John Judnich
John Judnich, born on April 4,1938, was a sound Engineer and founder of Tycobrahe Sound Co. Judnich grew up in San Francisco and attended Lick Wilmerding high school, a college preparatory school. Judnich served in the U.S. Army as a helicopter pilot.
Judnich's father was a master in the ship builder's union and a foreman at the Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, and had a metal shop and a wood shop in his home. Judnich's father helped Judnich become a skilled craftsman in woodworking and metal-working, and with his experience at Lick Wilmerding and in the Army, Judnich became skilled in electronics.
Judnich was living in San Francisco and met Lenny Bruce at a club in the City. Bruce invited Judnich to come to Los Angeles to help him record some of his performances and speaches.[1]
Career
Judnich began as a recording engineer during the early 1960s for folk acts such as Tim Hardin. In 1964 he designed and built the first ever portable, high-fidelity concert sound system for The Beach Boys. In 1965 he recorded comedian Lenny Bruce's "The Berkeley Concert." In 1966 he designed and installed the sound system in the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood, after approaching the owner and telling him that he could build a far superior sound system for the club.[2] Judnich became sound man for the Whisky, while the Doors were the house band. Judnich was good friends with keyboard player, Ray Manzerek.[3] At this time he was sharing a house in the Hollywood hills with Lenny Bruce and it was Judnich who found Bruce's body, dead from a morphine overdose.[4]
In 1968 he was one of the founders of Tycobrahe Sound Co., which built a second portable hi-fidelity sound system to Judnich's design for Pinnacle Productions, who were producing concerts at the Shrine Auditorium. By the late 1960s he had built the mixing board at Larrabee Studios where he engineered several sessions for John Mayall. He worked on many concert tours during the early 1970s, with bands from The Beach Boys to Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, plus most of the "second English wave" bands, including Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, ELO, Faces with Rod Stewart, Jethro Tull, Procol Harum and Ten Years After. Out of all the musicians that he saw while in the music business, the one experience that Judnich often spoke about as being one of the most memorable was watching Peter Green play guitar while testing a new stack of Sunn Amplifiers during the sound-check for a Fleetwood Mac show at the Shrine Auditorium.[5]
In the early 70's, Judnich moved to Bear Valley, California after become disillusioned with the music business.[6] Shortly after moving to Bear Valley, Judnich suffered a severe head injury after falling from scaffolding at a construction site and hitting his head on part the scaffolding on the way down.[7] Judnich suffered partial paralysis on one side of his face and lost hearing in one ear, ending any possibility of a return to the music business.[8]
In 1973, Judnich moved back to San Francisco, California to recuperate at his parents house on Potrero Hill.[9] After recovering, Judnich traveled back and forth from San Francisco to Sonoma, California, where he worked on small aircraft during the week with a friend, spending weekends in San Francisco with family and friends.[10]
In 1999, Judnich moved to Furtuna, California and was married to Diane Ingram.[11]
Death
Judnich died on May 5, 2005, of natural causes at age 67. He died of liver cancer in Fortuna, CA.[12]
References
- ↑ Interview with Bette Riley, March 15, 2016.
- ↑ Interview with Bette Riley, March 15, 2016.
- ↑ Interview with Daniel Riley, April 5, 2016.
- ↑ "Lenny Bruce". Mr-Agreeable. October 8, 2002.
- ↑ Interview with Daniel Riley, April 5, 2016
- ↑ Interview with Bette Riley, March 15, 2016.
- ↑ Interview with Bette Riley, March 15, 2016.
- ↑ Interview with Daniel Riley, April 5, 2016.
- ↑ Interview with Bette Riley, March 15, 2016.
- ↑ Interview with Daniel Riley, April 5, 2016.
- ↑ Interview with Daniel Riley, April 5, 2016.
- ↑ Humboldt County death certificate.
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