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George Marino

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George Marino(April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an Americanmastering engineerknown for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s.

George Marino
Marino in 2007
Marino in 2007
Background information
Born(1947-04-15)April 15, 1947
New York City
DiedJune 4, 2012(2012-06-04)(aged 65)
OccupationMastering engineer
Years active1967–2012

Biography

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Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City boroughThe Bronx.He attendedChristopher Columbus High Schoolthere and learned to play the saxophone and bass fiddle in the high school band and was classically trained on guitar.[1]Marino broke into the music business as a guitarist playing rock and roll in local New York City bands such as The Chancellors and The New Sounds Ltd. until most of the band members were drafted into the service for the war inVietnam.[2]

In 1967, Marino landed his first job in the industry as a librarian and assistant atCapitol Studios.Soon after, he apprenticed in the mastering department alongside of Joe Lansky, cutting rock, pop, jazz and classical albums. There, in 1968, he met his future wife, Rose Gross, whom he married in 1973.[3]Gross becameClive Davis' assistant a few months before he startedArista Recordsin 1974, and she remained his assistant for 26 years.[4]

The Chancellors (left to right): Bijan Yakuboff, Don Grassini, Ronnie Salvani, Nick DiMinno, George Marino
Capitol Studios letter regarding the mastering of the 7-inch 45 RPM single of "Hey Jude"

Professional career

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During his time at Capitol, Marino mastered such classics asThe Beatles' 7-inch single of "Hey Jude"[5]and John Lennon &Plastic Ono Band'sLive Peace in Toronto 1969.When Capitol Records closed its New York studio in 1971, Marino joined the fledglingRecord Plant,eventually becoming a partner in the mastering business of the Record Plant[6]called the Master Cutting Room, which was on West 44th Street in Manhattan.[7]There he became established with projects such asDon McLean'sAmerican Pie,[8]Alice Cooper'sBillion Dollar Babies,Gregg Allman'sLaid Back,andStevie Wonder'sTalking BookandInnervisions.

Lee Hulko, one of the owners of Sterling Sound, saw Marino's success and asked him to come work at Sterling, however Marino did not say yes immediately. AfterChris Stone,the owner of the Record Plant went to Los Angeles, Marino had more management duties and he felt it distracted him from his mastering work. Eventually, Marino took Hulko up on his offer and he headed to Sterling Sound in 1973 to work in a room that Hulko had built for him.[9][10]

George and Rose Marino

Sterling Sound

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From 1973, until his death in 2012, Marino worked at Sterling Sound. In 1998,Ted Jensen,Greg CalbiandTom Coyne,along with Murat Aktar (Absolute Audio co-founder) and UK based Metropolis, purchased Sterling from previous owner, Lee Hulko. Marino was the most senior mastering engineer. Sterling Sound[11]is located in New York City, occupying the top floor of the Chelsea Market in the Meatpacking District. Marino's studio is one of the three surround sound studios at Sterling and it was designed by Fran Manzella, FM Design.[12]

Marino's room became one of the few mastering suites in the industry, if not the only one, that was capable of doing both surround sound and vinyl mastering.[13]Marino, along with Chris Muth and Sterling techs Barry Wolifson and Phil Sztenderowicz, turned Marino's mastering console into an 8 channel A/B preview console. This design made possible presetting console parameters from song to song, which is needed for the continuous process of cutting a side of a vinyl album. This type of design was common in mastering houses during vinyl's heyday, but what made this one different was the ability to also process 6 discrete channels for surround sound.[14][15]

Over the course of Marino's nearly 40 years with Sterling, he mastered and/or remastered albums byKurban (band),AC/DC,Cat Stevens,Led Zeppelin,Guns N' Roses,Metallica,DIO,Cheap Trick,Arcade Fire,Whitney Houston,Coldplay;Cyndi Lauper;Journey;Kiss;Mötley Crüe;The Cars;Bon Jovi;Arctic Monkeys;Dan Fogelberg;Iron Maiden;Fountains of Wayne;Incubus;Joe Bonamassa;Jimi Hendrix;Joe Satriani;Michael Bublé;Weezer;Leonard Cohen,My Morning Jacket,The Tragically Hip,3 Doors Down,Alice Cooper,Billy Squier,Cinderella,M-Squad,Sarah Brightman,The Psychedelic Furs,Tommy James and the Shondells,Bob Dylan,John Mellencamp,Red Hot Chili Peppers,Ringo Starr,Santana,Josh Groban,Southside Johnny,Willie Nile,Elvis Presley,Fall Out Boy,Ozzy Osbourne,Blondie,Hanson,Jimmy Pageand hundreds of others.[16]

Early years at Sterling Sound

Marino mastered many ofJohn Lennon's andYoko Ono's albums, one of them beingDouble Fantasywith producerJack Douglas.Double Fantasyhad been out a few weeks when Douglas and Lennon decided to have a song they had just finished, Yoko Ono's "Walking on Thin Ice",mastered with Marino at Sterling Sound for a single release. On the evening of December 8, 1980, after finishing up a session at the Record Plant, Douglas said to Lennon" See you in the morning "as they planned to have breakfast together at 9am before heading to Sterling, but John Lennon was gunned down 20 minutes later on his way back to the Dakota.[17][18]

Marino received his first and onlyGrammyforArcade Fire'sThe Suburbs,the year before he died. In 2002, mastering engineers became eligible to win Grammys.[19][20]From 1969 to 2012, Marino mastered albums which under current rules, would have won him an additional seven Grammys in the categories of Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical: three forAlbum of the YearwinnersInnervisions,Double FantasyandThe Bodyguard,twoRecord of the YearGrammys for "I Will Always Love You" and "Clocks", and two more forBest Engineered Album, Non-Classicalfor his mastering ofInnervisionsandChicago 17.

Death

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Marino died on June 4, 2012, after a year of having lung cancer. He was 65.[21][22]

"Very sad to hear this. Prayers to his wife and my dear friend Rose. Rip to a legend and lovely man. U will now make the angels sound better than they ever have." –Diane Warren[23]

Awards and recognition

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Grammy Awards

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TEC Awards

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Marino was nominated for the Mix Foundation'sTEC Awardfor Outstanding Creative Achievement in 1985,[26]1991,[27]1992,[28]and 1993.[29]

Selected works

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Main article:George Marino discography

Marino mastered and remastered thousands of albums in over 40 years as a mastering engineer.[30][31]

References

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  1. ^"Mastering Pros Plan NYC Studio".Billboard.September 26, 1998.RetrievedJune 26,2015.
  2. ^"George Marino".Sterling Sound.RetrievedJune 26,2015.
  3. ^Gross-Marino, Rose (November 2013).Assorted Hits: Music, Murder, Mayhem and the Mob.Xlibris.ISBN978-1483685335.
  4. ^Brown, Patricia Leigh (November 19, 1991)."Gatekeepers to the Famous and the Powerful".The New York Times.RetrievedJune 26,2015.
  5. ^"Surround Sound".Osdir.Archived fromthe originalon July 4, 2015.RetrievedJuly 3,2015.
  6. ^"George Marino Legendary Mastering Engineer Dies".billboard.com.June 5, 2012.RetrievedJuly 11,2016.
  7. ^"Master Cutting Room".discogs.RetrievedJune 26,2015.
  8. ^"SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT S-4 STERLING SOUND CELEBRATING 33 1/3 Years".Billboard.December 14, 2002.RetrievedJune 26,2015.
  9. ^"George Marino Legendary Mastering Engineer".Hollywood Reporter.June 4, 2012.RetrievedJuly 1,2015.
  10. ^Paul Verna (December 14, 2012)."Billboard Special Supplement: Sterling's Reputation".Billboard.p. S-3.RetrievedJuly 6,2015.
  11. ^"The Worlds Top 13 Mastering Studios".Landr.July 18, 2014.RetrievedJuly 6,2015.
  12. ^"Mastering".FM Design.Archived fromthe originalon September 14, 2015.RetrievedJuly 6,2015.
  13. ^"SS Mastering Engineers Have To Be Both Specialists and Generalists".Billboard.December 14, 2002.RetrievedJune 26,2015.
  14. ^"Vinyl Comeback Prompts Sterling's New All-Analog Vinyl Mastering: Part I".Sonic Scoop.Archived fromthe originalon May 17, 2021.RetrievedJune 26,2015.
  15. ^"Vinyl Comeback Part II".Sonic Scoop.Archived fromthe originalon March 26, 2016.RetrievedJune 26,2015.
  16. ^"George Marino".Artist Direct.Archived fromthe originalon March 4, 2018.RetrievedJune 26,2015.
  17. ^"Producer Jack Douglas on John Lennon".City Pages.RetrievedJuly 6,2015.
  18. ^"The Last Session".Rolling Stone.January 22, 1981.RetrievedJuly 6,2015.
  19. ^"The Recording Academy Announces Board of Trustees Meeting Results".National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.RetrievedJune 27,2015.
  20. ^"Engineers"(PDF).National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.RetrievedJune 26,2015.
  21. ^"George Marino".Discogs(in Spanish).RetrievedAugust 13,2021.
  22. ^"Legendary Mastering Engineer George Marino Dies".Analog Planet.June 5, 2012.RetrievedAugust 13,2021.
  23. ^"Weezer and Diane Warren Remember George Marino".Contact Music.RetrievedJune 26,2015.
  24. ^"George Marino Dies".National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.RetrievedJune 26,2015.
  25. ^"Nominees".National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
  26. ^"The TEC Awards 1985 Winners".legacy.tecawards.org.Archivedfrom the original on February 23, 2022.RetrievedAugust 14,2023.
  27. ^"The TEC Awards 1991 Winners".legacy.tecawards.org.Archivedfrom the original on October 28, 2021.RetrievedAugust 14,2023.
  28. ^"The TEC Awards 1992 Winners".legacy.tecawards.org.Archivedfrom the original on October 28, 2021.RetrievedAugust 14,2023.
  29. ^"The TEC Awards 1993 Winners".legacy.tecawards.org.Archivedfrom the original on October 28, 2021.RetrievedAugust 13,2023.
  30. ^"artist, George Marino".AllMusic.RetrievedJune 23,2015.
  31. ^"George Marino Discography".discogs.RetrievedJune 23,2015.
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