Roy Cicala

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Top

Roy Cicala (born Roy Joel Cicala in New Haven, Connecticut) is an American producer, engineer, song-writer and musician. His body of work includes over 10 Platinum Records for producing, writing, engineering and management for talent from the 70’s through today. His biography is written by brazilian journalist Claudio Tognolli

Roy is known as one of the best producers and sound engineers of the world.[citation needed] For almost 20 years at Record Plant Studios in New York (1968–1987), he recorded and produced some of the greatest artists of modern music like John Lennon, Aretha Franklin, Madonna, Elvis Presley, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Frank Sinatra, Dire Straits, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Harry Nilsson, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Ray Charles, Queen, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Liza Minnelli, Roberta Flack, Patti La Belle, Van Morrison, Don McLean, The Who, Johnny Winter, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Frank Zappa, Lou Reed, Prince, Santana, Sarah Vaughn, Charles Mingus and so many others.

Roy began working freelance engineering jobs in New York when he took over Record Plant Studios piloting mega-albums hits as chief engineer. Roy was an engineer on the first album ever recorded at Record Plant Studios, Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, released in 1968. Through the years, he worked on hundreds of albums. During the 1970s, house engineers Shelley Yakus and Roy Cicala gave many local bands their start by donating session time and materials to upcoming artists, engineering and producing their demo tapes. While at Record Plant, Roy Cicala was involved with a wide range of projects including doing the remote work for the "Live Aid" concert in 1985. Record Plant closed in 1989.

Roy worked with John Lennon just before The Beatles broke up in 1970. Roy engineered John and Yoko's first solo compilation Plastic Ono Band and went on to work with John on many other of his solo projects including Imagine, Mind Games and Double Fantasy. He also is credited with writing the song Incantation.[citation needed] Ex-wife Lori Burton co-wrote songs with Roy for John and Yoko. He has 2 children, son Jade and daughter Shaune.

Contents

Select Engineering, Production and Record Plant NYC Credits

• The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland – 1967-68

John Lennon & Yoko Ono: Plastic Ono Band - 1968

Frank Sinatra: Watertown - 1969

John Lennon: Imagine – 1971

John Lennon: Walls and Bridges

Aerosmith: Get Your Wings – 1973-74

John Lennon: Sometime in New York City - 1972

John Lennon: Mind Games - 1973

Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run – 1974-75

Aerosmith: Toys in the Attic – 1975

John Lennon: Rock and Roll - 1975

Bruce Springsteen: Darkness on the Edge of Town – 1977-78

Patti Smith Group: Easter – 1978

David Bowie: Lodger – 1979

Jerome T. Youngman & Hooks: Young and Boring – 1980

John Lennon & Yoko Ono: Double Fantasy - 1980

Patti Smith: Peace and Noise - 1997

• Forgotten Boys: Louva-a-Deus – 2007

Garland Jeffreys: The King of In Between – 2011

Select Live Engineering, Production and Record Plant Remote Credits

George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh featuring Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Billy Preston, Leon Russell and Ringo Starr, Madison Square Garden - August 1, 1971

Elton John Concert on The Great Lawn in Central Park in New York City - September 13, 1980

Live Aid - a multi-venue rock music concert. July 13, 1985.

Select Songwriting Credits

John Lennon: Incantation - 1974

Other Credits

John Lennon: Walls and Bridges : Strings and Remixing

• Johnny Rivers Secret Agent Man (song) - Theme to the American Broadcast of the British Series Danger Man

Roy has been working in Brazil since the 70s in various engineering and production capacities. He is currently producing and managing major label artists like Charlie Brown Jr. in Brazil at the newly launched Record Plant South. He sits on the Advisory Board for Ingk Labs, a New York City based IP accelerator founded by his nephew Craig Alberino.

References

Lennon and McCartney - Together Alone: A Critical Discography of Their Solo Work (Paperback) by John Blaney (Author), John Lennon (Author), Paul McCartney (Author) - Jawbone Press (March 28, 2007) ISBN 1-906002-02-9, ISBN 978-1-906002-02-2

The Art Of Music Production 3rd Edition (Paperback) by Richard, Burgess (Author) Omnibus Press; 3 edition (May 1, 2005) ISBN 1-84449-431-4, ISBN 978-1-84449-431-6

Mix Masters: Platinum Engineers Reveal Their Secrets for Success (Paperback) by Maureen Droney (Author) Berklee Press; Pap/Com edition (January 1, 2003) ISBN 0-87639-019-X, ISBN 978-0-87639-019-1

Good Vibrations: A History of Record Production (Sanctuary Music Library) (Paperback) by Mark Cunningham (Author), Alan Parson (Introduction), Brian Eno (Introduction) Sanctuary Publishing, Ltd.; 2 edition (September 1, 1999) ISBN 1-86074-242-4, ISBN 978-1-86074-242-2

Studio Stories: How the Great New York Records Were Made: From Miles to Madonna, Sinatra to the Ramones (Paperback) by David Simons (Author) Backbeat Books (November 19, 2004) ISBN 0-87930-817-6, ISBN 978-0-87930-817-9

The Lives of John Lennon (Paperback)by Albert Goldman (Author) Chicago Review Press; New Ed edition (September 1, 2001) # Language: English # ISBN 1-55652-399-8, ISBN 978-1-55652-399-1

A Dream Goes on Forever: The Continuing Story of Todd Rundgren (Paperback)by Billy James (Author)Golden Treasures Pub (December 2002) ISBN 0-9710493-3-5, ISBN 978-0-9710493-3-8

The Beatles Solo on Apple Records (Hardcover) by Bruce Spizer (Author), Allan Steckler (Foreword) Four Ninety-Eight Productions (April 30, 2005) ISBN 0-9662649-5-9, ISBN 978-0-9662649-5-1

Phil Spector: Out Of His Head (Paperback) by Richard Williams (Author)Omnibus Press; Revised edition (August 1, 2003) ISBN 0-7119-9864-7, ISBN 978-0-7119-9864-3

The Ultimate Beatles Quiz Book II (Paperback)by Michael J. Hockinson (Author)St. Martin's Griffin (November 13, 2000) ISBN 0-312-26406-2, ISBN 978-0-312-26406-2

Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer, Trower: Their Lives and Music by Dan Muise, Rory Gallagher, Steve Marriott, and Rick Derringer (Paperback - April 2002) Hal Leonard; 1 edition (April 2002) ISBN 0-634-02956-8, ISBN 978-0-634-02956-1

Memories of John Lennon (Hardcover) by Yoko Ono(Author) Harper Entertainment (November 29, 2005) ISBN 0-06-059455-1, ISBN 978-0-06-059455-8

Garland Jeffreys 'The King of In Between' by Matt Gallagher, Mix Magazine (July 1, 2011) http://www.mixonline.com/recording/artists_engineers_producers/garland_jeffreys_king_inbetween/

External links


Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights:

Mentioned in

Lori Burton (Rock Artist, '60s)
Fat (1970 Album by Fat)
Roxy (1970 Album by Roxy)
Blue Collar, Black Future (1998 Album by Dripping Goss)
Forever (1979 Album by Orleans)