Eddie Kramer
Eddie Kramer was born on 19/04/1942 in Cape Town, South Africa. His birth name was Edwin H. Kramer. When Kramer was four, he began learning to play the piano. He would also learn the violin and cello but the piano was his instrument of choice. Kramer studied classical piano at the South African College of Music and became interested in jazz and rock. When he was 19, he moved to London. His parents had moved from South Africa to London six months before, as they opposed apartheid. In London, Kramer recorded jazz groups in a home studio with primitive recording equipment. He worked installing hi-fi equipment in antique furniture and installed album playback systems for the Soho Record Centre.In 1962, Kramer got a job at Advision Studios.
In 1963, he was hired by Pye Studios. He would assist on mobile recordings of classical works. He would also assist on recordings made by artists such as the Kinks, the Searchers, the Undertakers, Petula Clark, and Sammy Davis Jr.
In 1964, Kramer founded KPS Studios. It was a mono and two-track facility.
In 1965, Regent Sound bought KPS Studios. It would be where the Rolling Stones recorded their first album. Regent Sound recruited Kramer to help build and run their new four-track studio.
In 1967, Kramer would work at Olympic Studios where he would engineer the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Small Faces, Traffic and Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix would include Kramer on the four albums which Hendrix released before his death in 1970.
In 1968, Kramer moved to New York primarily to continue working with Hendrix. He would first work at The Record Plant before becoming an independent producer and engineer. Kramer would work on the first Johnny Winter album and five Led Zeppelin albums starting with "Led Zeppelin II".
In 1969, Kramer and his crew recorded the entire of Woodstock Festival. The relentless schedule required them to take vitamin B shots for stamina.
From 1970 to 1974, Kramer was the Director of Engineering at Electric Lady Studios which was first built for Jimi Hendrix. Kramer would produce albums there for Carly Simon, Sha Na Na and Peter Frampton as well as engineering albums for Lena Horne, Dionne Warwick and David Bowie.
In 1971, Kramer mixed the Humble Pie double album "Performance Rockin' the Fillmore" and Curtis Mayfield's album "Curtis/Live!". Also in 1971, he engineered Larry Corryell's album "Barefoot Boy".
In 1973, Kramer mixed Led Zeppelin's album "Houses of the Holy". In the same year, Kramer started working with the band Kiss. As well as producing the four-song demo that won them a record contract he produced the albums Alive II, Double Platinum, Rock and Roll Over, Love Gun, Alive III and Ace Frehley's debut solo album "Ace Frehley". Also in 1973, Kramer engineering the Derek and the Dominos album "In Concert".
In 1975, Kramer left Electric Lady Studios. he engineered the Rolling Stones' Love You Live, Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive!, Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti and The Song Remains the Same. He would also mix Bad Company's album "Run with the Pack".
In the 1980s, Kramer would produce Buddy Guy, John Williams, the Kentucky Headhunters, Icon, Pretty Maids, Fastway, and Anthrax.
In 1993, Kramer produced and engineered the Jimi Hendrix tribute album "Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix". The album raised $750,000 for music and dance scholarships.
In 1994, Kramer produced Buddy Guy's album "Slippin' In". It would win a Grammy Award for Best Blues Album and win a W.C. Handy Award for Album of the Year.
In 1995, Kramer produced another Hendrix tribute album called "In From the Storm".
In 1997, Kramer produced Paul Rodgers' third studio album.
In 1999, Kramer won a Grammy award for his audio production on the video for Jimi Hendrix's live album "Band of Gypsys".
In 2002, Kramer received a Grammy Award for engineering the single "The Game of Love" by Carlos Santana and Michelle Branch.
In 2005, Kramer and architect John Storyk designed Anacapa Studios, Malibu, California.
In 2011, Kramer recorded Robert Randolph and the Family Band on the album "Lickety Split".
As well as his work in music production, Kramer is known for his photography of music performers including Hendrix amongst other well-known artists.