Rhett Lawrence

James Everette Lawrence is a record producer and songwriter. He is originally famous for producing the Grammy Award winning, Billboard #1 Hot 100 and #1 R&B single "Vision of Love" for Mariah Carey. More recently he produced and co-wrote the Kelly Clarkson pop rock hit "Miss Independent” which was #1 for 6 weeks at Top 40 Radio. In May 2006 Lawrence produced the new anthem for Ford Motor Company titled "Go" which he also co-wrote with artist Kelly Clarkson. He wrote the #1 single "Angel of Mine" recorded by Monica and Eternal and co-wrote the #1 UK song “I Wanna Be the Only One” for Eternal featuring BeBe Winans. He produced and co-wrote the #1 UK hit single "Never Be The Same Again" with Melanie C. and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of TLC, which was #1 in 35 countries. He produced and co-wrote the Billboard #2 Rap single “Request + Line” for the Black Eyed Peas featuring Macy Gray, which gave them their first top 40 hit in many countries worldwide. He also programmed the distinctive drum loop (with Maurice Gibb & Scott Glasel) for the Bee Gees 1987 No.1 hit "You Win Again" which sold over 2 million copies worldwide. In addition, he has produced and written songs for the likes of Enrique, Selena, Earth Wind and Fire, Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight, Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson, Paula Abdul with Ofra Haza, gospel greats BeBe & CeCe Winans, Kirk Franklin and Victoria Beckham.

Foundation as a programmer, arranger and studio musician

Prior to becoming a producer, Lawrence was a first-call programmer, arranger and studio musician in Los Angeles and New York. Some of the artists he worked with during this period include: Van Halen, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Stevie Wonder, Billy Preston, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (Yes), Jon Anderson, Carola Häggkvist,The Bee Gees, Roger Hodgson (Supertramp), Belinda Carlisle, Richard Marx, Michael Jackson, Earth Wind and Fire, Phil Keaggy, The Gap Band, The Dazz Band, Chicago, Larry Carlton, George Benson and Earl Klugh, Boz Scaggs, Neil Diamond, Andrae Crouch, and Quincy Jones.

Equipment

In addition to the use of synthesizers, Lawrence pioneered the use of computers and sampling on albums and was the first studio musician in Los Angeles to own and use the Fairlight CMI (computer music instrument). Always eager to embrace new technology, he was an early advisor to Digidesign and would later become the first producer to mix an album using Pro Tools. Lawrence also owns and records with a large collection of vintage guitars and recording equipment including Jimi Hendrix's first Marshall amplifier which was given to Jimi by Kit Lambert, manager of The Who during the '60's, after its guitarist and original owner, Pete Townshend, had switched amplifier companies. [http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/marshallstack.htm Townshend/Hendrix Marshall Amp Photo link] (A picture and brief history regarding this Marshall amp and speakers are available by scrolling to the bottom right corner of linked reference page.)