Keith Olsen
Encyclopedia
Keith Olsen is one of the most prolific and successful music producers in the industry.
's #1 song Jessie's Girl
.
He also has 45 Gold (or Platinum) Record Awards and six Grammy Awards. Olsen was born in a small town in South Dakota
, but moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota
at the age of twelve, where he received a very midwestern
cultural education. As he became more and more interested in music, both classical
and the pop music
of the time, he was lucky enough to earn some valuable experience in a couple of the only recording studio
s in the Minneapolis area. A wealth of soon to be discovered super talents were touring and commingling within the folk rock
circuit Keith found himself involved in, like David Crosby
, Roger McGuinn
, and Chris Hillman
, just to name a few.
After a brief stint as corporate director of global product development at Mackie
Designs, during their public ownership era, Keith used his first-hand knowledge of how production equipment is used, what is needed, and how to hopefully keep technology out of the way of creativity, to assemble a team of experts to develop their digital products line.
Olsen produces several albums per year for Pogologo Productions Group and gives his time and energy tirelessly to the "National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
" (NARAS) Producers and Engineers Wing, the mission of which he strongly believes is so necessary in this era of digital revolution. He currently serves on the P&E Steering Committee, P&E Advisory Council.
Olsen was the bass player
for The Music Machine
, who later went on to producing, co-producing the Fleetwood Mac
album Fleetwood Mac
, which was released in 1975. His career has spanned decades and included many of the top 50
artists of the 1980s, 90s, and 2000s. His award-winning career is well documented by numerous websites, books, and episodes of VH1
's Behind the Music
.
Also, among so many other works, he produced the American edition of Whitesnake
's 1984 album "Slide It In
", the 1987 album "Whitesnake
" with Mike Stone
and 1989's "Slip of the Tongue
" (1989) with Mike Clink
. He also produced the album Crazy World
with the Scorpions
. This album contains such popular songs as "Wind of Change
", "Send Me an Angel
", "Hit Between the Eyes", etc. Keith was also a producer and engineer for the Grateful Dead
's 1977 release Terrapin Station
Sheila's (B Devotion) "Little Darlin'" in 1981, and also co-produced No Rest for the Wicked
by Ozzy Osbourne
. A lesser-known credit was his first Spanish-language album for Mexican superstar Emmanuel in the late 1980s, the original English-language version was never released, the Latino version was hugely successful.
Career
With over 120 albums produced netting a 1 in 4 Gold or better ratio, of which more than 24 are Platinum or better, and more than 14 are multi-Platinum, sales from Keith Olsen’s work exceeds 110 million units at retail, equaling more than a Billion dollars in business. To date his work appears on more than 250 albums. He produced Rick SpringfieldRick Springfield
Rick Springfield is an Australian-born singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. He was a member of pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971 and then started his solo career with his début single "Speak to the Sky" reaching the top 10 in Australia. In mid-1972, he relocated to the United States...
's #1 song Jessie's Girl
Jessie's Girl
"Jessie's Girl" is a rock song written and performed by pop singer Rick Springfield. It was released on the album Working Class Dog. The song is about unrequited love, and centers on a young man in love with his best friend's girlfriend....
.
He also has 45 Gold (or Platinum) Record Awards and six Grammy Awards. Olsen was born in a small town in South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, but moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
at the age of twelve, where he received a very midwestern
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
cultural education. As he became more and more interested in music, both classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and the pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
of the time, he was lucky enough to earn some valuable experience in a couple of the only recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
s in the Minneapolis area. A wealth of soon to be discovered super talents were touring and commingling within the folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
circuit Keith found himself involved in, like David Crosby
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
, Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
, and Chris Hillman
Chris Hillman
Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
, just to name a few.
After a brief stint as corporate director of global product development at Mackie
Mackie
Mackie is a brand of the United States-based company LOUD Technologies. The Mackie brand is used on professional music and recording equipment, such as mixing consoles, loudspeakers, and DAW control surfaces....
Designs, during their public ownership era, Keith used his first-hand knowledge of how production equipment is used, what is needed, and how to hopefully keep technology out of the way of creativity, to assemble a team of experts to develop their digital products line.
Olsen produces several albums per year for Pogologo Productions Group and gives his time and energy tirelessly to the "National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS, is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its...
" (NARAS) Producers and Engineers Wing, the mission of which he strongly believes is so necessary in this era of digital revolution. He currently serves on the P&E Steering Committee, P&E Advisory Council.
Olsen was the bass player
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
for The Music Machine
The Music Machine
The Music Machine was an American garage rock and psychedelic band from the late 1960s, headed by singer-songwriter Sean Bonniwell and based in Los Angeles. The band sound was often defined by fuzzy guitars and a Farfisa organ...
, who later went on to producing, co-producing the Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
album Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac (1975 album)
2004 Re-issueOn 24 March 2004, Warner Bros. Records re-released the remastered album, with the following bonus tracks:"Jam #2" – 5:41"Say You Love Me" [single version] – 4:03...
, which was released in 1975. His career has spanned decades and included many of the top 50
Top 50
The Top 50 refers to a list of weekly hit singles, or albums. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the same but similar to the top 40, but with 10 extra places....
artists of the 1980s, 90s, and 2000s. His award-winning career is well documented by numerous websites, books, and episodes of VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's Behind the Music
Behind the Music
Behind the Music is a television series on VH1. It originally ran from 1997 to 2006, before it was stopped and only aired new episodes sporadically. The series places its generality on documentation of musical artists or groups who are interviewed and profiled, and discuss how their careers became...
.
Also, among so many other works, he produced the American edition of Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
's 1984 album "Slide It In
Slide It In
Slide It In is the sixth studio album by British hard rock band Whitesnake, released in 1984.It was the first Whitesnake album to be released by Geffen Records in the United States, but was remixed for the release there. Because of this, two different editions of the album exist, each with its own...
", the 1987 album "Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
" with Mike Stone
Mike Stone
Mike Stone may refer to:*Mike Stone , former guitarist for the progressive metal band Queensrÿche*Mike Stone , retired American professional ice hockey centre...
and 1989's "Slip of the Tongue
Slip of the Tongue
-20th Anniversary Edition DVD:-Singles:*"Fool for Your Loving"*"Now You're Gone"*"The Deeper the Love"-Personnel:*David Coverdale – vocals*Steve Vai – All Guitars*Adrian Vandenberg - Guitars *Rudy Sarzo – bass...
" (1989) with Mike Clink
Mike Clink
Mike Clink is a record producer who started his career as an engineer at Record Plant Studios, recording such bands as Triumph, Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, Megadeth, UFO , Jefferson Starship, The Babys, Heart, Eddie Money and many others.Clink began producing in 1986...
. He also produced the album Crazy World
Crazy World
Crazy World is the eleventh studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions released in November 1990. Crazy World peaked at number 21 on Billboard 200 Chart for albums in 1991...
with the Scorpions
Scorpions (band)
Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...
. This album contains such popular songs as "Wind of Change
Wind of Change
"Wind of Change" is a 1990 power ballad written by Klaus Meine, vocalist of the German heavy metal band Scorpions. It appeared on their 1990 album Crazy World, but did not become a worldwide hit single until 1991, when it topped the charts in Germany and across Europe, and hit #4 in the United...
", "Send Me an Angel
Send Me an Angel (Scorpions song)
"Send Me an Angel" is a power ballad by German heavy metal band Scorpions, released on their 1990 album Crazy World. Along with "Wind of Change", it became the album's signature track, reaching number 44 on Billboard Hot 100 Chart, number 8 on the Mainstream Rock Chart and high chart positions in...
", "Hit Between the Eyes", etc. Keith was also a producer and engineer for the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
's 1977 release Terrapin Station
Terrapin Station
Terrapin Station is the ninth studio album by the Grateful Dead, and was originally released on July 27, 1977.This album was the first time since Anthem of the Sun that the Grateful Dead used an outside producer...
Sheila's (B Devotion) "Little Darlin'" in 1981, and also co-produced No Rest for the Wicked
No Rest for the Wicked (Ozzy Osbourne album)
No Rest for the Wicked is the fifth studio album by Ozzy Osbourne. It was released on October 22, 1988 and was re-issued / remastered on August 22, 1995 and again on June 25, 2002. The album was certified gold in December 1989 and has since gone double platinum. No Rest for the Wicked is the first...
by Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
. A lesser-known credit was his first Spanish-language album for Mexican superstar Emmanuel in the late 1980s, the original English-language version was never released, the Latino version was hugely successful.
External links
- http://www.keitholsenproductions.com/ Keith Olsen's Pogologo Productions Group
- http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/penguin/olsen.htm Biography from fleetwoodmac.net