Difference between revisions of "Paul Buff"
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| − | + | [[File:Paul Buff.jpg|350px|thumb|right|Paul Buff.]] | |
| − | Paul Conrad Buff | + | '''Paul Conrad Buff''' (24 April 1936 - 14 March 2015)<ref>[https://obits.al.com/us/obituaries/mobile/name/paul-buff-obituary?pid=174445500 Obituary]</ref> was an American sound engineer, music producer, artist, composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and inventor. In the early 1960s he recorded and released numerous surf rock records. He was, at the time, married to [[Allison Buff]]. |
| − | + | ==Biography== | |
| − | In 1963, Buff got the opportunity to work with [[Art Laboe]] at [[Original Sound]] in Hollywood where he engineered the [[Run Home Slow (The Film)|Run Home Slow]] soundtrack recording. By mid 1964 FZ had moved into the Pal Studio and in August FZ purchased the studio from Buff for $1000, his Fender Jazzmaster guitar and a set of drums. [[The Real Frank Zappa Book|FZ recalled (in TRFZB)]]: "In other words, I agreed to take over his lease and the rest of his debt." | + | Paul Conrad Buff grew up in [[Cucamonga]]. Joining the Marine Corps, after graduating, he trained in aviation electronics. He returned to civilian life and took a job making parts for guided missiles at General Dynamics. After a few months at the "Bomb factory", as Zappa would refer to it, he was bored with his job so he borrowed $1000 and, knowing nothing about the music business, set up the [[Pal Studio|Pal recording studio]] in [[Cucamonga]]. He worked with groups such as [[The Surfaris]] (''[[Wipe Out]]''), The Chantays (''"Pipeline"''), and many others. |
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| + | In 1960, [[Ronnie Williams]] introduced Frank Zappa to Buff. Paul, Frank, Ronnie, [[Ray Collins]] and [[Dave Aerni]] recorded a [[Cucamonga Years - The Early Works Of Frank Zappa (1962-1964)|bunch of 7" singles]] at Pal recording studio between late 1960 and 1963. Buff claims to be the "Godfather of Snorks" and other such early Zappa noises..., although, according to [[Ray Collins]], this title should go to [[Dick Barber]]. | ||
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| + | Zappa wrote a single named ''"[[The Big Surfer]]"'', on which a DJ named Brian Lord imitated [[John F. Kennedy]]. Buff leased the master tape to [[Capitol Records]] for a $700 advance, but because of the song's punchline, which mentioned the Peace Corps in Alabama, Medgar Evers was murdered. Despite already having signed a contract Capitol refused to release the single. <ref>Zappa, interviewed by Kurt Loder, [[Rolling Stone Interview, 1988]]</ref> | ||
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| + | Zappa also created the B-side ''[[Grunion Run]]'' (1963) for Buff's band [[The Hollywood Persuaders]]. | ||
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| + | In 1963, Buff got the opportunity to work with [[Art Laboe]] at [[Original Sound]] in Hollywood where he engineered the ''[[Run Home Slow (The Film)|Run Home Slow]]'' soundtrack recording. By mid 1964 FZ had moved into the [[Pal Studio]] and in August FZ purchased the studio from Buff for $1000, his Fender Jazzmaster guitar and a set of drums. [[The Real Frank Zappa Book|FZ recalled (in TRFZB)]]: "In other words, I agreed to take over his lease and the rest of his debt." FZ renamed the studio as [[Studio Z]]. | ||
Buff continued to work at [[Original Sound]] recording groups such as The Strawberry Alarm Clock and Sugarloaf. He set up Allison Research Inc. to produce and market the studio equipment he had designed. Allison Research flourished and Buff moved to Nashville. Here he became interested in developing photographic lighting equipment and set up the White Lightning company. Over the years this has become a leading supplier of professional photo lighting equipment. | Buff continued to work at [[Original Sound]] recording groups such as The Strawberry Alarm Clock and Sugarloaf. He set up Allison Research Inc. to produce and market the studio equipment he had designed. Allison Research flourished and Buff moved to Nashville. Here he became interested in developing photographic lighting equipment and set up the White Lightning company. Over the years this has become a leading supplier of professional photo lighting equipment. | ||
| + | ==Tracks by Paul Buff== | ||
| + | * ''Slow Bird'' (02:11) and ''Blind Man's Buff'' (01:47) | ||
| + | * ''Cathy My Angel'' (02:14) and '''Til September'' (02:27) by The Pauls | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Zappa and Paul Buff== | ||
| + | |||
| + | Zappa named Paul Buff in his list of influences in the sleeve of his debut album ''[[Freak Out!]]'', under the heading ''"These People Have Contributed Materially In Many Ways To Make Our Music What It Is. Please Do Not Hold It Against Them"''; he is also mentioned in "[[The Real Frank Zappa Book]]" (1989) as an "amazing gentleman" (see the chapter "''Let's Get Into Show Business''"). | ||
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| + | In ''[[Tryin' To Grow A Chin]]'' Zappa uses a motif from Paul Buff's The Velveteens single ''Dog Patch Creeper''. | ||
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| + | Paul Buff can be heard on fuzz bass on ''[[The Lost Episodes]]'', and had a hand in recording the first two tracks on the ''[[Mystery Disc]]''. | ||
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| + | As a guest DJ on [[Dr. Demento]] in 1980 Zappa played Buff's song ''"She's Got A 60-Cycle Brain"''. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Paul Buff about Frank Zappa== | ||
| + | |||
| + | ''"He came in, to the best of my recollection, with some jazz that he had written, and I guess he had a jazz band or two that he wanted to produce or record. "I can't remember if I ever charged Frank any money or if he even had any, but we kind of worked together and recorded some jazz things. He went up to [[Hollywood]] regularly and tried to sell'em. And nobody was interested, basically. Because of having no money and having bad acoustics in the studio, I think myself and Frank and some other people in the studio did pioneer some of the close-miking techniques – where we didn't dare put a microphone more than a foot away from an instrument or you heard the room too much. Everything was close-miked and we did definitely pioneer some multitrack recording techniques and overdubbing."'' - Paul Buff in ''[[Cucamonga Science & Beyond]]'', interviewed by Drew Wheeler, Billboard, 19 May 1990. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Frank Zappa about Paul Buff== | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''Zappa''': ''"Well, the very first fuzztone that I ever heard about was designed by a guy named Paul Buff, the same guy who invented the Keypex and the Gain Brain and a number of other studio utensils. He has a company on the West Coast now called Valley People. He was also the guy who I bought that first recording studio from ... a real electronic genius. What he did was he plugged an electric bass into a phonograph preamp and then plugged it directly into the board, like a fuzz bass. It was one of the greatest noises I ever heard. Prior to that, if you wanted to distort a guitar, you could plug your guitar into the input on the amp that was supposed to be for microphone. The old Gibson amps used to be able to do that; you'd get some really ugly distortion. But the only other way to get distortion in those days was to slash the speakers."'' | ||
| + | |||
| + | - Quoted from ''[[Frank Zappa: Guitar Player]]'', Bill Milkowski, [[Down Beat]], February 1983. | ||
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| + | '''Back when you bought [[Pal Studio |Pal Recording]] in [[Cucamonga]], CA, from [[Paul Buff]] and turned it into Studio Z, Buff (who invented the Kepex noise gate) was experimenting with some fairly innovative audio equipment. What's the story behind the 5-track recorder that he made?<br> | ||
| + | '''Zappa''': ''He took a ''Presto'' deck and made his own head stack. I don't even remember what kind they were, but he bought a bunch of heads and machined this stack that was about six inches across. And the heads weren't stacked on top of each other, they were staggered, because at the time there was no material that could give you enough insulation between the heads if you stacked them one on top of another. So he has five heads in a row that were erase heads, and then five more in a row that were record and playback, so it wasn't like three distinct groups of heads-it was two distinct groups. Because of this unique arrangement with the heads stacked in a diagonal way, those 5-track masters can't be played on any head other than the original, and it's all worn now.'' | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''Where is the 5-track now?<br> | ||
| + | '''Zappa''': ''I don't know. I lost track of the deck, but the head stack itself is probably in a box of garbage someplace down in the vault.'' | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''What other things did Buff pioneer?<br> | ||
| + | '''Zappa''': ''Well, he had the first fuzztone I ever saw. He had taken the preamp from a phonograph and he was running a Sears-Roebuck bass through it. And it was a great fuzz bass. That was the first time I ever saw anybody do a direct fuzz on a recording.'' | ||
| + | |||
| + | - Quoted from ''[[Absolutely Frank. EQ Magazine Interview]]'', March 1994. | ||
| − | + | ==Sources== | |
| + | <references/> | ||
| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | * [[Baby Ray & The Ferns]] | ||
| + | * [[The Hollywood Persuaders]] | ||
| + | * [[Original Sound]] | ||
| + | * [[Pal Studio]] | ||
| + | * [[Paul Buff Presents Highlights From The Pal And Original Sound Studio Archives]] | ||
| + | * [[Paul Buff Presents The Pal And Original Sound Studio Archives: The Collection]] | ||
| + | ==External links== | ||
| + | * [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Conrad_Buff German Wikipedia page.] | ||
| + | * [https://www.discogs.com/artist/573052-Paul-Buff Discogs page.] | ||
| + | * [https://www.united-mutations.com/b/paul_buff.htm United Mutations page.] | ||
| − | [[Category: | + | [[Category:Supporting Cast|Buff, Paul]] |
| − | [[Category: | + | [[Category:Influences|Buff, Paul]] |
| − | [[Category:Engineers]] | + | [[Category:Singers|Buff, Paul]] |
| + | [[Category:Bassists|Buff, Paul]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Drums|Buff, Paul]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Rock Composers|Buff, Paul]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Engineers|Buff, Paul]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Inventors|Buff, Paul]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Record Producers|Buff, Paul]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Freak Out! (The List)|Buff, Paul]] | ||
| + | [[Category:The Real Frank Zappa Book (The List)|Buff, Paul]] | ||
| + | [[Category:1960|Buff, Paul]] | ||
| + | [[Category:1961|Buff, Paul]] | ||
| + | [[Category:1962|Buff, Paul]] | ||
| + | [[Category:1963|Buff, Paul]] | ||
| + | [[Category:1964|Buff, Paul]] | ||
| + | [[Category:1965|Buff, Paul]] | ||
Latest revision as of 07:27, 1 August 2026
Paul Conrad Buff (24 April 1936 - 14 March 2015)[1] was an American sound engineer, music producer, artist, composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and inventor. In the early 1960s he recorded and released numerous surf rock records. He was, at the time, married to Allison Buff.
Biography
Paul Conrad Buff grew up in Cucamonga. Joining the Marine Corps, after graduating, he trained in aviation electronics. He returned to civilian life and took a job making parts for guided missiles at General Dynamics. After a few months at the "Bomb factory", as Zappa would refer to it, he was bored with his job so he borrowed $1000 and, knowing nothing about the music business, set up the Pal recording studio in Cucamonga. He worked with groups such as The Surfaris (Wipe Out), The Chantays ("Pipeline"), and many others.
In 1960, Ronnie Williams introduced Frank Zappa to Buff. Paul, Frank, Ronnie, Ray Collins and Dave Aerni recorded a bunch of 7" singles at Pal recording studio between late 1960 and 1963. Buff claims to be the "Godfather of Snorks" and other such early Zappa noises..., although, according to Ray Collins, this title should go to Dick Barber.
Zappa wrote a single named "The Big Surfer", on which a DJ named Brian Lord imitated John F. Kennedy. Buff leased the master tape to Capitol Records for a $700 advance, but because of the song's punchline, which mentioned the Peace Corps in Alabama, Medgar Evers was murdered. Despite already having signed a contract Capitol refused to release the single. [2]
Zappa also created the B-side Grunion Run (1963) for Buff's band The Hollywood Persuaders.
In 1963, Buff got the opportunity to work with Art Laboe at Original Sound in Hollywood where he engineered the Run Home Slow soundtrack recording. By mid 1964 FZ had moved into the Pal Studio and in August FZ purchased the studio from Buff for $1000, his Fender Jazzmaster guitar and a set of drums. FZ recalled (in TRFZB): "In other words, I agreed to take over his lease and the rest of his debt." FZ renamed the studio as Studio Z.
Buff continued to work at Original Sound recording groups such as The Strawberry Alarm Clock and Sugarloaf. He set up Allison Research Inc. to produce and market the studio equipment he had designed. Allison Research flourished and Buff moved to Nashville. Here he became interested in developing photographic lighting equipment and set up the White Lightning company. Over the years this has become a leading supplier of professional photo lighting equipment.
Tracks by Paul Buff
- Slow Bird (02:11) and Blind Man's Buff (01:47)
- Cathy My Angel (02:14) and 'Til September (02:27) by The Pauls
Zappa and Paul Buff
Zappa named Paul Buff in his list of influences in the sleeve of his debut album Freak Out!, under the heading "These People Have Contributed Materially In Many Ways To Make Our Music What It Is. Please Do Not Hold It Against Them"; he is also mentioned in "The Real Frank Zappa Book" (1989) as an "amazing gentleman" (see the chapter "Let's Get Into Show Business").
In Tryin' To Grow A Chin Zappa uses a motif from Paul Buff's The Velveteens single Dog Patch Creeper.
Paul Buff can be heard on fuzz bass on The Lost Episodes, and had a hand in recording the first two tracks on the Mystery Disc.
As a guest DJ on Dr. Demento in 1980 Zappa played Buff's song "She's Got A 60-Cycle Brain".
Paul Buff about Frank Zappa
"He came in, to the best of my recollection, with some jazz that he had written, and I guess he had a jazz band or two that he wanted to produce or record. "I can't remember if I ever charged Frank any money or if he even had any, but we kind of worked together and recorded some jazz things. He went up to Hollywood regularly and tried to sell'em. And nobody was interested, basically. Because of having no money and having bad acoustics in the studio, I think myself and Frank and some other people in the studio did pioneer some of the close-miking techniques – where we didn't dare put a microphone more than a foot away from an instrument or you heard the room too much. Everything was close-miked and we did definitely pioneer some multitrack recording techniques and overdubbing." - Paul Buff in Cucamonga Science & Beyond, interviewed by Drew Wheeler, Billboard, 19 May 1990.
Frank Zappa about Paul Buff
Zappa: "Well, the very first fuzztone that I ever heard about was designed by a guy named Paul Buff, the same guy who invented the Keypex and the Gain Brain and a number of other studio utensils. He has a company on the West Coast now called Valley People. He was also the guy who I bought that first recording studio from ... a real electronic genius. What he did was he plugged an electric bass into a phonograph preamp and then plugged it directly into the board, like a fuzz bass. It was one of the greatest noises I ever heard. Prior to that, if you wanted to distort a guitar, you could plug your guitar into the input on the amp that was supposed to be for microphone. The old Gibson amps used to be able to do that; you'd get some really ugly distortion. But the only other way to get distortion in those days was to slash the speakers."
- Quoted from Frank Zappa: Guitar Player, Bill Milkowski, Down Beat, February 1983.
Back when you bought Pal Recording in Cucamonga, CA, from Paul Buff and turned it into Studio Z, Buff (who invented the Kepex noise gate) was experimenting with some fairly innovative audio equipment. What's the story behind the 5-track recorder that he made?
Zappa: He took a Presto deck and made his own head stack. I don't even remember what kind they were, but he bought a bunch of heads and machined this stack that was about six inches across. And the heads weren't stacked on top of each other, they were staggered, because at the time there was no material that could give you enough insulation between the heads if you stacked them one on top of another. So he has five heads in a row that were erase heads, and then five more in a row that were record and playback, so it wasn't like three distinct groups of heads-it was two distinct groups. Because of this unique arrangement with the heads stacked in a diagonal way, those 5-track masters can't be played on any head other than the original, and it's all worn now.
Where is the 5-track now?
Zappa: I don't know. I lost track of the deck, but the head stack itself is probably in a box of garbage someplace down in the vault.
What other things did Buff pioneer?
Zappa: Well, he had the first fuzztone I ever saw. He had taken the preamp from a phonograph and he was running a Sears-Roebuck bass through it. And it was a great fuzz bass. That was the first time I ever saw anybody do a direct fuzz on a recording.
- Quoted from Absolutely Frank. EQ Magazine Interview, March 1994.
Sources
- ↑ Obituary
- ↑ Zappa, interviewed by Kurt Loder, Rolling Stone Interview, 1988
See also
- Baby Ray & The Ferns
- The Hollywood Persuaders
- Original Sound
- Pal Studio
- Paul Buff Presents Highlights From The Pal And Original Sound Studio Archives
- Paul Buff Presents The Pal And Original Sound Studio Archives: The Collection
