Daniel Lanois

Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois plays with Black Dub in 2011
Background information
Born	September 19, 1951 (1951-09-19) Hull, Quebec, Canada
Origin	Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Rock, alternative rock, blues, ambient
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, pedal steel, drums
Years active	1968–present
Labels	Anti, Red Floor
Associated acts	Black Dub
Website	daniellanois.com

Daniel Lanois ( /lænˈwɑː/ lan-wah; born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, and Ron Sexsmith. Lanois is best known for his work with Brian Eno, producing a number of platinum albums for U2, including The Joshua Tree. Three albums produced or co-produced by Lanois have won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and four others received nominations.

As producer

Lanois started his production career when he was 17, working in his own studio with his brother Bob Lanois in the basement of their mother's Ancaster, Ontario home, recording local artists including Simply Saucer. Later Daniel started Grant Avenue Studios in an old house he purchased in Hamilton, Ontario. He worked with a number of local bands, including Martha and the Muffins (for whom his sister Jocelyne played bass), Ray Materick, as well as the Canadian children's singer Raffi.

Lanois worked collaboratively with Brian Eno on some of Eno's own projects, one of which was the theme song for David Lynch's film adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune. Eno invited him to co-produce U2's album The Unforgettable Fire. Along with Eno, he went on to produce U2's The Joshua Tree, the 1987 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and some of the band's other works including Achtung Baby and All That You Can't Leave Behind, both of which were nominated for the same award but did not win. Lanois once again collaborated with U2 and Brian Eno on the band's most recent album, No Line on the Horizon. He was involved in the songwriting process as well as mixing and production.

Lanois' early work with U2 led to him being hired to produce albums for other top-selling artists. Bono recommended Lanois to Bob Dylan in the late 1980s; in 1989 Lanois produced Dylan's Oh Mercy. Eight years later Dylan and Lanois worked together on Time Out of Mind which won another Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1997. In his autobiographical Chronicles, Vol. 1, Dylan describes in depth the contentious but rewarding working relationship he developed with Lanois.

In 1986, Lanois produced So, Peter Gabriel's Grammy nominated album. Wrecking Ball, his 1995 collaboration with Emmylou Harris, won a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. In 1998, he produced and appeared on Willie Nelson's album Teatro.

Lanois was working on Neil Young's record Le Noise in June 2010 when he was hospitalized after suffering multiple injuries in a motorcycle crash in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles. He has since recovered.

Lanois' production is recognizable and notable for its 'big' and 'live' drum sound, atmospheric guitars and ambient reverb. Rolling Stone called Lanois the "most important record producer to emerge in the Eighties."

As recording artist

As well as being a producer, Lanois is also a songwriter, musician and recording artist. A number of his songs have been covered by other artists, and his albums have had some success, particularly in Canada. Lanois plays the guitar, pedal steel, and drums. In 1993, Lanois was a featured live act in the Another Roadside Attraction tour in Canada, and collaborated with The Tragically Hip, Crash Vegas, Hothouse Flowers, and Midnight Oil on the one-off single "Land" to protest forest clearcutting in British Columbia. "Belladonna", an instrumental album released in 2005, was nominated for a Grammy. Lanois also provided an instrumental score for LOUDquietLOUD, a documentary about the Pixies.

Lanois premiered a documentary entitled Here Is What Is at the Toronto Film Festival on September 9, 2007. The film chronicles the recording of his album of the same name, and includes footage of the actual recording. The album Here Is What Is was released, first by download, then in compact disc, in late 2007 and early 2008. Soon after, Lanois released a three-disc recording called Omni.

In October 2009, Lanois started a project called Black Dub which features Lanois on guitar, Brian Blade on drums, and Daryl Johnson on bass, along with multi-instrumentalist/singer Trixie Whitley. They released a self-titled album in 2010. Daniel Lanois' Black Dub also appeared at the 2011 Bonnaroo Music Festival on Sunday June 12, 2011 at This Tent from 3:30-4:30pm. Robert Plant, who was playing later in the day at What Stage, was reportedly in attendance.

Recognition

Daniel Lanois' star on Canada's Walk of Fame.

In 2005 he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

Discography

Year	Album
1989	Acadie
1993	For the Beauty of Wynona
1994	Cool Water
1996	Sweet Angel Mine
	Lost in Mississippi (soundtrack)
	Sling Blade (soundtrack)
2003	Shine
2004	Rockets
2005	Belladonna
2007	Here Is What Is
2008	The Omni Series (Box Set) Steel (Omni Series 1) Purple Vista (Omni Series 2) Santiago (Omni Series 3)
2010	Black Dub

Videography

Year	Title
1993	Rocky World	Documentary about Lanois' music and travels in the early 90's, available through his website
2007	Here Is What Is	Documentary about the creation of the album Here Is What Is

Production credits

• Demo – Simply Saucer, 1974 (not released commercially until 1989, on the album Cyborgs Revisited)
• Blues and Sentimental – Jackie Washington, 1976 (As "Dan Lanois")
• More Singable Songs – Raffi, 1977 (Recording credit as "Dan Lanois")
• Can't Wait For Summer – Ron Neilson, 1978
• Choice Cuts – Crackers, 1978 (As "Dan Lanois")
• This is the Ice Age – Martha and the Muffins, 1981
• Dream Away – Bernie LaBarge, 1981
• Mama Quilla, KKK, Angry Young Woman – 3-song 12" Album- 1982, Mama Quilla II
• Dance After Curfew – Nash the Slash, 1982
• Danseparc – Martha and the Muffins, 1982
• Ambient 4/On Land – Brian Eno, 1982
• Parachute Club – Parachute Club, 1983
• Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks – Brian Eno, 1983
• The Pearl – Harold Budd and Brian Eno, 1984
• Mystery Walk – M + M, 1984
• The Unforgettable Fire – U2, 1984
• Secrets and Sins – Luba, 1984
• Thursday Afternoon – Brian Eno, 1985
• Hybrid – Michael Brook, 1985
• Birdy – Peter Gabriel, 1985
• Voices – Roger Eno, 1985
• Power Spot – Jon Hassell, 1986
• So – Peter Gabriel, 1986
• The Joshua Tree – U2, 1987
• Robbie Robertson – Robbie Robertson, 1987
• Acadie – Daniel Lanois, 1989
• Oh Mercy – Bob Dylan, 1989
• Yellow Moon – Neville Brothers, 1989
• Home – Hothouse Flowers, 1990
• Achtung Baby – U2, 1991
• Flash of the Spirit – Jon Hassell and Farafina, 1992
• Us – Peter Gabriel, 1992
• The Last of the Mohicans – movie soundtrack, 1992
• For the Beauty of Wynona – Daniel Lanois, 1993
• Ron Sexsmith – Ron Sexsmith, 1994
• Wrecking Ball – Emmylou Harris, 1995
• Night to Night – Geoffrey Oryema, 1996
• Fever In Fever Out – Luscious Jackson, 1996
• Time Out of Mind – Bob Dylan, 1997
• Brian Blade Fellowship – Brian Blade, 1998
• 12 Bar Blues – Scott Weiland, 1998
• Teatro – Willie Nelson, 1998
• The Million Dollar Hotel – movie soundtrack, 2000
• All That You Can't Leave Behind – U2, 2000
• La Belle Vista - Harold Budd, 2003 (secretly recorded in Lanois Los Angeles living room)
• How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb – U2, 2004 (track "Love and Peace or Else")
• Dusk & Summer – Dashboard Confessional, 2006 (also produced by Don Gilmore)
• loudQUIETloud, A film about the pixies – movie soundtrack, 2006
• Back Where You Belong – Sinéad O'Connor, 2007.
• Snake Road – Bob Lanois
• No Line on the Horizon – U2, 2009 (plus songwriting credits).
• "Mind Games" & "Night Nurse" – Sinéad O'Connor, 2009.
• Mercy – Rocco DeLuca and the Burden, 2009.
• Flamingo – Brandon Flowers, 2010 (also produced by Stuart Price, Brendan O'Brien)
• Le Noise – Neil Young, 2010.

See also

• Canadian Music Hall of Fame
• Music of Canada

References

• Entry from the Canadian Encyclopedia
• Daniel Lanois interview on Freethescene.com
• Jam.canoe.ca

External links

• Official site
• Official site of Black Dub