Richard Landis is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
studio musician
Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
,
recording artist
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
,
singer/songwriter
A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted thr ...
, and
music 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 ...
. He has over 40 years of professional credits and chart success including a share of the 1994
CMA award
The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...
for Album of the Year. At years end,
''Billboard'' ranked Landis 18th of the top 25 producers in country music. Landis has production tenure with several acclaimed
labels
A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...
including
Capitol
A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity.
Specific capitols include:
* United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
* Numerous ...
,
Columbia, and
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
. In 2007 Landis opened his own studio in
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
called Fool on the Hill and as of 2013 engineers and produces music there. His accomplishments include musical credits with acts like
Van Stephenson
Van Wesley Stephenson (November 4, 1953 – April 8, 2001) was an American singer-songwriter. He scored three US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hits in the 1980s as a solo artist, and later became tenor vocalist in the country music band BlackHawk in t ...
,
Eddie Rabbitt
Edward Thomas Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as "Kentucky Rain" ...
,
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...
,
Lorrie Morgan
Loretta Lynn Morgan (born June 27, 1959) is an American country music singer and actress. She is the daughter of George Morgan, widow of Keith Whitley, and ex-wife of Jon Randall and Sammy Kershaw, all of whom are also country music singers. Mo ...
,
Doug Supernaw
Douglas Anderson Supernaw (September 26, 1960November 13, 2020) was an American country music artist. After several years performing as a local musician throughout the state of Texas, he signed with BNA Records in 1993.
Supernaw released four st ...
,
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...
,
Poco
Poco was an American country rock band originally formed in 1968 after the demise of Buffalo Springfield. Guitarists Richie Furay and Jim Messina, former members of Buffalo Springfield, were joined by multi-instrumentalist Rusty Young, bassi ...
, and
Vince Gill
Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist b ...
. He has production credits from
Juice Newton
Judith Kay "Juice" Newton (born February 18, 1952) is an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Newton has received five Grammy Award nominations in the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categorieswinning once in 1983as well ...
to
Red Rider
Red Rider, later known as Tom Cochrane & Red Rider, is a Canadians, Canadian Rock music, rock band popular in the 1980s. While they achieved significant success in Canada, the band never had a song in the top 40 in the United States, although "L ...
and
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country rock band formed in 1966. The group has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California. Between 1976 and 1981, the band performed and recorded as the Dirt Band.
Constant ...
.
History
Richard Landis attended
The High School of Music & Art
The High School of Music & Art, informally known as "Music & Art" (or "M&A"), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High ...
and is a member of the graduating class of 1962. He is an accomplished pianist and was called "one devil of a piano player" by Bob Glassenberg in a
''Billboard'' article.
In 1970, Richard Landis formed an acoustic blues band with
Spencer Davis
Spencer Davis (born Spencer David Nelson Davies; 17 July 193919 October 2020) was a Welsh singer and musician. He founded The Spencer Davis Group, a band that had several hits in the 1960s including "Keep On Running", "Gimme Some Lovin'", and ...
and Peter Jameson. They released ''It's Been So Long'' on
Mediarts and the
band
Band or BAND may refer to:
Places
*Bánd, a village in Hungary
*Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania
*Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...
toured with
POCO
Poco was an American country rock band originally formed in 1968 after the demise of Buffalo Springfield. Guitarists Richie Furay and Jim Messina, former members of Buffalo Springfield, were joined by multi-instrumentalist Rusty Young, bassi ...
in 1971. ''It's Been So Long'' was produced by Jay Sentor who spotted Landis' talent and announced his plans to produce a Landis album. He said in a ''Billboard'' article that he "planned to cut that heavy piano player in the Davis & Jameson group as a solo performer, backed by a nine-piece band."
In 1972, Richard Landis released his solo album ''Natural Causes'' to a mixed reception and limited success. The album produced two singles, "A Man Who Sings" and "Natural Causes" which peaked on the
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
charts at 35 and 40 respectively. 1972 saw Landis' first commercial production credit as well. He produced
Peter Allen's second album,
''Tenterfield Saddler'', released on
Metromedia
Metromedia (also often MetroMedia) was an American media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in 1956 after the DuMo ...
. Landis also appeared on the album with musician credits.
In 1978, Richard Landis was named West Coast director, talent acquisition for
Capitol records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
based in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. Landis previously held an identical position in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
as East Coast director.
In 1981, Richard Landis began producing music for
Juice Newton
Judith Kay "Juice" Newton (born February 18, 1952) is an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Newton has received five Grammy Award nominations in the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categorieswinning once in 1983as well ...
. They released her multi-platinum album,
''Juice'' which charted two #1 singles and one #2. In an interview Juice Newton cited her lucky break as being the day she met Richard Landis: "I believe that hooking up with Richard Landis who produced those first big hits on the Juice LP (
Queen of Hearts
The queen of hearts is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck.
Queen of Hearts or The Queen of Hearts may refer to:
Books
* "The Queen of Hearts" (poem), anonymous nursery rhyme published 1782
* ''The Queen of Hearts'', an 1859 novel by ...
,
Angel in the Morning) was my lucky break." That same year, he produced Red Ryder's classic rock hit "Lunatic Fringe."
While living in Los Angeles, Landis owned and operated a recording studio, called The Grey Room, in his house, where artists like
Vince Gill
Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist b ...
,
Tori Amos
Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...
,
Joan Armatrading
Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, (, born 9 December 1950) is a Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist.
A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received ...
,
Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...
, and
The Smithereens
The Smithereens are an American rock band from Carteret, New Jersey, United States. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio (vocals & guitar), Jim Babjak (guitar & vocals), Mike Mesaros (bass guitar & vocals), and Dennis Diken (drums & ...
recorded and mixed their albums. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a battle between the legitimate studio owners in LA, who had to pay all the overheads a business incurs, and the new breed of high-end home studios. They came after Landis and shut him down. So he made a deal with Jim David (
Hal David
Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick.
Early life
David ...
's son) and built a duplicate of the Grey Room in a space in Jim David's One on One studios in North Hollywood. In 2012, it became 17 Hertz.
In 1992, Richard Landis was the VP of
A&R for
BNA Records
BNA Records, formerly known as BNA Entertainment, was a label group that shared ties with Arista Nashville and RCA Nashville from parent company Sony Music Nashville, which itself is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Nashville, T ...
.
Lorrie Morgan
Loretta Lynn Morgan (born June 27, 1959) is an American country music singer and actress. She is the daughter of George Morgan, widow of Keith Whitley, and ex-wife of Jon Randall and Sammy Kershaw, all of whom are also country music singers. Mo ...
left
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
and joined BNA to remain with Landis. Landis left his position with BNA in 1993 but continued to produce for the label on an independent basis, continuing his affiliation as a consultant.
In May 1994, Landis produced Lorrie Morgan's top 10 album,
''War Paint''. He also co-wrote "
If You Come Back From Heaven" which was one of the three singles released. It entered the ''Billboard'' country charts in June 1994 and peaked at #51. Also in 1994 Landis was one of 14 producers to receive a CMA Album of the Year award for ''
Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles''. Landis produced the last track on the album, Lorrie Morgan's cover of "The Sad Café". ''Billboard's'' end of year special edition ranked the top 25 country music producers of 1994. Landis was placed eighteenth on the list, having produced 11 charted hits for that year.
From 1993 to 2000, Landis and
James Stroud
James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in pop, rock, R&B, soul, disco, and country music. He played with the Malaco Rhythm Section for Malaco Records. In the 1990s, he was the president of Giant Records (a subsidiar ...
co-owned a major recording studio in Nashville called Loud Recording, as well as an overdub and mixing suite next door called Too Loud.
In 2010, Richard Landis was nominated for the
CMAA Album of the Year for production of
Adam Brand's ''
Hell of a Ride'', an album which peaked at #19 on the
ARIA Charts
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
.
CMAA Country Music Awards finalists announced
November 13, 2009, ABCcountry
Discography
The table at right shows the breakdown of recordings in Richard Landis' production discography. All titles list Landis as either a musician, composer, and/or producer. For details see the main discography linked above.
References
External links
Contact information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Landis, Richard
American country record producers
Dunhill Records artists
RCA Records artists
Capitol Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Living people
The High School of Music & Art alumni
Record producers from New York (state)
Year of birth missing (living people)