Interviews on the disc can be cited to confirm the information given above. -->

In 2011, a snippet of Smith's "Don't Let It Die" was included in the soundtrack of Tomas Alfredson's 2011 film adaptation of John le Carré's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Memoir

Smith wrote a memoir, entitled John Lennon Called Me Normal.

! scope="col" style="text-align:center; width:3em;" | IRE<br />

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| 1971

! scope="row" |"Don't Let It Die"

| style="text-align:center;" | 2 || 54 || 9 || 8 || 14 || -

|-

| 1972

! scope="row" | "Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?"

| style="text-align:center;" | 4 || 13 || 10 || 9 || - || 3

|-

|rowspan="2" | 1973

! scope="row" | "Who Was It?"

| style="text-align:center;" | 23 || 30 || - || - || - || 49

|-

! scope="row" | "My Mother Was Her Name"

| style="text-align:center;" | -|| 95|| - || - || - || -

|}

See also

  • List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States

Notes

Further reading

  • Martin, George, with Hornsby, Jeremy (1980). All You Need Is Ears. New York: St. Martin's Press.
  • Norman Smith: The Beatles First Engineer
  • Norman "Hurricane" Smith Interview
  • One Of Norman Smith's Last Interviews On XM Radio
  • Obituary: The Independent
  • Obituary: The Times
  • Photos of Hurricane Smith's Challen baby grand piano