Don Gehman

Don Gehman is an American record producer, engineer, and executive, best known for his work with John Mellencamp and Hootie & the Blowfish. AllMusic calls him one of "the most successful producers of the 1980s and 1990s."

Early life Gehman was born in Blue Ball, Pennsylvania. He became interested in music technology after learning how to set up the band's P.A. sound system. He worked with various well-known acts of the era, including James Brown; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Chicago; Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young; The Four Seasons; the Four Tops; the James Gang; Loggins & Messina; The Supremes; The Temptations; and Yes.

Stephen Stills Being the engineer for Stephen Stills' album Stills was the beginning of their studio collaboration. Gehman also oversaw the setup The Shack, a studio in Indiana for Mellencamp, moving equipment from Criteria to the new location.

American Fool yielded the hits "Hurts So Good" and "Jack and Diane," and resulted in a Grammy Award nomination for Gehman. Gehman noted, "It was probably easier than previous albums because we had our own studio, but the process was still very much the same. John would go in with the band first of all. They'd work up the arrangements among themselves and then John would tear things apart and put them back together. I'd come in and try to figure out how to make it sound decent. Then he would realize it wasn't what he was looking for and we'd rip it all apart again. That was kind of the way things were. We'd have a plan, but never follow through on it. Five minutes in, we'd see it another way " Mike Mills says, "We wanted a clearer, more powerful sound." He recalls, "They were leery of record companies, and they were leery of anyone who would be answering to a record company. And so that made them leery of me." Even if Gehman didn't understand how R.E.M. operated, he knew how to make hit records.

In the studio, Gehman pushed his rule that listeners should be able to understand a song's lyrics.

Gehman did teach the band, especially Mills, how to arrange songs. In an article in Rolling Stone (Australia), Gehman said, "They wanted change but when it came to it there was a lot of mumbling in the ranks, there was resistance, but I just stuck to my guns."

Hootie & the Blowfish Gehman says, "My career was kind of in a slump. I was looking for a way to work into this whole alternative, new band movement. Figuring it was not much different than what I had been doing for a long time. I was making the rounds of new A&R people, that I had yet to meet. One of them was Tim Sommer, who had just signed Hootie [& the Blowfish] to Atlantic. He wasn't sure yet if they wanted to remix an existing CD the band had made or make a new one. He thought that I might be interested in the band. The band had already expressed an interest in me. He played me the tape, and I liked it. They sent me off to meet with the band." Gehman says, "Most of the work that I contributed was really just editing things down a little. Because they are such a strong live band—used to playing club gigs and stretching things out—the songs were a little long. I think I chopped a good minute out of most of the songs because they had an extra verse or they'd repeat the first verse or the chorus again, so they weren't really radio-ready to my liking. And the band was very willing to make changes." Gehman also worked with Hootie and the Blowfish on their album Fairweather Johnson which was released in 1996. He was the producer, engineer, and mixer for their Musical Chairs which was released in 1998, and the mixer and producer for their Looking for Lucky which was released in 2005.

Other 1990s projects He produced A Night on the Town by Bruce Hornsby & the Range which was released in 1990. He also produced Blues Traveler's Truth Be Told in 2003. In addition, Gehman gave the band the freedom to resolve small details while recording, something that was a first for them.

1982 Album of the Year – American Fool by John Cougar 1982 Best Engineered Recording - Non-Classical – American Fool by John Cougar 1982 Producer of the Year 1987 Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) 1996 Best Pop Album – New Beginning by Tracy Chapman 1996 Record of the Year – "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman 1996 Producer of the Year