John Jones Music

The great English recording engineer, mixer, producer, studio manager, designer and builder, Bill Price, has passed away after a long illness.

Bill Price

Bill was AIR Studio, Oxford Street’s, chief engineer, from their opening in 1970, until he took over at Wessex Studio, in 1976. He began his career at Decca in the mid 1960’s. Bill, recorded, mixed, and or produced, many of my favorite recordings, including  Without You, by Harry Nilsson, London’s Calling, by The Clash, and the AIR recorded Live and Let Die, by Paul McCartney.

“As a staff engineer at Decca’s West Hampstead studios in the mid-’60s, Price recorded a string of worldwide hits for Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, and has been consistently associated with quality recordings and commercial success ever since. Tapped by George Martin and his partners for the position of chief engineer at the new AIR Studios facility in London’s West End, Price went on to revive Wessex Studios in the mid-’70s and recorded several of the most influential records of the decade, including albums by the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Pretenders. In the ’80s, Price worked with Pete Townshend, Elton John, the Jesus and Mary Chain and Big Audio Dynamite, among others, and the ’90s found him producing The Waterboys and mixing for the Stone Roses, The Cult, Robert Plant and Guns N’ Roses.”

from mixonline interview 2000

Bill also worked on David Bowie’s first album, Nilsson Schmilsson, Badfinger, Wings, Average White Band, Climax Blues Band, Mott the Hoople, Sex Pistols, Elton John, Pretenders, The Cult, Guns n Roses, Big Audio Dynamite, The Stone Roses, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, and many more!

1970’s AIR Studios advert with Bill Price at the Neve.

I met Bill in the late 1980’s, at AIR Studios, where he was often working in studio 1 with Chris Thomas.

Bill recorded Charlie Morgan on drums, in studio 1, for our AKAI  AIR Sessions, that Dee Long and I produced in 1987, for the AKAI S1000 sampler library.

Part 1 of the BILL PRICE Interview from mixonline

Part 2 of the BILL PRICE interview from mixonline

I had an emotional, amazing, and fantastic, week in London, for the Sir George Martin APRS luncheon in Kensington. Faces from the past were in full attendance! It was a beautiful lunch, hosted by Paul Gambaccini, that was followed by a warm evening, across the street, at the Prince of Wales pub, and finally at a late night restaurant with many 214 Oxford street AIR Studios friends in attendance. Yes Dave Harries, Malcolm and I had the traditional AIR Studios “American” margarita’s in your honour!

APRS celebrates the life of Sir George Martin