Record Producers

THE ORIGIN OF KARLBHY PRODUCTIONS

The story of Karlbhy Productions starts with legendary record producer Arif Mardin and staff engineer Karl Richardson at Criteria Recording Studios in Miami, Florida. 

It was during the recordings of Average White Band that Arif one day said to Karl: "I have a vocal group that we need to record here and they sing like angels.  Ever heard of the Bee Gees?” 

Shortly thereafter, Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb showed up with their band consisting of Blue Weaver, Dennis Bryon and Alan Kendall. They all hit it off immediately.  Karl introduced the drummer Dennis to the "click," a metronome to steady the beat.  He also introduced the guys to stereo headphone cue and the idea of "in-tune" reverb. 

In the studio, they always looked at each other and nodded up or down on any take.  The breakthrough track was “Jive Talkin’.”  The big deal of this recording was Barry's falsetto as well as three number one hits.

On the recording of “Nights On Broadway,” Arif asked: "Can anyone sing high - really high"? Barry volunteered.  As Karl says it himself: “I changed the input level to almost zero...it was loud...it was certainly…wow.”

After the success of the "Main Course" album with Arif Mardin producing and Karl in the middle of the speakers, Atlantic Records decided to sever their relationship with Bee Gees manager and label Robert Stigwood (RSO), and RSO went to Polydor Records. That meant that Atlantic staff producer Arif Mardin was not available for the next Bee Gees recordings.

Karl says: “This was not good. The Bee Gees cancelled their studio time at Criteria and with myself.  The band left for LA and tried to work with another producer.”

One day Karl got a phone call from Barry Gibb, and Barry said they wanted to come back to Miami and produce themselves.  “They asked me to help, and I, of course, said yes.  I worked with the Criteria office and got studio time back in "C" and we went to work.”

After two recordings, Karl tried to convince the drummer, Dennis, that the hi-hat pattern was too busy.  Karl recalls: “I got a pleasant argument, but I could not suggest an alternative drum pattern.  So - I had Albhy Galuten's phone number in England. Turns out he was done working with Dick James Music, and the next day he was on the flight to Miami…I introduced Albhy to the guys as my music 'guru' and so it began.”

Karl laughs: “It was a trio of unbelievable work.  Albhy, Barry, and myself had the best times of our lives.  Every day in the studio was gold.  The humor and philosophy cannot be repeated.”

Karl Richardson

Karl started out as a disc-jockey in 1967 at WEDR-FM Miami as the Assistant Station Engineer. The following year he was a First Class radiotelephone license tech before he in 1969 joined Criteria Recording Studios in Miami, Florida working for its founder Mack Emerman. Karl’s musical and technical abilities were used to the fullest while recording and/or mixing albums by Eric Clapton, the Average White Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. During those years at Criteria, his abilities earned him the position of Senior Engineer. If this wasn’t enough, Karl soon found himself in charge of the disc mastering department, as well. Some of Karl's mastering credits include Stephen Stills, Grand Funk Railroad and the Bee Gees. Very few record industry veterans can lay claim to record sales in excess of 130 million units, but Karl Richardson is one of them. His list of credits include such top acts as the Bee Gees, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Andy Gibb, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton (see list below).

Through a fantastic career as a recording engineer and record producer, Karl Richardson has amassed an incredible 19 Number One records, two Grammy Awards ("Producer of the Year" and "Album of the Year”) and nine Grammy nominations.

Karl’s list of clients is even more impressive:

ABC Records, Atlantic Records, Alice Cooper, Alley Theatre, Anna Rodriguez, Aretha Franklin, Arista Records, Asolo Theatre, Average White Band, Bee Gees, Bill Medley, Bobby Ingram, Brook Benton, Canned Heat, Capitol Records, CBS Records, Chicago, Colm Wilkinson, Commodores, Dion Dimucci, Eagles, Linda Eder, Eric Clapton, Grand Funk Railroad, Herbie Mann, Joe Walsh, Kiss, Lee Ritenour, Leon Russel, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Jackson, Mike Pinera, Motown Records, Ohio Players, Olivia Newton-John, Peabo Bryson, Polygram Records, RCA Records, Ron Wood, Roy Buchanan, Steve Miller, Dixie Flyers, Don Felder, Donny Hathaway, Doug Sahm, Frank Wildhorn, Michael Walden, NBC, Network, Niko Associates, PARC Records, Roy Orbison, Sony Records, Stanley Clarke, Stephen Stills, Tower of Power, United Artists, Warner Brothers, WPBT TV, Will Lee, etc.

A partial list of Karl's nineteen number one singles:

• "Stayin' Alive" Bee Gees
• "Jive Talkin’" Bee Gees
• "How Deep Is Your Love" Bee Gees
• "Too Much Heaven" Bee Gees
• "Shadow Dancing" Andy Gibb
• "Grease" Frankie Valli
• "Guilty" Barbra Streisand
• "Islands In The Stream" Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton
• "Heartbreaker" Dionne Warwick
• "Emotion" Samantha Sang

As the 1980's came to a close, Karl found himself exploring new horizons. With his unprecedented success and background, he reinvented himself as one of the most respected theatrical sound designers in the nation. His responsibilities not only included the coordination of artists and directors, but the overall mechanical and electronic designs, including equipment specs and budgets. Karl's theatrical credits include "Jekyll & Hyde", "The Civil War" and "Little Shop of Horrors". His work can be seen and heard on Broadway, or in such diverse locations as the Alley Theatre in Houston or the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota.

From 2001 on, Karl has been the Co-Owner and operator of Tradewind Studio at Audiovision Studios in North Miami, FL, re-united with longtime friends and partners Mack Emerman (deceased), the Albert Brothers and Steve Alaimo.

For more information, visit www.audiovisionstudios.com

Albhy Galuten

Albhy Galuten is an American technology executive and futurist, Grammy Award-winning record producer, composer, musician, orchestrator and conductor. He has numerous inventions and has produced 18 number 1 singles with songs and albums selling over 100 million copies. He has won two Grammy Awards, a Dramalogue award and a BMI award.

Singles include 13 number ones in the U.S. alone:

• "You Should Be Dancing" Bee Gees
• "I Just Want to Be Your Everything" Andy Gibb
• "How Deep Is Your Love" Bee Gees
• "Stayin' Alive" Bee Gees
• "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water" Andy Gibb
• "Night Fever" Bee Gees
• "Shadow Dancing" Andy Gibb
• "Grease" Frankie Valli
• "Too Much Heaven" Bee Gees
• "Tragedy" Bee Gees
• "Love You Inside Out" Bee Gees
• "Woman in Love" Barbra Streisand
• "Islands in the Stream" Kenny Rogers with Dolly Parton

Other hit singles include Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Eric Clapton), Love So Right (Bee Gees), Guilty (Barbra Streisand), What Kind of Fool (Barbra Streisand), Emotion (Samantha Sang), I Can’t Help It (Olivia Newton-John & Andy Gibb), Heartbreaker (Dionne Warwick), Chain Reaction (Diana Ross), Eaten Alive (Diana Ross), Eyes That See In the Dark(Kenny Rogers)

Galuten's record productions include the soundtracks Saturday Night Fever, the theme song "Grease" and albums for Jellyfish, Olivia Newton-John, Barbra Streisand (Guilty), Dionne Warwick (Heartbreaker), Andy Gibb, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, Samantha Sang, Diana Ross, Eric Clapton, Titanic Love Affair and the Bee Gees.

Galuten also contributed playing or orchestration skills to recording artists Wishbone Ash, Bill Wyman, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Aretha Franklin, Eagles, Kenny Loggins, Petula Clark and No Doubt (director of paradigm). He is also credited with playing the first synthesizer in reggae: In Miami, during overdub sessions for Peter Tosh’s album “Legalize It," to Peter’s utter delight, a 20 year old Albhy Galuten introduced him to the early synthesizer. Peter was the first to use it on the “Igziiabeher” tune.

Albhy is currently a technology executive at Sony and has been an executive at Universal Music Group (Senior Vice President, Advanced Technology) and Ion (Vice President, New Technology). In his various roles as a technology executive Galuten has filed patents, developed corporate technology strategy, negotiated technology deals and worked in the development of standards including the Content Reference Forum (Chairman) and the Coral Consortium (Vice President).

As an inventor, Galuten is noted for having created the first commercial drum loop ("Stayin' Alive", Bee Gees), the enhanced CD and has numerous patents issued or pendingon content distribution and resolution, customer care, User Interface design and next generation epidemiology using large scale networked data.