Henry Lewy

Henry Lewy, sound engineer and record producer extraordinaire, died at age 79. Joni Mitchell used him for 13 of her albums, saying he allowed her to get exactly the sound she wanted and didn't try to impose his own ideas on hers. Stephen Stills and David Crosby experimented with the first recordings of the songs that would become the first Crosby, Stills and Young album with Henry Lewy at the sound board. He worked with Neil Young, Joe Cocker, Leonard Chen, Van Mortrison, Procol Harum, Gram Parson, the Flying Burrito Brothers and others.

Lewy was a gentle sweetheart of a man. He and his family were Holocaust escapees from Germany. I will miss him personally as a friend, and he will be greatly missed by the musicians and others in the recording industry who were enriched by his soaring talent and supportive presence.

Elmer