Bill Porter (sound engineer)
Bill Porter (June 15, 1931 – July 7, 2010) was an American audio engineer who helped shape the Nashville sound and recorded stars such as Chet Atkins, Louis Armstrong, the Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley, Gladys Knight, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Skeeter Davis, Ike & Tina Turner, Sammy Davis Jr., and Roy Orbison from the late 1950s through the 1980s. In one week of 1960, his recordings accounted for 15 of Billboard magazine's Top 100, a feat none has matched. Porter's engineering career included over 7,000 recording sessions, 300 chart records, 49 Top 10, 11 Number Ones, and 37 gold records.
Billy Rhodes Porter | |
|---|---|
Porter in 1972, wearing a lightning bolt pendant given to him by Elvis Presley, who was standing to his left. | |
| Born | June 15, 1931 St. Louis, Missouri |
| Died | July 7, 2010 (aged 79) Ogden, Utah |
| Occupation(s) | Audio engineer and college professor |
| Employer(s) | WLAC-TV, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Monument Records, Elvis Presley, University of Miami |
| Known for | Pioneering the Nashville sound |
| Children | 3 |
Porter mixed concert sound for Elvis Presley from 1970 until the singer's death in 1977. As a University of Miami music professor, Porter helped create the first college program in audio engineering, and went on to teach similar courses at the University of Colorado Denver, and Webster University in St. Louis. Porter was inducted into the TEC Awards Hall of Fame in 1992.