Henry Lewy

Henry Lewy (May 31, 1926 – April 8, 2006), born Heinz Lewy, was a German-born American sound engineer and record producer, who was best known for his work on many critically acclaimed and successful rock and folk albums of the 1970s and 1980s, particularly those by Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and Crosby, Stills and Nash.

Lewy was born to a Jewish family in Magdeburg, Germany, where his father owned a farm machinery business. The family left Germany in 1939, traveling to England and Canada, before settling at first in Savannah, Georgia, and then in Los Angeles, California. Henry Lewy graduated from Hollywood High School in 1945 and served in the US Army before working in radio stations in San Diego, Las Vegas and Los Angeles as an audio engineer and announcer.

During the 1950s he studied engineering and travelled in South America, joining a circus as an engineer for a time before returning to work at the Electrovox Studios in Los Angeles. He then moved to Liberty Records, where he worked with Ross Bagdasarian on records by The Chipmunks. He also worked at Gold Star Records with Jackie DeShannon and Leon Russell, and with Bones Howe on records by The Mamas and the Papas and Johnny Rivers.