Rory Doyle/WireImageGeoff Emerick, best known as the chief recording engineer on some of The Beatles’ groundbreaking albums, died of an apparent heart attack on Tuesday, according to his manager. He was 72.
In a statement obtained by Variety, manager William Zabaleta said that while sharing a phone conversation Emerick, “had complications and dropped the phone.” Adds Zabaleta, “I called 911, but by the time they got there, it was too late.”
Zabaleta says Emerick “suffered from heart problems for a long time and had a pacemaker.”
Born in 1945, Emerick began working as an assistant engineer at Abbey Road at age 15, later working on early Beatles’ hits like “Love Me Do”, “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “She Loves You,” and “A Hard Day’s Night.” He went on to become the band’s chief engineer, guiding the Beatles classic albums Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band — for which he earned a Grammy — The White Album and Abbey Road as well as the group’s two-sided hit “Penny Lane”/”Strawberry Fields Forever.”
Emerick’s other work included Paul McCartney and Wings’ Band on the Run, as well as albums by Elvis Costello, Badfinger, Supertramp, Cheap Trick and America, among others.
Upon hearing of Emerick’s death, former Wings member Denny Laine tweeted, “Our condolences to his family. Geoff was a brilliant engineer and a fine man.”
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