“Just as I was setting up the mic, Jimi started playing, and man, my brain froze. In that second, my life changed”: Eddie Kramer on working with Hendrix, Kiss, Jimmy Page and why guitar players should think more analog

Eddie Kramer.

There have been more than a few notable producers and engineers who have impacted rock music over the years, including George Martin, Bob Ezrin, Tom Werman and Butch Vig. But few have specifically influenced rock music pertaining to the electric guitar in the way that South African-born knob-twirler extraordinaire Eddie Kramer has.

Even if you don’t know his name, you’ve undoubtedly heard Kramer’s work if you’re into the guitar-driven heroics of the late Sixties, Seventies and beyond. His resume boasts massive production and engineering credits on records like Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced (1967), Led Zeppelin’s Led Zeppelin II (1969) and Kiss’s Alive! (1975).