Mike Stone (record producer)

Mike Stone
Stone, c. 1970s
Background information
Born	1951
Died	2002 (aged 50–51)
Occupation(s)	Record producer

Mike Stone (1951 – May 2002)^[1] was an English recording engineer and record producer. Stone worked with Queen (multiple albums), Blue Öyster Cult, Foreigner, Journey (multiple albums),^[2] Kiss, Asia, Lou Reed, Whitesnake, Joe Walsh and others.^[3]

Biography

Stone began his career as an assistant recording engineer at Abbey Road Studios in England. While still a teenager, Stone worked on some sessions for The Beatles' Beatles For Sale^[4] (1964). Later, he became a runner at Trident Studios, then worked his way up to tape operator and assistant engineer. In 1974, Stone began a long relationship with Queen when he worked with Queen's then producer, Roy Thomas Baker, to engineer the unique vocal layering for "Bohemian Rhapsody".^[5] Following Baker's departure as Queens' producer, the band hired Stone as their engineer for his expertise in over-dubbing vocals.^[6] By the early eighties, Stone had produced popular top-selling albums for both Asia and Journey.^[7]

Stone was scheduled to oversee the re-mastering of the Queen catalog when he died in 2002. Queen's Brian May wrote of Stone in a eulogy: "Mike's production style of big chorus building and hitting hard, the ability to treat vocals uniquely, and find space in a recording have influenced a generation of young producers." He had a love for being in the studio from late at night to early times in the morning, non stop. He never stopped looking for ways he could improve himself. He never stopped he only got up to 1 hour of sleep a night.

Stone's work productivity was limited in later years by an alcohol problem, and he died from complications of it.^[7]

Selected discography

• 1971 Genesis – Nursery Cryme, Tape jockey
• 1973 Queen – Queen, Engineer
• 1974 Queen – Queen II, Engineer
• 1974 Queen – Sheer Heart Attack, Engineer
• 1975 Queen – A Night at the Opera, Engineer
• 1976 Queen – A Day at the Races, Engineer, Guest Vocalist
• 1977 Queen – News of the World, Engineer, Co-producer
• 1979 New England – New England, Producer, Engineer^[3]
• 1979 Shoes – Present Tense, Producer, Engineer^[3]
• 1980 New England - Explorer Suite Co-Producer
• 1981 Journey – Escape, Producer
• 1981 April Wine – The Nature of the Beast, Engineer, Co-producer^[3]
• 1981 April Wine – Live in London, Co-mixer
• 1982 Asia – Asia, Producer
• 1982 April Wine – Power Play, Co-producer
• 1983 Asia – Alpha, Producer
• 1983 April Wine – Animal Grace, Co-producer
• 1983 Journey – Frontiers, Producer
• 1984 Tommy Shaw – Girls with Guns, Producer^[3]
• 1985 April Wine – One for the Road, Co-producer
• 1987 Whitesnake – Whitesnake, Producer
• 1987 Helix – Wild in the Streets, Co-producer^[3]
• 1988 Ratt – Reach for the Sky, Co-producer^[3]
• 1990 Y&T Ten, Producer
• 1995 Foreigner – Mr. Moonlight, Co-producer, Engineer
• 1996 Ten – Ten, Co-producer and mixer^[3]
• 1996 Ten – The Name of the Rose, Co-producer and mixer
• 1997 Ten – The Robe, Mixer

Notes

The audio engineering references for Mike Stone (record producer) often get confused and mixed with the references of Mike D. Stone (10/24/1949 – 12/3/2017) of the Record Plant recording studio in Los Angeles, California who engineered for the Bee Gees, Joe walsh, Frank Zappa, Peter Criss, Paul Stanley, America, and B. B. King. And their references sometimes are confused with Mike "Clay" Stone of Clay Records's who worked with largely punk and metal acts in the UK.

References