Sheldon Talmy was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger, best known for his work in England in the 1960s with the Who, the Kinks, and many other artists.
35 Facts About Shel Talmy
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Shel Talmy played guitar or percussion on some of his productions.
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Shel Talmy was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Esther and Isaac Shel Talmy, a dentist.
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At the age of 13, Shel Talmy appeared regularly on the popular NBC-TV television show Quiz Kids, a question-and-answer program from Chicago.
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Three days later, Shel Talmy had his first assignment, producing the record "Falling Star" by Debbie Sharron.
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Shel Talmy went with little money and thought he might be able to work for a couple of weeks to earn some more.
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Shel Talmy joined Decca Records as an independent record producer working with Decca's pop performers, such as Irish trio the Bachelors, leading to the release of the hit single "Charmaine".
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In 1963 Shel Talmy met Robert Wace, the manager of a group called the Ravens who later changed their name to the Kinks.
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Shel Talmy brought the Kinks into the studio and their third single, "You Really Got Me", became a landmark recording.
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Shel Talmy never played anything but rhythm guitar on that plus [the Kinks'] first album session.
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Pete Townshend, guitarist of a band called the High Numbers, liked "You Really Got Me" so much that he wrote a similar number, "I Can't Explain", so that Shel Talmy might produce his group.
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Shel Talmy got the band a contract with Decca in America and with their subsidiary Brunswick in Britain, and produced recordings modeled on the band's high-energy live performances.
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The intentional feedback on the band's second single, "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", caused US Decca executives to send back the recording, thinking that they had received a faulty pressing, and Shel Talmy had to assure them it was intentional.
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Shel Talmy called it a pyrrhic victory, as he would no longer produce any records by the Who.
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Shel Talmy held the original session tapes to the My Generation album, but a re-release was held up for years because of the ongoing dispute.
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My Generation was remixed by Shel Talmy and issued on compact disc with bonus tracks.
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Thanks to his work with the Who and the Kinks, Shel Talmy is considered at the forefront of the British music scene in the mid-1960s.
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Shel Talmy continued to work with other distinguished British performers throughout the 1960s, principal amongst whom was singer-songwriter David Bowie.
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Shel Talmy produced two singles in 1965 by two groups featuring Bowie, "I Pity The Fool" by The Manish Boys and "You've Got A Habit Of Leaving", where the singer was accompanied by The Lower Third.
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Shel Talmy is known to have a considerable amount of unreleased material by Bowie in his archive.
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The first session under Shel Talmy's direction produced the massive global hit "Friday On My Mind".
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Once established as an independent producer in early 1964, Shel Talmy would be incredibly busy over the next five years, producing dozens of discs, largely in the beat and mod categories, genres with which he would be forever associated.
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Shel Talmy was hired to work with successful acts like Manfred Mann, for whom he produced the hits singles "Just Like A Woman" and "Semi-Detached Suburban Mr James", and Amen Corner.
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Shel Talmy has worked in the pop, orchestral, pop and punk categories.
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Shel Talmy produced the early Roy Harper albums Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith and Folkejokeopus in 1967.
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In 1968 and 1969 Shel Talmy produced the influential first three albums by the folk supergroup, Pentangle, as well as their hit single "Light Flight".
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Shel Talmy was however still in demand as a producer and worked on records by Small Faces, String Driven Thing, Fumble, Coven, Chris White, Mick Cox Band, Blues Project, Rumplestiltskin and others.
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Shel Talmy had production deals with the Bell and Charisma labels in the 1970s.
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Shel Talmy produced albums by Fuzztones, Nancy Boy and Sorrows.
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In 2003, a tribute to Shel Talmy was aired on the radio program Little Steven's Underground Garage.
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Shel Talmy had two children, Jonna and Steven Talmy.
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Shel Talmy was the elder brother of the American linguist Leonard Talmy.
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Shel Talmy died from complications of a stroke on November 13,2024, at the age of 87.
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Note: Shel Talmy produced numerous tracks that would appear on later albums, singles, and archival collections.
35.
Note: Shel Talmy produced numerous tracks that would appear on later archival collections.