Jim Dickson
(Chris' early bands, The Byrds' formation, Burrito Brothers LPs)
Dickson would be personally, for me, my first producer, when we did The Hillmen [originally the Golden State Boys]. We were cutting that at night, in a similar way that The Byrds were rehearsing at night. Same studio, World Pacific. We'd go in, and whenever we'd get a little time we'd record a couple to 2-track, basically. He'd just mix it onto 2-track like a bluegrass band. Jim was the first producer, in that sense. For [The Scottsville] Squirrel Barkers, we didn't really even have a producer. We just had somebody engineer us and guide us through the process. He was good, at the time. Jim Dickson came back again for a Burrito Brothers album or two.
Allen Stanton
(The Byrds' 3rd LP)
Allen Stanton was an exec at Columbia. Somehow, in between people, he was assigned to one of the records [Fifth Dimension]. All I remember is Allen Stanton would be over – with his shirt and tie, sleeves rolled up – reading the newspaper. Basically he was going, "These guys know what they're doing. I'll just sort of be in here." Most of the engineers were so funny back then. They had shirts and ties. They had to take union breaks. You're right in the middle of almost capturing magic and, "We've got to take a break now!" It was hard to convince them to do one more take. But whatever; it all worked out.
Terry Melcher
(The Byrds' 1st & 2nd [plus later] albums)
