Episode 12: Chris Kimsey

Today’s guest is Chris Kimsey, the studio engineer and producer behind many of The Rolling Stones’ most celebrated recordings.

Kimsey began his career as a teenage tape operator at London’s Olympic Studios in the late 1960s, learning the craft of recording from the ground up inside one of the most important studios of the era. By the 1970s he had become one of the most in-demand engineers on the London scene, working with artists including Led Zeppelin and Peter Frampton, and would go on to collaborate with a wide range of major acts including Peter Tosh, Duran Duran, and INXS. In this episode he reflects on those formative studio years and the lessons that shaped his approach to making records.

The conversation explores his long association with the Stones, beginning with his work as an engineer on sessions for their landmark album ‘Sticky Fingers’, before moving into his later role as producer on ‘Some Girls’ and ‘Emotional Rescue’, when the band were pushing beyond their late-’70s rock revival into more experimental territory.

He discusses the band’s creative resurgence around ‘Tattoo You’, and the process of shaping songs from earlier recordings and bringing them together into one of the Stones’ most successful albums, then expounds on the strained dynamic during the making of ‘Undercover’, before recalling the renewed focus that fuelled the band’s late-’80s comeback with ‘Steel Wheels’.

Kimsey shares detailed memories of life inside the studio with the band: the recording techniques, the creative atmosphere, and the personalities that shaped some of rock’s most enduring music. It’s a fascinating look behind the scenes at how classic Rolling Stones records were made, and the craft of capturing lightning in a bottle with one of the greatest and most unpredictable bands in rock ‘n’ roll history.

This episode was recorded live in Olympic Studios.

For more on Chris Kimsey, visit his website.

Lip Service is produced and presented by Simon Harper.

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