Nathaniel Johnson
Encyclopedia
Nathaniel Johnson, veteran American
radio broadcaster and record producer, was born in 1942 in Concord, Massachusetts where he attended both private and public schools. From an early age, he showed a remarkable aptitude for music and sound reproduction.
In 1961, he joined the U.S. Army Intelligence Agency where he majored in communications during training at Fort Devens, Massachusetts
. In 1962, he was assigned to the Hakata Base, Japan where he spent twenty-four months as a specialist in foreign communications for the United States Army Security Agency
.
Following an honorable discharge in 1964 Johnson, a student at Emerson College
, became a radio announcer and later, Music Director for radio station WBCN-FM in Boston, a primary originator of classical music programming for east-coast stations of The Concert Network. 1966, Johnson broke with the traditional classical format and introduced Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
to New England radio audiences, marking the first FM Stereo broadcast in the United States of this revolutionary Beatles album. While Music Director at WBCN-FM, Johnson brought his popular organ music program, "The King of Instruments," to college radio stations WERS-FM at Emerson College
, Boston, and to WBUR-FM at Boston University
.
In 1967, Nat Johnson joined the WGBH
Educational Foundation and was assigned the unique, triple-role of announcer, producer and audio engineer. In 1969, Johnson became the first classical announcer on WGBH Radio to host and engineer Morning Pro Musica and continued in this role until 1971 when he passed the position on to Robert J. Lurtsema
. For nearly 12 years, Nat served as audio balance engineer and music editor for WGBH Radio and TV, supervising sound recordings radio and TV drama plus recordings of live broadcasts by the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras. In addition he supervised numerous live radio concerts from Jordan Hall
at The New England Conservatory of Music, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Sanders Theater at Harvard University
and Kresge Auditorium, MIT.
In the mid 1970's, Nat Johnson collaborated with artists and producers at the New Television Workshop at WGBH
, which supported the creation and broadcast of experimental works by video artists from 1974 to 1993. Johnson received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to produce a video-synthesized version of Debussy's Girl With the Flaxen Hair arranged by Isao Tomita on RCA Red Seal.
In 1980, prior to his departure from WGBH, Johnson was engaged by Masterpiece Theatre
Executive Producer Joan Wilson to produce a new record album, "Favorite Themes from Masterpiece Theatre
." Johnson then commissioned two British composers, Kenyon_Emrys-Roberts (Poldark
) and Wilfrid Josephs (I, Claudius
) to extend their respective themes for inclusion on the forthcoming album. Johnson supervised the recording sessions in the BBC
Studios at Maida Vale
. During his tenure at WGBH Johnson also collaborated with Alistair Cooke
on various Public TV programs and, occasionally, recorded Cooke's "Letter From America
" for later broadcast on the BBC.
In the 1970's, Johnson participated in the WGBH Radio Drama Development Project and later studied radio drama production with Desmond Briscoe of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop at WHA in Madison, Wisconsin. As audio designer for WGBH Radio Drama projects, Johnson produced "Herakles" by Archibald MacLeish
, an experimental radio drama in quadraphonic
sound.
While in England for WGBH, Johnson received an invitation from Ray Dolby
to tour Dolby Laboratories at Clapham
. Working with Dolby engineers in New York, Nat Johnson pioneered the implementation of Dolby Surround Sound for compact-discs at the RCA Studios where he remastered numerous Dolby Surround albums for both the RCA Red Seal and RCA Victor labels. Among his principal projects in Dolby Surround were the remakes of RCA's Victory at Sea (Volumes 1 & 2), Motion Picture Classics (Volumes 1 & 2) with Arthur Fiedler
and the Boston Pops and "Themes From The Pink Panther
" which Johnson remastered in collaboration with composer Henry Mancini
.
In 1991, Nathaniel Johnson was appointed Head of Reissues at RCA Records
in New York, having previously produced two quadraphonic
LP best-sellers for RCA Red Seal Records
, "Spaced-Out Bach," Volumes I and II. Following "Spaced-Out Bach", Johnson produced a 3-record boxed set of Bach's English Suites for RCA Red Seal, London. At RCA in New York, Johnson supervised the remastering of the entire 64-CD Grammy Award winning Heifetz Collection along with numerous albums from the RCA Living Stereo series and the Toscanini Edition. In addition, Johnson supervised the remastering of an award-winning collection of Boston Symphony albums featuring music by French composers, conducted by Charles Münch
. Over several years, Johnson also supervised the restoration of numerous recordings by Arthur Fiedler
and the Boston Pops Orchestra for RCA Red Seal Records
and RCA Victor.
In 1999, while supervising classical reissues at BMG/RCA, Johnson initiated a revolutionary audiophile series of high-end compact discs, “High Performance,” featuring outstanding analogue LP masters of performances by the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras. In addition, High Performance highlighted a variety of eminent artists including Erich Leinsdorf
, Arthur Fiedler
, Leontyne Price
, Vladimir Horowitz
and the Guarneri Quartet
.
In 2000, Nathaniel Johnson was nominated for a Grammy Award
for Best Historical Album as Producer of a 94-CD set, The Rubinstein Collection for RCA Red Seal Records.
In 2001, Johnson created an innovative web-based, multimedia music education program titled "Music Matters" for Northeastern University in conjunction with the university's student Cooperative Education
program.
In 2003, Johnson founded Rockport Restoration Studios - an independent company dedicated to the conservation and preservation of historic recordings. Since 2005, Johnson has concentrated on the restoration and preservation of all extant speeches and addresses by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill
. He is a member of The Roosevelt Institute and has restored Churchill's address, "Their Finest Hour" for The Churchill Centre
.
The author of several novels, screenplays and a collection of short stories, Johnson's most recent works have appeared in AlienSkin and Boston Literary Magazine, Writer’s Stories, SNM Horror Magazine, Bewildering Stories’ First Quarterly Review 2010, The Foundling Review, Every Day Fiction, and Absent Willow Review.
In 2010, Johnson launched a blog honoring the pioneers who built WGBH
, titled WGBH & Friends.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
radio broadcaster and record producer, was born in 1942 in Concord, Massachusetts where he attended both private and public schools. From an early age, he showed a remarkable aptitude for music and sound reproduction.
In 1961, he joined the U.S. Army Intelligence Agency where he majored in communications during training at Fort Devens, Massachusetts
Fort Devens, Massachusetts
Devens, Massachusetts is an unincorporated village and census-designated place in the towns of Ayer and Shirley, in Middlesex County and Harvard in Worcester County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is the successor to Fort Devens, a military post that operated from 1917 to 1996. The area...
. In 1962, he was assigned to the Hakata Base, Japan where he spent twenty-four months as a specialist in foreign communications for the United States Army Security Agency
United States Army Security Agency
The United States Army Security Agency was the United States Army's signal intelligence branch. Its motto was "Vigilant Always." The Agency existed between 1945 and 1976 and was the successor to Army signal intelligence operations dating back to World War I...
.
Following an honorable discharge in 1964 Johnson, a student at Emerson College
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private coeducational university located in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of oratory," Emerson is "the only comprehensive college or university in America dedicated exclusively to communication and the arts in a liberal arts...
, became a radio announcer and later, Music Director for radio station WBCN-FM in Boston, a primary originator of classical music programming for east-coast stations of The Concert Network. 1966, Johnson broke with the traditional classical format and introduced Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
to New England radio audiences, marking the first FM Stereo broadcast in the United States of this revolutionary Beatles album. While Music Director at WBCN-FM, Johnson brought his popular organ music program, "The King of Instruments," to college radio stations WERS-FM at Emerson College
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private coeducational university located in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of oratory," Emerson is "the only comprehensive college or university in America dedicated exclusively to communication and the arts in a liberal arts...
, Boston, and to WBUR-FM at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
.
In 1967, Nat Johnson joined the WGBH
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...
Educational Foundation and was assigned the unique, triple-role of announcer, producer and audio engineer. In 1969, Johnson became the first classical announcer on WGBH Radio to host and engineer Morning Pro Musica and continued in this role until 1971 when he passed the position on to Robert J. Lurtsema
Robert J. Lurtsema
Robert J. Lurtsema was a public radio broadcaster.Lurtsema hosted the classical music show Morning pro musica on WGBH in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1971 until his death from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis...
. For nearly 12 years, Nat served as audio balance engineer and music editor for WGBH Radio and TV, supervising sound recordings radio and TV drama plus recordings of live broadcasts by the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras. In addition he supervised numerous live radio concerts from Jordan Hall
Jordan Hall
Jordan Hall is a 1,019-seat concert hall in Boston, Massachusetts, the principal performance space of the New England Conservatory. It is one block from Boston's Symphony Hall, and together they are considered two of America's most acoustically perfect performance spaces...
at The New England Conservatory of Music, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Sanders Theater at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and Kresge Auditorium, MIT.
In the mid 1970's, Nat Johnson collaborated with artists and producers at the New Television Workshop at WGBH
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...
, which supported the creation and broadcast of experimental works by video artists from 1974 to 1993. Johnson received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to produce a video-synthesized version of Debussy's Girl With the Flaxen Hair arranged by Isao Tomita on RCA Red Seal.
In 1980, prior to his departure from WGBH, Johnson was engaged by Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service on January 10, 1971, making it America's longest-running weekly prime time drama series. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions...
Executive Producer Joan Wilson to produce a new record album, "Favorite Themes from Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service on January 10, 1971, making it America's longest-running weekly prime time drama series. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions...
." Johnson then commissioned two British composers, Kenyon_Emrys-Roberts (Poldark
Poldark
Poldark is a BBC television series based on the novels written by Winston Graham which was first transmitted in the UK between 1975 and 1977.-Outline:...
) and Wilfrid Josephs (I, Claudius
I, Claudius
I, Claudius is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius. As such, it includes history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41...
) to extend their respective themes for inclusion on the forthcoming album. Johnson supervised the recording sessions in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Studios at Maida Vale
Maida Vale
Maida Vale is a residential district in West London between St John's Wood and Kilburn. It is part of the City of Westminster. The area is mostly residential, and mainly affluent, consisting of many large late Victorian and Edwardian blocks of mansion flats...
. During his tenure at WGBH Johnson also collaborated with Alistair Cooke
Alistair Cooke
Alfred Alistair Cooke KBE was a British/American journalist, television personality and broadcaster. Outside his journalistic output, which included Letter from America and Alistair Cooke's America, he was well known in the United States as the host of PBS Masterpiece Theater from 1971 to 1992...
on various Public TV programs and, occasionally, recorded Cooke's "Letter From America
Letter from America
Letter from America was a weekly 15-minute radio series on BBC Radio 4, previously called the Home Service, which ran for 2,869 shows from 24 March 1946 to 20 February 2004, making it the longest-running speech radio programme in history...
" for later broadcast on the BBC.
In the 1970's, Johnson participated in the WGBH Radio Drama Development Project and later studied radio drama production with Desmond Briscoe of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop at WHA in Madison, Wisconsin. As audio designer for WGBH Radio Drama projects, Johnson produced "Herakles" by Archibald MacLeish
Archibald MacLeish
Archibald MacLeish was an American poet, writer, and the Librarian of Congress. He is associated with the Modernist school of poetry. He received three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.-Early years:...
, an experimental radio drama in quadraphonic
Quadraphonic
Quadraphonic sound – the most widely used early term for what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of the listening space, reproducing signals that are independent of one another...
sound.
While in England for WGBH, Johnson received an invitation from Ray Dolby
Ray Dolby
Ray Dolby is the American engineer and inventor of the noise reduction system known as Dolby NR. He was also a co-inventor of video tape recording while at Ampex. He is the founder of Dolby Laboratories.-Biography:...
to tour Dolby Laboratories at Clapham
Clapham
Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...
. Working with Dolby engineers in New York, Nat Johnson pioneered the implementation of Dolby Surround Sound for compact-discs at the RCA Studios where he remastered numerous Dolby Surround albums for both the RCA Red Seal and RCA Victor labels. Among his principal projects in Dolby Surround were the remakes of RCA's Victory at Sea (Volumes 1 & 2), Motion Picture Classics (Volumes 1 & 2) with Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
and the Boston Pops and "Themes From The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther is a series of comedy films featuring the bungling French police detective Jacques Clouseau that began in 1963 with the release of the film of the same name. The role was originated by, and is most closely associated with, Peter Sellers...
" which Johnson remastered in collaboration with composer Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
.
In 1991, Nathaniel Johnson was appointed Head of Reissues at RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
in New York, having previously produced two quadraphonic
Quadraphonic
Quadraphonic sound – the most widely used early term for what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of the listening space, reproducing signals that are independent of one another...
LP best-sellers for RCA Red Seal Records
RCA Red Seal Records
RCA Red Seal Records is a classical music label and is now part of Sony Masterworks.The Red Seal label was begun in 1902 by the Gramophone Company in the United Kingdom and was quickly picked up by its United States affiliate, the Victor Talking Machine Company, and its president, Eldridge R. Johnson...
, "Spaced-Out Bach," Volumes I and II. Following "Spaced-Out Bach", Johnson produced a 3-record boxed set of Bach's English Suites for RCA Red Seal, London. At RCA in New York, Johnson supervised the remastering of the entire 64-CD Grammy Award winning Heifetz Collection along with numerous albums from the RCA Living Stereo series and the Toscanini Edition. In addition, Johnson supervised the remastering of an award-winning collection of Boston Symphony albums featuring music by French composers, conducted by Charles Münch
Charles Münch
Charles Munch was an Alsatian symphonic conductor and violinist. Noted for his mastery of the French orchestral repertoire, he is best known as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.-Biography:...
. Over several years, Johnson also supervised the restoration of numerous recordings by Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
and the Boston Pops Orchestra for RCA Red Seal Records
RCA Red Seal Records
RCA Red Seal Records is a classical music label and is now part of Sony Masterworks.The Red Seal label was begun in 1902 by the Gramophone Company in the United Kingdom and was quickly picked up by its United States affiliate, the Victor Talking Machine Company, and its president, Eldridge R. Johnson...
and RCA Victor.
In 1999, while supervising classical reissues at BMG/RCA, Johnson initiated a revolutionary audiophile series of high-end compact discs, “High Performance,” featuring outstanding analogue LP masters of performances by the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras. In addition, High Performance highlighted a variety of eminent artists including Erich Leinsdorf
Erich Leinsdorf
Erich Leinsdorf was a naturalized American Austrian conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a reputation for exacting standards as well as an acerbic personality...
, Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
, Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price
Mary Violet Leontyne Price is an American soprano. Born and raised in the Deep South, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was one of the first African Americans to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan Opera.One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant",...
, Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...
and the Guarneri Quartet
Guarneri Quartet
The Guarneri Quartet was an American string quartet founded in 1964 at the Marlboro Music School and Festival. During the quartet's early years the members were in residence at Harpur College in upstate New York....
.
In 2000, Nathaniel Johnson was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Historical Album as Producer of a 94-CD set, The Rubinstein Collection for RCA Red Seal Records.
In 2001, Johnson created an innovative web-based, multimedia music education program titled "Music Matters" for Northeastern University in conjunction with the university's student Cooperative Education
Cooperative education
Cooperative education is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience. A cooperative education experience, commonly known as a "co-op", provides academic credit for structured job experience...
program.
In 2003, Johnson founded Rockport Restoration Studios - an independent company dedicated to the conservation and preservation of historic recordings. Since 2005, Johnson has concentrated on the restoration and preservation of all extant speeches and addresses by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
. He is a member of The Roosevelt Institute and has restored Churchill's address, "Their Finest Hour" for The Churchill Centre
The Churchill Centre
The Churchill Centre and Churchill Museum at the Cabinet War Rooms was founded in 1968 to educate new generations on the leadership, statesmanship, vision, courage and boldness of Sir Winston Churchill. Thousands of members around the world work together to impress the record Churchill's life and...
.
The author of several novels, screenplays and a collection of short stories, Johnson's most recent works have appeared in AlienSkin and Boston Literary Magazine, Writer’s Stories, SNM Horror Magazine, Bewildering Stories’ First Quarterly Review 2010, The Foundling Review, Every Day Fiction, and Absent Willow Review.
In 2010, Johnson launched a blog honoring the pioneers who built WGBH
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...
, titled WGBH & Friends.