David Briggs (producer) - Critical Views

Critical Views

David Briggs is remembered as a man who pushed musicians and friends to the very limits of their capabilities and utilized a low-tech, highly emotional and lively approach to "bring out the best" in every artist he worked with. Briggs, an accomplished writer and musician himself, was one of the first producers to take the place of the traditional studio "sound-man" at the recording board and learn to lay down track himself. When he said, "Do it again", they did it again. When he said, "Come listen", they knew there was something worth listening to. He will go down as one of the greatest non-technical rock and roll producers in the industry. His motto was "Never give up the master tapes." His credo was "Be Great Or Begone."

Briggs' work was not universally acclaimed. Neal Smith of the Alice Cooper group later said "David hated our music and us. I recall the term that he used, referring to our music, was 'psychedelic shit'." I think Easy Action sounded too dry, more like a TV or radio commercial and he did not help with song arrangement or positive input in any way." His sessions with Nick Cave were also acrimonious, which led to Cave remixing the album Henry's Dream.