Chairman at the Board: Recording the Soundtrack of a Generation

by Bill Schnee

Chairman at the Board is an intimate, funny, and absorbing look at the music business by an insider who has recorded a host of the greatest musical artists from the 1970s to today. Bill Schnee takes the reader inside the studio—behind the curtain—and through the decades with a cavalcade of famous artists as he helped them to realize their vision.

After his high school band was dropped by Decca Records, Schnee began his quest to learn everything he could about making records. Mentored by technical guru Toby Foster, mastering guru Doug Sax, and recording legend Richie Podolor at his American Recording Studio, he immediately began recording the top acts of the day as a freelance engineer/producer in Hollywood. Clive Davis soon hired him to work for CBS where he partnered with famed music producer Richard Perry. Schnee went on to record and/or mix many of Perry's biggest albums of the '70s and '80s, including those by Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon, Ringo Starr, Art Garfunkel, and the Pointer Sisters.

With his deft personal touch with musicians, he continued to engineer and/or produce the likes of Marvin Gaye, Thelma Houston (the Grammy-nominated, direct-to-disc album I've Got the Music in Me), Pablo Cruise, Neil Diamond, Boz Scaggs, the Jacksons, Huey Lewis and the News, Dire Straits, and Whitney Houston.

With over 125 gold and platinum records, and two Grammys for Steely Dan's Aja and Gaucho, Schnee has been called a living legend—recognized and respected in the industry as the consummate music man with an incomparable career that he lovingly shares with his readers in humorous detail.

Genres: Music, Biography

248 pages, Hardcover

Published March 1, 2021

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mainly read this book by producer/engineer Bill Schnee for his insight on his work with Steely Dan and his contribution on perhaps their best album "Aja" but it was neat to read about Schnee's work with Boz Scaggs, Mark Knopfler, and Carly Simon as well. I found him to be very honest and direct and one of the nice guys in his line of business.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book with great stories. Bill could have used a bit of help from a ghostwriting editor to change the text slightly to feel less like a daily journal recap. Additionally, the quality of the audiobook was quite poor considering Bill is one of the best engineers in the history of modern music... that was quite surprising.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book very interesting talking about all the musicians and bands Bill has worked with over the years. How he used the mics and what consoles he used, etc.

[Peter Sheppard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having just read Bill Schnees' book Chairman at the Board, I was pleasantly surprised and amused by what I didn't know about the music industry. Bill's book exposed the true inner workings of this business, sing, tape it, and transpose to vinyl just doesn't cut it as a record production method!

Bill has found a uniquely interesting way of drilling down to bedrock so we as mere mortals can get a basic understanding of how the arduous recording process actually works. This book is also the story of a man's career complete with all his success, challenges and pitfalls he encounters along the way.

Mr. Schnee seems to have the human quality of being able to laugh at himself while providing insight into the journey of his chosen career path. At such a young age when starting it is always difficult to know exactly where the journey of life's path will lead you to. His passion for his craft has taken him to great heights within the music community fueled by the knowledge that there are only three things you can do in life - lead, follow, or get out of the way. He seems to have been a leader and an innovator not afraid to venture out where others had not gone before.

Bill's book is one that allows us to travel vicariously with the who's who of the music world. To have worked with the Beatles, The Jacksons, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, to name a few can only be described as a life long dream come true as he shares their stories with us.

Upon reflecting on this book, Bill strikes me as a man who is very loyal to those who helped him along the way in life. I think these shared experiences are his way of saying thanks by providing a beacon of light and hope for future generations in an industry that will continue on forever.

To be able to make a difference to the quality of the lives of others through the resources of your craft speaks volumes. Like anything in life there will always be a good, better, or best. I am sure that those of us who have read this book have enjoyed the trip with Bill. If he ever decides to write another book, please put me down for a copy. Thanks for the ride Bill.

[Jeremiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't get enough of books like this. (Another great one is On The Record by Al Schmitt) Bill Schnee engineered or mixed or produced some of the biggest records and acts of all time. He was working during the golden era of session musicians and the West Coast AOR sound. The disagreements about mixes, the mistakes that made it to the final pressing of a record, the happy accidents, the unhappy accidents, it makes that perfect sounding album sound like a miracle, and maybe it is.

He doesn't get as technical as Al Schmitt did in his book, but he does talk about his though processes on how he set up recordings and how he got the sounds he wanted. I think casual music fans who love Boz Skaggs and Toto and Whitney Houston and Streisand and Ringo and all the rest, will find something interesting here. Amazes me that this book only has a couple reviews. Bill is insightful and just seems like a really nice guy.

[Lynn Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Bill was the music engineer on all kinds of important albums in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and beyond and has interesting stories about the artists, the music industry and the recording process. His personal first-hand account of working with artists including Barbra Streisand, The Beatles (on their solo albums), Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston is truly fascinating. He gets into many technical details about how record albums were made that I don’t fully understand but I definitely have a better appreciation for after having read the book. The writing is good and the book is very fast-paced. If you’re interested in popular music I highly recommend this book.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book especially if you're interested in music. I read it with a friend and really enjoyed the stories of the recording artist the author worked with. I felt it could have been a little less technical since some of it was out of my understanding of the sound boards and I would have enjoyed more stories.

[Tom Kingsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great recounting of how the greatest songs and stars came to be.

Particularly hi-lights the role of collaboration from studio musicians (vocal and instrumental) many who were stars themselves. Also great blueprint of how to make a song for songwriters, composers, artists, producers, and engineers.

[Ed Zaremba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight into the music industry & engineering of recordings. Amazing the number of artists he's worked with!

[John Vancil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun book about producing and engineering in rock, pop, funk and jazz. The stories are great and the breadth of genre refreshing for this type of book.

[Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining book by Bill Schnee, sound engineer to many famous music artists. Keen behind the scenes insights with details perfect for musicians or those who simply love music.

[Onionboy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book. When I saw there was a book by the guy who made a huge majority of all the music I have always loved, I had to get it right away. But when it came time to reading, I kept picking humor, sci-fi, or novels before this because they seemed more interesting, and I feared this could be dry. How wrong I was! Every time I had a chance to read, I didn't want to stop! He had great stories about so many albums and artists that I love. It kept my interest the whole time. What an amazing career he had. He also came across quite honest, because he seemed to freely admit his shortcomings, and did not seem full of himself. If you like early rock, classic rock, AOR, west coast music, CCM, or pop, you probably like a lot of songs he worked on. If you love reading liner notes on albums, you will probably enjoy this book.

Don't miss the additional content he includes on his website.

EDIT: The extra stuff on the website is not deleted stories, it is longer versions of stories that are already in the book. Just keep that in mind if you plan on reading it.

[Aaron Badgley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, informative and entertaining book by a man who engineered some of the best albums of the rock era.