Nick
Griffiths, Pink Floyd engineer and producer of Roger Waters’ solo
albums, died on March 20, 2005, aged 53, following complications after
a transplant operation.
Griffiths was an inspirational record producer who was responsible for
recording the Islington school kids for one of the iconic moments of
rock music, the children’s chorus from the Pink Floyd’s hit single,
Another Brick In The Wall Part II. Roger Waters on receiving the tape
in Los Angeles, commented “...hearing all those kids singing for the
first time; I knew immediately this was the mother-lode. It felt like
pure gold.” Nick later went on to produce and record Roger Waters’ “The
Wall live In Berlin” TV concert, marking the reunification of Germany.
An accomplished musician in his own right, Nick started his career in
the music industry in Children, a group that signed for EMI. His
production skills soon became apparent and he decided on a career
behind the mixing desk, taking his first step on the ladder at the BBC,
working on the legendary Peel Sessions and The Proms.
Moving on to Britannia Row Studio he engineered many household names
including Queen, Paul McCartney, Joy Division, The Damned, Tears for
Fears, Human League, the Stranglers, Scritti Politti and Maddy Prior.
He went on to record Mansun, Vanessa-Mae, BJ Cole and Cast. He also
worked on the sound track for Handmade Film’s Life of Brian.
His association with Pink Floyd began at Britannia Row Studios
engineering The Wall album. He subsequently went on to co-produce and
engineer Roger Waters’ solo albums, and Roger often turned to him for
advice on his musical projects. Griffiths had a knack of assembling
teams of experts and motivating each one to give of their best through
his measured words and ever-up-to-date knowledge of music disciplines
and technologies.
Another string to his bow was in studio design, creating new studios
for Last Beat Records in Dallas, Texas, Fonovision Studios in Bogota,
Columbia, Hotline Studios in Frankfurt, Germany and many others. He had
also begun TV work on the sound tracks for Jonathan Creek and Dalziel
& Pascoe and had film projects in the pipeline.
He leaves his wife Joey, daughter Ellie and son George, to whom all his
friends in and out of the music industry extend their sincerest
condolences.
|