Tag Archives: abbey road to ziggy stardust

Uncle Joe Benson on Ken Scott’s Book – Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust

Posted on November 4, 2012 by JW Najarian | Leave a comment

Legendary Classic Rock Historian and Disk Jockey “Uncle” Joe Benson Interviews Legendary Music Engineer, Producer, Manager and Author Ken Scott and His Book Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust…

[youtube=http://youtu.be/ARCfT0NTDAI]

What a great night.. I got to hang out at The Grove outdoor mall next to the famed Los Angeles Farmers Market and the CBS Networks Studio to hear one of the most prolific classic rock interviewers of all time, Joe Benson.

I was able to record the whole interview and got to speak with Joe about Ken. For the full video see below.

I have grown up listening to Uncle Joe Benson and have enjoyed his radio show, interviews, his record guide, his specials like Continue reading →

Devon Blaine SoCal Publicist of the Year on Professional PR and Crisis Intervention

Posted on October 31, 2012 by JW Najarian | 1 comment

Devon Blaine, founder and owner of The Blaine Group in Beverly Hills

Talks to OPM about her award for publicist of the year, The business of professional public relations, business, promotional and marketing strategy and the Blaine Groups specialty in crisis planning, control, intervention and management.

Devon Blaine Audio Interview on her life, career, PR, promotion, winning publicist of the year and crisis management

►Right Click and “Save Link As” to Download File◄

NOTE: There was one question, on the recording that was asked,but somehow did not get recorded. The question was about women having to work harder to build a business. Devon answered that she did not believe that to be true….. Listen to the audio to hear her full answer.

One of the things I like about what I do is meeting and working with public relations professionals. I have been blessed to work with some big names and many smaller companies.

The other side of that coin is that I have also worked with many companies that call themselves professionals, but only seem to be playing at it. Public relations, I have found, can rarely be faked. They say even a blind squirrel can occasionally find a nut or two, but I have rarely seen a bad PR firm pull off a successful event or project.

What I have seen is that promotion is a tricky game and that you can never be sure that any effort will deliver a result, but you can be assured that no action or a half hearted stab at it will result in failure .

So when I get to work with firms like The Blaine Group, it just makes my day and my life easier. They are professionals that do what they say and say what they do and they work at under-promising and over-delivering, not the other way around.

I believe I have been blessed to know and work with people like Devon and her amazing staff and believe that if you are serious about your product, project, service or business, that you should seriously consider The Blaine Group or a firm that can and will deliver. – JW

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Devon Blaine

A professional communicator, Devon Blaine is the founder, president, and CEO of The Blaine Group, Inc., a total communications agency established in 1975, which was recently named the 24th largest public relations firm in Los Angeles.

She has represented many diverse business, manufacturing, financial and healthcare clients and several bestselling authors with their publicity needs, both promotional and as a crises intervention and management specialist.

Devon Blaine is experienced in all facets of the communications industry. She has written newspaper and magazine columns, scripted radio and television commercials, served as a production supervisor, strategized political issues and campaigns, developed and implemented investor relations plans, and created communications campaigns for a diverse range of clients.

Besides helping other businesses maximize their success, Blaine has long been active in numerous organizations that aid entrepreneurs, thus earning her reputation as “the entrepreneur’s entrepreneur.”

She is three times a past president of the Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA), a dynamic and diverse group composed of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and other money providers, and service providers which exists for the sole purpose of creating win‑win‑win situations amongst its members.

Devon is past president of the California chapter of National Small Business United, a grassroots leadership organization for free enterprise with the mission of improving the climate for small businesses in the United States. An elected delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business, she was active in the California delegation since 1978 and served on the Board of Directors of the 1980, 1982, and 1984 California State Conferences on Small Business. Blaine was appointed as a delegate to the 1986 White House Conference on Small Business by then U.S. Senator Pete Wilson, and elected by her peers to co‑chair the California delegation.

Additionally, she is a past president and a founding board member of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners and was honored as their Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in 1987. She is also an active member of the Los Angeles Angeles Mid-Market Professionals, TEAM, PRO, Bruin Professionals, Association of Venture Founders, the Chief Executive Officers’ Clubs, and the Public Relations Society of America.

In 2012 Devon Blaine was named Book Publicist of the Year by Book Publicists of Southern California specifically for the international campaign The Blaine Group waged on behalf of Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust by Ken Scott and Bobby Owsinski, Alfred Music Publishing.

In nine months, Ken Scott has had more than 150 exposures: interviews, reviews, book signings, speaking engagements, etc., including coverage in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, WGN, ABC, NBC, events at the GRAMMY Museum, The Beatle Fest and more… in short, a wildly intensive and effective campaign.

The Publicist of the Year Award also recognized the body of work her agency The Blaine Group has implemented through the years including representing four best sellers: Nice Girls Do: And You Can, Too, by Dr. Irene Kassorla; On A Clear Day You Can See General Motors, by J. Patrick Wright; Meg, by Steve Alten; and Natural Cures “They” Don’t Want You To Know About, by Kevin Trudeau.

The Blaine Group

Formerly an actress and model, Devon Blaine established The Blaine Group, a Beverly Hills‑based full‑service communications agency specializing in public relations, book public relations, financial public relations, investor relations, crisis management, the development of collateral material, marketing, and advertising in 1975. Since that time, the agency has expanded dramatically, creating successful communications campaigns for clients in diverse fields.

As a total communications agency, Blaine Group has implemented consumer, trade, and financial public relations; investor relations; and advertising efforts and have provided marketing strategy, based on conducting market research, for a diverse range of companies and organizations. They have also created and managed special events and fundraisers and have directed community relations projects.

In addition, The Blaine Group provides a variety of special communications services to its clients. These include managing crisis situations; conceiving and coordinating seminars and press conferences; event and party planning; developing master plans and collateral materials; proposal, article, letter, and speech writing; conducting surveys; and publishing newsletters and brochures. They both create and implement.

Today their client base encompasses a wide range of businesses and industries with particular emphasis on business-to-business communications, publicly-held companies, technology-based businesses, the medical and healthcare fields, environmental-related firms, consumer products, publishing, fashion and beauty, continuing education, non-profit organizations and trade associations, and the world of show business.

The Blaine Group, Inc.

A Total Communications Agency
8665 Wilshire Blvd., Suite #301, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
O 310/360-1499 · F 310/360-1498
E-mail: devon@blainegroupinc.com

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Tagged abbey road to ziggy stardust, agency, audio, author, award, book, book publicists of Southern California, boook, control, crisis, devon Blaine, entrepreneur, intervention, interview, j patrick wright, jw najarian, kevin trudeau, management, marketing, planning, PR, promotions, public relations, publicist of the year, publisher, Reputational Risk Management, Solutions, speaker, strategy, The Blaine Group, writer

Ken Scott – Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars

Posted on July 13, 2012 by JW Najarian | Leave a comment

Legendary Studio Engineer and Producer Ken Scott, Author Bobby Owsinski and VP of The Grammy Foundation and MusicCares Scott Goldman all talk about the book Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust and…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBmtut0BdlU]

The film Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars as they honor the 40 year anniversary of the album

If you liked this interview come and spend an evening with Ken Scott at the Grammy Museum at LA Live on July 19th in the theatre to see his complete presentation where he tells the stories about the Beatles, David Bowie, George Harrison, Missing Persons, Supertramp, Lou Reed and on and on. Ken will also allow you to listen to the tracks of some of the most popular stars broken down.

This music has not been heard this way before and this is the only place where you will be able to hear it

Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust: The Talk
With Producer Ken Scott

Thursday, July 19, 2012; 7:30pm
Presented by American Express

The GRAMMY Museum
800 W. Olympic Blvd., Ste. A245
Los Angeles, CA 90015 USA
213.765.6800 (ext.3 for Group Tours)
grammyinfo@grammymuseum.org

To Get Tickets of More Information:

Contact
Phone: 213.765.6803
Email: boxoffice@grammymuseum.org

http://www.grammymuseum.org/interior.php?section=tickets&page=ticketsindex

What a wonderful night it was in downtown Los Angeles. The weather was perfect at LA Live and huge crowds of people from the LMFAO concert and the incredible E-3 convention were all walking around the various restaurants and shops.

I was invited to watch music studio engineer and producer Ken Scott who co-produced and engineered 4 of David Bowie’s albums and also helped engineer the sound for the David Bowie movie, answer questions about David, the album and the movie after a showing of the movie in the Grammy Museum, Clive Davis Theatre.

It was so awesome sitting in the green room where I set up the camera as Scott Goldman, Ken Scott and Bobby Owsinski sat and talked all about the backstage stuff.. Ever hear of being a fly on the wall? The pianist from the movie Mike Garson came in all of them talking made for one “Once in a Lifetime Experience”.

The movie is, of course, dated compared to what you see today, but it was excellently done with tons of backstage footage and dialog to really give you the feel of the whole experience.

Ken, Scott and Bobby were wonderful and gave great interviews. I would like to thank Devon Blaine of the Blaine Group and the guys for a wonderful evening. – JW

Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars Film

From Wikipedia

Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is a 1973 documentary and concert movie by D.A. Pennebaker. It features David Bowie and his backing group The Spiders from Mars performing at the Hammersmith Odeon, July 3, 1973. The DVD release was later retitled Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture.

Background

Bowie had taken the stage persona of Ziggy Stardust, a science fiction based, theatrical, enigmatic, androgynous character and produced two albums during this period.

The evening of July 3 was the last show in the English concert tour promoting Bowie’s 1973 album Aladdin Sane and the 60th gig in a tour of Britain that started on May 12, though an American tour was already being booked for the autumn.

Very few in Bowie’s entourage knew of his decision to drop the Ziggy persona and cancel performing for a while; in the band only Mick Ronson had been told a few days before the final night.

At the end of the evening, aptly just before the song “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide“, Bowie announced that, Not only is this the last show of the tour, but it’s the last show that we’ll ever do. The phrasing was deliberately ambiguous, but most of the audience and many London newspapers and magazines took it to mean that Bowie was retiring from music. In fact, he had killed off his Ziggy persona but not his music career.

Recording

Pennebaker had been asked to come to London and film just a few songs but when he saw the first of the two London shows he realized that “there was a full-length film here asking to be made”.

Though he had only scant knowledge of Bowie’s music, apart from Space Oddity, he was impressed by the star’s onstage charisma and the range of his songs and quickly prepared to shoot the entire second gig, without knowing that it would include a dramatic final coup.^[1]

Jeff Beck participated on three songs (two of them forming a medley) midway through the concert but was edited out from the final cut at his own wish.^[2] The expanded version of “The Width of a Circle” was shortened by a few minutes for the soundtrack on vinyl and CD.

Cast

David Bowie – Himself / “Ziggy Stardust” (lead vocals, guitar, mouth harp)
Mick Ronson – Himself (lead guitar, vocals)
Trevor Bolder – Himself (bass guitar)
Mick ‘Woody’ Woodmansey – Himself (percussive instruments and drums)
Angela Bowie – Herself
Ringo Starr – Himself

Additional musicians:

Ken Fordham (saxophone and flute)
Brian Wilshaw (saxophone and flute)
Geoffrey MacCormack (backing vocals, percussion)
John Hutchinson (guitar)
Mike Garson (piano, organ, Mellotron)

Sound recording

Ken Scott and Roy Thomas Baker engineered the recording of the concert
The original film, soundtrack album and DVD was mixed by Tony Visconti.

Release

The film was shown a few times at festivals in late 1973 and provoked strong interest and favorable reactions, but then disappeared from view until 1983, when it was released on home video accompanied by a soundtrack double album.

Evidently it became a casualty first of Bowie’s rapid image changes which left Ziggy and glam rock behind and then of the rupture between Bowie and MainMan in early 1975; after that point Bowie was reluctant to release or promote any new recordings dating from before Young Americans as he would have to give half the income from any such recordings to MainMan up to the end of 1982.

Only in recent years has the film become available for regular cinema presentations; for many years it was a home video exclusive.

Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust: The Talk
With Producer Ken Scott

Co-author of Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust, Ken Scott will discuss his time with The Beatles, David Bowie, Elton John, and a who’s who of classic rock acts.

From behind-the-scenes stories to some never-before-heard breakdowns of some classic songs, the evening will be both entertaining and informative.

Having worked with worked classic rock acts including Elton John, Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, Jeff Beck, Duran Duran, Harry Nilsson, the Rolling Stones, Lou Reed, America, Devo, Kansas, and many more, Scott has also played a big part in the world of jazz, being the first to integrate a more powerful rock sound into the genre.

Hear Ken Scott talk about the making of the Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust, as well as his prolific career. After the talk, Scott usually takes questions from the audience and will sign copies of his book.

For More Information on upcoming events: http://abbeytoziggy.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ken Scott

From Wikipedia

Scott started at the age of 16 working in the tape library at Abbey Road Studios. He became a recording engineer working with such acts as The Beatles, Jeff Beck, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and Procol Harum.^[1]

Scott moved to Trident Studios where he worked with such artists as Elton John, Harry Nilsson, Mahavishnu Orchestra, America and with George Harrison on the 6x platinum selling album All Things Must Pass.^[2]

Scott went on to co-produce David Bowie‘s albums Hunky Dory (1971), The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972), Aladdin Sane (1973) and Pin Ups (1973) before producing Supertramp, The Tubes, Dixie Dregs, Devo, Missing Persons, Kansas, Happy The Man and Level 42.^[3]^[4]

More recently Scott has recorded a number of legendary drummers for a VST instrument called EpiK Drums – A Ken Scott Collection.^[5]

Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust

Ken Scott is releasing his first book co-written with Bobby Owsinski, Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust for the 50th Anniversary of the Abbey Roads recordings with The Beatles and the 40th Anniversary of Ziggy Stardust.

From Amazon

Ken Scott holds a unique place in music history as one of only five engineers to have recorded The Beatles, but his experiences as a producer may be just as profound. Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust shares the intimate memories of Ken Scott s days working with some of the most important artists of the 20th century while crafting a sound that has influenced several generations of music makers.

The Beatles Sitting on Abbey Road Steps While Filming Famous Walk Across the Abbey Road

Ken’s work has left an indelible mark on hundreds of millions of fans with his skilled contributions to Magical Mystery Tour and The White Album, and as a producer and/or engineer of six David Bowie albums (including the groundbreaking Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars), as well as other timeless classics from a who’s-who of classic rock and jazz acts, including Elton John, Pink Floyd, Jeff Beck, Duran Duran, The Rolling Stones, Lou Reed, America, Devo, Kansas, The Tubes, Missing Persons, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Cobham, Dixie Dregs, and Stanley Clarke.

Funny, poignant, and oh, so honest, Ken pulls no punches as he tells it as he saw it, as corroborated by a host of famous and not-so famous guests who were there as well. Plus, you’ll be privy to several exclusive stories, facts, and technical details only available in Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust.

National press campaign planned around 40th anniversary of Ziggy Stardust release on June 6, 2012 Includes never-before-told stories of The Beatles, David Bowie and Elton John Many never-before-seen photographs.

Epik Drums / EDU

DRUM KITS AND GROOVES

EpiK DrumS – A Ken Scott Collection

“EpiK DrumS – A Ken Scott Collection” is a Sonic Reality virtual instrument/plug-in for drum kits and grooves with the authentic sound and feel of timeless classic albums. Expanding the Drum Masters series with high resolution vintage drum sounds, EpiK DrumS features drum kits and grooves of 5 of the world’s best drummers all recorded and mixed by legendary producer/engineer Ken Scott.

In this first massive volume from the Ken Scott Collection, Ken has recreated the drum sounds in the style of multi-track studio sessions he recorded with David Bowie, Supertramp, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Dixie Dregs, Missing Persons, Elton John and The Beatles.

These authentic classic sounds were achieved by using the same rare recording equipment, drum kits, percussion and expert technical assistance from Ross Garfield “The Drum Doctor”, advanced programming by Sonic Reality and collaboration with the original legendary drummers Bill Cobham, Terry Bozzio, Woody Woodmansey, Bob Siebenberg and Rod Morgenstein.

All together it is one the most EPIK productions ever done for a software drum and groove instrument.

Listen to these EpiK DrumS Audio Demos : Bozzio Dimi, Cobham Existence is Monopoly, Cobham Meters Hence, Cobham_Fowl A Flame, Morgenstein Adventure, Morgenstein Frozen Pastries, Morgenstein Manic Habits, Siebenberg Did i mention it, Woodmansey Little Curious Friend

EpiK DrumS EDU– Ken Scott Mentoring Sessions

EpiK DrumS EDU is the best tool for anyone interested in learning how to record and mix real drum kits.

With today’s technology, sampled drums are used more and more, but every engineer and producer needs to know how to record and mix a real drum kit.

This package contains everything you need to learn from the masters.

You get grooves played by five of the most iconic drummers of all time:

Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa, Missing Persons),
Billy Cobham (Mahavishnu Orchestra),
Rod Morgenstein (Winger, Dixie Dregs),
Bob Siebenberg (Super Tramp), and
Woody Woodmansey (David Bowie).

Every groove is included as a full multitrack session for both ProTools and Logic in addition to .wav files for each track.

A video is included with words of wisdom from legendary producer and engineer Ken Scott, who has worked with The Beatles, David Bowie, Elton John, and many other top artists.

Ken explains how he recorded and mixed these grooves, and there is also behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the drummers that provide intimate insight into the sessions.

And last but not least, for those who wish to delve further, additional sessions will be available online for easy download.
“Scott’s excellent DVD should be of great interest to anybody involved in recording drums, at any level.
5 Stars!”
–Drummer Magazine
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJwrKiW-bsM]

Ken Scott’s Discography

Engineered:

America
America

The Beatles
Magical Mystery Tour
White Album
Abbey Road

Jeff Beck
Truth

David Bowie
Man Of Words, Man of Music (Space Oddity)
The Man Who Sold The World

Duran Duran
Thank You
Pop Trash

George Harrison
All Things Must Pass

Elton John
Madman Across The Water
Honky Chateau
Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player [Grammy Nominated]

Lou Reed
Transformer

Mahavishnu Orchestra
Birds Of Fire

Harry Nilsson
Son Of Schmilsson [Grammy Nominated]

Rick Wakeman
The Six Wives of Henry th VIII

Pink Floyd
Apples and Oranges
Corporal Clegg

John Lennon
Give Peache a Chance
Cold Turkey

Ringo Starr
It Don’t Come Easy

The Rolling Stones
Sticky Fingers

All Kooper
New York City (You’re a Women)

Joan Armatrading
Whatever’s For Us

The New Seekers
I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing ( Coke Ad )

Lindisfarne

Procol Harum
A Salty Dog

Produced and Engineered:

Jeff Beck
There And Back

David Bowie
Hunky Dory
Ziggy Stardust
Aladdin Sane
Pinups

Billy Cobham
Spectrum
Crosswinds
Total Eclipse
Shabazz

dada
Puzzle

Dixie Dregs
What If
Night Of The Living Dregs

Stanley Clarke
Clarke
Journey To Love [Grammy Nominated]
Schooldays

Kansas
Vinyl Confessions

Level 42
True Colours

Devo
Duty Now For The Future

Patrick Swayze & Larry Gatlin
Brothers

Mahavishnu Orchestra
Emerald Visions Of The Pure Beyond [Grammy Nominated]
The Lost Trident Sessions

Supertramp
Crime Of The Century [Grammy Nominated]
Crisis, What Crisis?

The Tubes
Young And Rich

Jeff Beck
There and Back

Hellion

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank You to

The Blaine Group, Inc.

A Total Communications Agency
8665 Wilshire Blvd., Suite #301, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
O 310/360-1499 · F 310/360-1498
E-mail: devon@blainegroupinc.com

Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust – The Story of Legendary Studio Engineer and Producer Ken Scott

Posted on May 14, 2012 by JW Najarian | 2 comments

Ken Scott was the Studio Recording Engineer and Producer for groups like The Beatles, David Bowie, Elton John, Supertramp and so many more…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE5EC1xpmV0]

Ken Scott Audio Interview – Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust Book

►Right Click and “Save Link As” to Download File◄

Ken Scott, in his new book Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust tells the behind the scenes stories of what went on in the studio. The personal stories, the politics and for all you audio techs and engineers, Ken talks about the process and gives specifics including equipment lists.

I met Ken Scott at a recent talk he gave at the Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, CA.

It was an incredible night of storytelling by the legendary recording engineer and producer.

Ken told humorous stories of the behind the scenes and he played, never before heard, clips of Beatles and David Bowie sessions.

I was transfixed as Ken is an excellent story teller and makes even the technical sound wonderfully interesting.

I was blessed later, to receive a pre release copy of the book… (no pictures) and I read it cover to cover as Ken seems to have worked with most of my more favorite bands of the 60’s and 70’s. His discography is a who’s who of famous albums, artists and singles.

I finally got to sit down with Ken at the corporate offices of Alfred Music Publishers, the publishers of Ken’s book, for an hour of talking about writing the book to Ken’s thoughts on current recording processes, record label politics and much more… It was truely an honor to hang out with Ken and I took the time to pummel him with questions. I had so many I did not get to them all, but luckily the book is very thorough.

I would like to thank Devon Blaine of the Blaine Group, Alfred Music Publishing and Ken Scott for setting this up and for taking the time to make this a great interview. – JW

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ken Scott

From Wikipedia

More recently Scott has recorded a number of legendary drummers for a VST instrument called EpiK Drums – A Ken Scott Collection.^[5]

Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust

From Amazon

The Beatles Sitting on Abbey Road Steps While Filming Famous Walk Across the Abbey Road

Epik Drums / EDU

DRUM KITS AND GROOVES

EpiK DrumS – A Ken Scott Collection

All together it is one the most EPIK productions ever done for a software drum and groove instrument.

EpiK DrumS EDU– Ken Scott Mentoring Sessions

EpiK DrumS EDU is the best tool for anyone interested in learning how to record and mix real drum kits.

With today’s technology, sampled drums are used more and more, but every engineer and producer needs to know how to record and mix a real drum kit.

This package contains everything you need to learn from the masters.

You get grooves played by five of the most iconic drummers of all time:

Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa, Missing Persons),
Billy Cobham (Mahavishnu Orchestra),
Rod Morgenstein (Winger, Dixie Dregs),
Bob Siebenberg (Super Tramp), and
Woody Woodmansey (David Bowie).

Every groove is included as a full multitrack session for both ProTools and Logic in addition to .wav files for each track.

A video is included with words of wisdom from legendary producer and engineer Ken Scott, who has worked with The Beatles, David Bowie, Elton John, and many other top artists.

Ken explains how he recorded and mixed these grooves, and there is also behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the drummers that provide intimate insight into the sessions.