Jim Guercio
| James William Guercio | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 18, 1945 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Other names | Jim Guercio |
| Occupation | Music producer, songwriter, movie producer |
James William Guercio (born July 18, 1945) is an American music producer, musician and songwriter. He is well known for his work as the producer of Chicago's early albums as well as early recordings of The Buckinghams and Blood Sweat & Tears. He has worked briefly in the motion picture industry as a producer and director. In the mid 1970s, Guercio managed the Beach Boys and was a member of their backing band.
Guercio moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s and began working as a session musician and songwriter. He played on several recordings, wrote Chad and Jeremy's 1966 Top 30 pop hit "Distant Shores", and is listed as a "contributor" to Frank Zappa's 1966 debut album Freak Out! (he was briefly a member of the Mothers of Invention prior to the album's recording). Hired by Columbia Records as a staff producer, Guercio began working with the Buckinghams and helped them create four Top 10 records in 1967: "Don't You Care", "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", "Hey Baby (They're Playing Our Song)", and "Susan".
During his college years in Chicago, Guercio had become friends with a saxophonist named Walter Parazaider. Parazaider invited Guercio to hear his new band, "The Big Thing", and Guercio offered to manage and produce them. He relocated the band to Los Angeles in 1968, convinced them to change their name to "The Chicago Transit Authority", and arranged for them to appear in local clubs where they quickly became popular. While recording their first album for CBS/Columbia, Guercio was also approached about producing a second album for Blood, Sweat & Tears. Both of these highly successful albums were released in 1969, and Blood, Sweat & Tears won Guercio an Album of the Year Grammy Award.
...
Wikipedia