Dennis Ferrante (Courtesy Jennifer Vanderslice)
(Introduction: Dennis Ferrante has worked with a wide range of musical talents from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to Alice Cooper and Kiss. He will be among the guests at BEATexpo 2009 in Stamford, Conn. Nov. 28-29. We asked him a few questions by email.)
Q: Just to give people a background on you, would you mind listing a few of the artists you've worked with or the engineering projects you've done?
Dennis Ferrante: I've worked with John Lennon, The Four Tops, David Bowie, Slade, KISS, The Raspberries, Don McLean, Lighthouse, Alice Cooper, just to name a few that I can recall off hand.
Q: You won a Grammy in 1999 as one of the engineers for Best Historical Album for "The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition - The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973)." What kind of challenges do historical projects like that present?
Dennis Ferrante: The problems are various. Some of the older stuff was on metal masters from which the records were made. There was noise, ticks, pops all kinds of surface hiss which I had to take out without destroying the integrity of the material. That took a long time, but the result was worth it.
Q: You also worked as an engineer on Yoko Ono's "Fly" album. When recording with Yoko, are her sessions all off the cuff, or does she pretty much know what she's doing when she goes into the studio?
Dennis Ferrante: Pretty much so. She has a concept in her mind and I had to bring it to fruition, which at times was very nerve racking.
Q: You worked on Harry Nilsson's "Pussy Cats." How did the sessions get done with all the craziness going on in John Lennon and Harry Nilsson's lives at the time?
Dennis Ferrante: John was not one to go into a studio and just fool around. He was there to make music, but the craziness is what it was all about. That state led to musical creativity which in turn made great music.
Q: One of John Lennon's most beautiful songs is "#9 Dream" from "Walls and Bridges," which you worked on. How did that song come together?
Dennis Ferrante: John's way of doing music was he would come into the studio with his song. He would run the tune down for the band and after about 45 minutes the band would be ready to put it down. Then we would record any guitar overdubs or other instruments and be ready to put down John's vocal. He didn't like to hear his voice plain so I had to put in his headphones efx's that seemed to me the more he heard, the better he sang. After that we put on the background vocals and whatever little nuiances were needed like May (Pang) saying "John" in the chorus. After all the parts were put down, we would mix and the rest is what you hear.
Q: What was the last contact you had with John?
Dennis Ferrante: The last time I was with John was in 1974/75, I think. He's working on the "Rock n' Roll" album and I was working with The Raspberries at the time. During my session, John came in and asked if I could help him with a technical problem. So I left to help him for a few minutes then returned to my session. That was the last time I saw John. Tragically, I was supposed to see him the night he was murdered, but I was working with The Four Tops that night and never got the chance. It changed my life forever.
Q: Any future Lennon historical projects in the works?
Dennis Ferrante: None that I am involved in but would love to do it....
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