|
While Rubin did do a few things on the KING OF ROCK *album*, it was limited to mixing and a bit of guitar. There was a very clear distinction between Rick Rubin's duties at Def Jam and what he did with Run-DMC. By the time Rubin started doing tracks for Run-DMC, he was also producing Slayer.
That also coincided with working with Public Enemy, who already had their set of producers (including Chuck D., a/k/a "Carl Ryder"). Rubin's role with P.E. was "executive producer", and in many ways, that helped to divide the roles on who did what on a hip-hop album. Rubin's "executive producer" credit is equal to what some producers in other genres do, and that is to "oversee" a project. Sometimes, it's the engineer and/or co-producers who may do the actual work on the tapes or files, while the producer will run it through, tweak a few things, and go "this will pass".
Also in hip-hop, there can sometimes be a clear distinction between the producer and the person who built the beat, or created the instrumentation. Diddy is a perfect example of someone who had taken credit, but he had ghost producers and beat makers. We now know this to be true with Kanye West as well, which is why the publishing in his songs have 10 to 15 people deep. With Public Enemy, you had Chuck D., Bill Stephney, Hank & Keith Boxley (Shocklee) handling the core of what you hear. They were and are the true producers and beatmakers.
That's not saying Rubin didn't do a damn thing in his productions, he did. First LL album: Rubin. Second LL album: you must add in people like Rod Hui, Jay Henry, Mark Mandelbaum, Chuck Valle, and Steve Ett. Russell Simmons played the role of "executive producer" on
BIGGER AND DEFFER.
Even with The Cult, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Dixie Chicks, you can arguably say that Rubin was the man who wanted to capture a "vibe". In other genres, that is exactly what a producer does, in the old school "traditional" sense. Ever wondered why there weren't any producers credited on jazz albums on Impulse? RVG. He considered himself the engineer, not a producer, yet it was he who captured the "vibe" and "essence" of everything that was going on in that New Jersey room. In terms of The Beatles, that's not to say that Sir George Martin didn't do anything, because he did. He was the keen ear, and arguably gave The Beatles a healthy slice of musicality that the group did not start out with. Yet Martin would be nothing with out Norman Smith, Geoff Emerick, Ken Townshend, Chris Thomas and so many others.
Hell, Trevor Horn, one of the greatest producers ever. The core of some of his best productions in the first half of the 1980's was due to his production "theam": Jonathan Jeczalik, Anne Dudley, and Gary Langan. These three people were the Art Of Noise, who made "Buffalo Gals", ABC's "The Look Of Love", "Beat Box", "Owner Of A Lonely Heart", "Leave It", "Close (To The Edit)", and "Moments In Love". In essence, Horn's participation seems minimal but he was the overseer, the ear that was able to edit where his team could not.
My point is, it's great to have someone who can be a producer, be it in the traditional sense of an "overseer", or someone who actually had a hand in creating the beat and developed the sound and vibe of a song from start to finish. However, the best producers will always have a team of people, even if it means two or three assistants, the "outside ears" that help make the producer who he is. As a former news producer, it's equal to someone like me whose role was to butter up the image of the news anchor. We are the ones selecting, writing, and positioning the stories, but it's the anchor who takes all the glory and the blame. The anchor will get the attention, everyone below him will not. That is exactly how it is in music, at least in the U.S. Meanwhile, you could carry this conversation on to England and I'm certain they'll tell you not only who came up with the snares, but also who selected the reverb and how far the ambient mic was before they decided to use an outdated plug-in.
THE HOME OF BOOK-NESS:
http://www.thisisbooksmusic.com/
http://twitter.com/thisisjohnbook
http://www.facebook.com/book1
http://i32.tinypic.com/kbewp4.gif
http://i50.tinypic.com/hvqi4w.jpg
|
Printer-friendly copy 
Email this topic to a friend
The Lesson
