Donn Landee, who served because the engineer or co-producer on Van Halen’s first eight studio albums, has reportedly died of pure causes on the age of 79.
The information was reported by the Van Halen Information Desk. After starting his profession by engaged on data such because the Doorways’ Ready for the Solar, Landee joined Warner Bros. as a workers engineer in 1971.
He quickly shaped a partnership with Ted Templeman, working with the famed producer on quite a few landmark albums by the Doobie Brothers, Little Feat and Van Morrison, amongst others.
The duo additionally labored collectively on the primary two albums by Montrose, a California-based laborious rock band that includes a then-unknown singer named Sammy Hagar.
Whereas Montrose by no means totally broke via commercially their 1973 self-titled debut developed a following amongst different musicians, together with Van Halen, who later cited the sound of Montrose as one of many causes they selected Templeman and Landee because the producer and engineer for their very own 1978 debut album.
Landee would go on to function the engineer for the group’s first six albums. He was additionally instrumental in serving to guitarist Eddie Van Halen construct his 5150 house recording studio, which the band first put to make use of on the 1984 album, which included serving to to trick metropolis officers into pondering they have been constructing a racquetball courtroom.
Learn Extra: Each Van Halen Album Ranked
“One of many first instances I drove him to his home on Coldwater Canyon, he had me have a look at the visitor home and requested, ‘Can we use this?’ I informed him we would have liked to construct one thing extra substantial,” Landee informed Tape Op journal (as reported by VHND) in 2024. “We walked past the visitor home and he confirmed me there was loads of room to construct his studio.”
After Van Halen break up with founding singer David Lee Roth – who received Templeman within the divorce – Landee was promoted to co-producer on 1986’s Hagar-fronted 5150 and 1988’s OU812.
OU812 was the ultimate file Landee labored on with the band, however in recent times he helped remaster numerous Van Halen albums for reissue campaigns or expanded field set editions.
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