06/09/2019
Thanks for the lovely post! The feelings are Mutual!!
A NOTE FROM NORA ~
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVE ROSENTHAL - Producer and My Comrade in the Recording Studio!
Over the last 20 years, Steve has worked with me on so many Woody projects - including a number of them that were either Grammy nominees or Grammy winners – that I think it’s about time that I introduce him to all you Woody friends out there. Because without him, I don’t think I could have carried off the bounty of work we’ve done. He’s my partner. And Woody’s greatest producer.
I first met Steve around 1994, when Anna Lomax, Alan Lomax’s daughter, brought him over to meet me. He played me a short audio clip of one of Woody’s 1940 Library of Congress recordings which he had been working on. One of Steve’s specialties is restoring old audio, and he had used some innovative technology on Woody’s recording.
It was different from anything I had previously heard on his recordings. I started to cry. It was the first time that I heard (and for some strange reason recognized) my father’s young and healthy voice. It was so clear and crisp and clean.
My second reaction was “I gotta work with this guy!” So that’s how we met.
Over the years, we co-produced and worked on The Klezmatics album “Wonder Wheel”, “The Live Wire; Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949”, Rob Wasserman’s album “Note of Hope”, “My Name Is New York; Ramblin’ Around Woody Guthrie’s Town” the NYC walking tour, “The Woody Guthrie Tributes” Bear Family box set, the recent PBS “Woody Guthrie All-Star 1970 Hollywood Bowl concert”, and more.
Simply put, our “his” and “hers” towels are hanging in the studio.
Now I’m going to full on brag about him! I’m gonna yank him into the spotlight because he’s the master behind so much of the work I’ve been doing.
For 28 years Steve owned and operated the Magic Shop Recording Studio down on Crosby Street in Soho where he produced and engineered, among others, Lou Reed, Natalie Merchant, Suzanne Vega, Dave Van Ronk, Laura Nyro, Charles Brown and Ollabelle. The studio was home to hundreds of recording artists like David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Ramones, Blondie, Coldplay, Arcade Fire and many more. Steve is a four time GRAMMY Award winner having produced, mixed and restored archival projects for Alan Lomax, Jelly Roll Morton, Harry Nilsson, Billy Joel, Sam Cooke, Frank Sinatra and The Rolling Stones. Last year he was nominated for his work on the “Complete Concert by the Sea” by Errol Garner.
I mean, really…. Steve is a studio legend.
One more thing, if you can take it! For 17 years, Steve and his wife Jennifer Gilson owned and operated THE LIVING ROOM, New York’s iconic singer-songwriter venue where musicians like Norah Jones got their start. This fall he opened MARS - MagicShop Archive & Restoration Studios, to continue his preservation and archiving work.
So, as I said at the top, it’s about time I formally introduce you to my dearest friend, studio comrade, and Woody Guthrie’s best producer! Just in time to wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!" ~ Nora Guthrie