Nick Venet | |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Tony Cost, Nik Venet |
| Born | Nikolas Kostantinos Venetoulis (1936-12-03)December 3, 1936 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.[1] |
| Died | January 2, 1998(1998-01-02) (aged 61) |
| Occupation | Record producer |
| Years active | 1955–1998 |
| Labels | Capitol |
Nick Venet (bornNikolas Kostantinos Venetoulis, December 3, 1936 – January 2, 1998)[2] was an Americanrecord producer, who began his career at age 19 withWorld Pacific Jazz. He is best known for signingThe Beach Boys toCapitol Records and producing the band's earlier material including the song "Surfin' Safari".[3][4][5]Brian Wilson credited Venet with helping him learn the craft of production.[5]
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Mentored by Lee Gillette,John Hammond, andRichard Bock, he worked with such musicians asChet Baker,Lord Buckley,Nat "King" Cole,Stan Getz,Chico Hamilton,Stan Kenton,Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross,Peggy Lee,Gerry Mulligan,Ravi Shankar, andKay Starr. In his early twenties, he joinedCapitol Records.[6] As well as being a producer, he was head ofA&R at Capitol.
Venet produced a number of important Capitol clients, includingRay Anthony,The Buddies,Glen Campbell,Cashman, Pistilli, and West,Jim Croce,Ingrid Croce,King Curtis,Karen Dalton,Bobby Darin,The Four Preps,George Gerdes, Jimmie Haskell,Hearts & Flowers withBernie Leadon,Hedge and Donna,The Hondells,The Honeys,The Kingston Trio,The Leaves,the Lettermen,Lothar and the Hand People,Mad River, Maffit & Davies,Ian Matthews andMatthews Southern Comfort, Onzie Matthews,Les McCann,Fred Neil,Vince Martin,Ricky Nelson, Dinsmore Payne,Lou Rawls,Billy Lee Riley,Murray Roman,Linda Ronstadt,Jack Scott, Maxine Sellers,Serendipity Singers,John Stewart,the Stone Poneys,Allan Taylor,Guthrie Thomas, The Vettes,Wendy Waldman,The Walker Brothers,Sammy Walker, andTimi Yuro.
He was executive producer on spoken word albums such asJohn G. Neihardt'sBlack Elk Speaks produced and recorded by William McIntyre, the Odyssey Theater Players inThe Chicago Conspiracy Trial,Carl Reiner &Mel Brooks'2000 Year Old Man series, andOrson Welles'The Begatting of the President. When Capitol Vice PresidentAlan W. Livingston left to startMediarts Records, he took Venet with him. There Venet producedDory Previn (who wrote about their romantic relationship in "Lemon Haired Ladies") andDon McLean. He stayed on a few years when the company was acquired byUnited Artists. He also recorded artists includingSam Cooke and thePilgrim Travelers,Ivory Joe Hunter,Sarah Kernochan,Vince Martin andthe Tarriers, the Nashville Street Singers,Ted Neeley,Wayne Newton,Jack Nitzche,Shorty Rogers, Bonnie Murray Tamblyn,Harriet Schock,Gene Vincent,Waddy Wachtel,Clara Ward, Sarah Kim Wilde,Bobby Womack, andFrank Zappa. He also produced the original cast albums for theBroadway musicalSalvation and theoff-Broadway hitThe Last Session bySteve Schalchlin - ironically, Venet's last session.
Venet shares credits for the music in the skateboard film,Skaterdater (1965). His brother, Steven, was also employed in the music industry as a songwriter.
He later changed his name to Nik Venet in honor of his grandfather. He died on January 2, 1998, fromBurkitt's lymphoma, just over a month beforeCarl Wilson ofThe Beach Boys.[2] He was survived by his son, filmmaker Nik Venet III.
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