Bruce Botnick (born 1945) is an American

audio engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, best known for his work with

the Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

Eddie Money Edward Joseph Mahoney (March 21, 1949 – September 13, 2019), known professionally as Eddie Money, was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including "Baby Hold On", "Two Tickets to Parad ...

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

and film composer

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the Rambo (franchise) ...

Early work

Botnick engineered Love's first two albums, and co-produced their third album, ''

Forever Changes ''Forever Changes'' is the third studio album by the American rock band Love, released by Elektra Records in November 1967. The album saw the group embrace a subtler folk-oriented sound and orchestration, while primary songwriter Arthur Lee ex ...

'', with the band's singer-songwriter, Arthur Lee. He also is listed as the one of two recording engineers on the 1965

Curtis Amy Curtis Amy (October 11, 1929 – June 5, 2002) was an American jazz saxophonist. Biography Amy was born in Houston, Texas, United States. He learned how to play clarinet before joining the Army, and during his time in service, picked up the teno ...

LP ''The Sounds of Broadway - The Sounds of Hollywood'' - said to have been released in 1965, although it also has been said to have been released earlier. The LP back cover (liner notes) are written by Curtis Amy, where he formally thanks Bruce Botnick for his work on the recordings.

The Doors

Botnick audio engineered the Doors' studio recordings starting with their first album in 1966. In November 1970 he took over production of The Doors' ''

L.A. Woman ''L.A. Woman'' is the sixth studio album by the American rock band the Doors, released on April 19, 1971, by Elektra Records. It is the last to feature lead singer Jim Morrison during his lifetime due to his death three months after the albu ...

'' album, their last with lead singer

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredicta ...

, after the band's long-serving producer Paul A. Rothchild fell out with the band over the album's direction. According to

Robby Krieger Robert Alan Krieger (born January 8, 1946) is an American guitarist and founding member of the rock band the Doors. Krieger wrote or co-wrote many of the Doors' songs, including the hits "Light My Fire", "Love Me Two Times", " Touch Me", and "L ...

it was Botnick's idea to record the album at the Doors rehearsal space where they were more comfortable and used to the sound, rather than at a more costly recording studio.

Additional work

Botnick has a credit as assistant engineer on

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

' ''

Let It Bleed ''Let It Bleed'' is the eighth British and tenth American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released 28 November 1969 on London Records in the United States and shortly thereafter by Decca Records in the United Kingdom. ...

'' album. He later produced

's first two albums, ''

'' in 1977 and '' Life for the Taking'' in 1978. Botnick also produced two albums for Paul Collins' rock group The Beat, including 1979's ''The Beat'' and 1982's ''The Kids Are The Same''. He also co-produced

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His ...

’ 1982 album, ''

High Adventure ''High Adventure'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins, released in September 1982. It is best known for its top 40 pop singles " Heart to Heart", " Heartlight" and " Don't Fight It"; the latter was co-writte ...

''. Botnick had a long-running association with film composer

as his scoring mixer. Botnick first met Goldsmith on 1979's '' Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' and they worked together on most of Goldsmith's film projects - numbering over 100 - from the 1980s through to Goldsmith's death in 2004. He also engineered at least two of

Lonnie Mack Lonnie McIntosh (July 18, 1941 – April 21, 2016), known as Lonnie Mack, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was an influential trailblazer of blues rock music and rock guitar soloing. Mack emerged in 1963 with his breakthroug ...

's late-1960s Elektra albums, and is credited as Re-Recording Mixer for the movie Gremlins.

References

External links

*
Interview on ''Forever Changes'' album

Bruce Botnick Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2017) American audio engineers Record producers from California Grammy Award winners Living people 1945 births Place of birth missing (living people) People from Los Angeles {{US-record-producer-stub