Bill Szymczyk - Production Style

Production Style

Bill Szymczyk's has frequently been noted as the sort of producer which pushes bands to expand their musical horizons; he has been brought in with the specific intent of changing a band's sound. He himself has credited this tendency to his lack of musical knowledge, stating: "I'm a professional listener. I listen and I react. I never was a musician, so I don't bring any preconceived prejudices to the table; I don't favour the guitar over the keyboard, and so forth. I just listen and try to figure out if I have anything I can bring to a song."

For his work with the Eagles, he has been cited for his innovative mixing of drums, laboriously working to get the right microphones and placements for just the right sound. Rather than recording harmony vocals individually, and mixing them together later, as was common, Bill preferred to capture the Eagles singing in ensemble, often spending many hours to record each phrase "just right".

For the Elvin Bishop hit, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love," it was Szymczyk who suggested the inclusion of the song on Bishop's Struttin' My Stuff album, feeling the blues-oriented album lacked a pop single. It would go on to become Bishop's biggest hit. Such a pattern was repeated throughout his career. The Eagles brought him in to refine and improve their "rock" sound, and all of their biggest selling albums and songs were Szymcyzk-produced. Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash has called him "my all time favourite producer". While the two did not always get along during recording, usually over Turner's bass-playing style, Turner does credit Szymczyk with giving the band a more commercial sound on one of their most successful albums, 1974's There's the Rub.