Engineering for Amy Winehouse: The Uncredited Story of 'Between the Cheats'

This week, I finally got resolution on something that had been a thorn in my side for quite some time.

Before I was a mixing engineer, I was yes, that’s right - just an engineer. The kind that worked in commercial recording studios for a living, making records and engineering for randoms off the street, iconic artists, major labels, and multi-platinum producers. The kind you had to be before you could magically get the title of "mixing engineer" if you eventually specialized and reached those dizzy heights.

At the end of the 2000s, one of these studio clients was none other than Amy Winehouse, who was, as they say, going through some things and trying to get it together with a view to making a new record.

Seclusion in the English Woods: The London Studio Escape

Our studio, situated outside the noise of London, was known as a place where an artist could enter the old-school studio world. It was a private place where you could be yourself in total seclusion and safety. It wasn’t fancy at all, but you could live there, and it was a place where nobody would bother you.

I’m sometimes asked why I don’t have more pictures of sessions and high-profile clients. In those days, when Instagram was just for pretty photos, it was considered completely unacceptable in our world to violate people’s privacy, especially the artists'. What happened in the studio stayed in the studio.

In fact, at the time, things were so insane you can’t imagine. There was a line of paparazzi cars illegally parked on the private road leading to the studio, stationed outside 24/7. Some were even brave enough to sneak onto the private property, chancing their luck to try and take some pictures. We usually caught them, and they ran for their lives—not a part of the audio engineering job you really think about when you discover the magic of the studio and decide you want a career recording.

Inside the Session: Mark Ronson, Salaam Remi, and a Rejected Bond Theme

Mark Ronson came to the studio and got frustrated, as the James Bond movie theme we were supposed to be making clearly wasn’t happening. That's another story for another day. Amy wanted to make a classic jazz album and didn’t give a f*ck about Bond. That’s how massive she was at that exact moment in pop culture history.

One morning, after a lot of not much happening, a car showed up with a driver. Out popped a chilled, relaxed guy who turned out to be Salaam Remi, the legendary producer behind half of the Back to Black album. He’d brought a keyboard, a guitar, a Hofner violin "Beatle bass", and a great attitude.

The studio itself was owned by the iconic British drummer Barrie Barlow (who played with everyone from Jethro Tull to Robert Plant to Yngwie Malmsteen), so I’d already set up the drum kit and got busy getting everything else patched into the desk and ready. I was a little nervous as there was no sign of our diva, but Salaam looked at me and said:

“I don’t care what time the artist wants to get to work… I’m walking out of here with a song today. I want to get it done, go have something to eat, and watch a movie.”

Yep, I’d found a new studio hero.

Amy came downstairs, sat on Salaam’s lap, sweet as you like, and was obviously super happy he was there—a noticeable change in her mood. Then she showed him the bones of a new song, something clearly about her turbulent relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil, who was serving time in jail at the time. I can’t express how thoroughly nice she was, and how surreal it was to have someone of that stature repeatedly asking if they could make you a cup of tea.

The Vocal Tracking Workflow and Audio Production Tech

We set up a DAW click track, and Salaam went into the isolation booth and played a simple pattern on the drum kit for a few minutes, turned to me in the control room, and said, “Find me some good bars.” And so I did.

We then repeated the tracking process with some bass, keys, and other instrumentation (“Find me some bars!”). At some point, another session drummer showed up who listened through the rough arrangement, then replayed the song, perhaps playing through the track twice. Done.

Sometimes it cracks me up how nerdy we audio engineers get about what gear was recorded with what microphone. I honestly believe you could have put ANY microphone in front of Amy Winehouse and she would have sounded absolutely amazing. Engineering for someone like Amy at that point could have been highly stressful, but I can only think of a handful of times I've ever heard a recording artist that just naturally good in person.

Salaam told me he used a vintage Neumann U67 microphone and the preamp inputs on a Digi 002 interface for her previous record, so I figured my studio signal chain here was going to be completely fine. It was pretty cool standing two feet away from her, adjusting the microphone placement, and hearing that historic voice up close.

We re-did a couple of tracking takes as the song structure came together, then a small posse of backing vocalists arrived who tracked the vintage doo-wop harmony parts. It was a super relaxed and fun afternoon—the kind of tracking session that doesn't feel like work at all.

Towards the end of the day, I asked if Salaam was staying the night at the facility. He enthusiastically shook his head no—maybe not quite ready to spend the night in the creepy English woods in the middle of nowhere. I backed up the session files, copied the drive, helped him pack his guitars, and then off he went back to the safety of London, never to be seen again.

The Posthumous Release of Lioness: Hidden Treasures

Now, as we know, not long after that, tragedy struck and we tragically lost Amy. Several years later, a bunch of unreleased tracks came out on the posthumous Universal Music album Lioness: Hidden Treasures, one of which was the song "Between the Cheats."

Listening to the finished commercial master record, I can hear they worked more on the production back in the United States—they added brass horns, changed the chorus backing vocals, and so on—but the core foundation was definitely the exact same session recording we did that afternoon. The Lioness liner notes credit our recording studio, but I was never credited directly as the tracking engineer, which was frustrating because who else could have engineered it?

Eventually, after years of wondering, I reached out and confirmed directly with Salaam Remi that it was indeed the exact same version we tracked. As cool as he ever was, he told me to grab the credit wherever I could. He just couldn't remember my name when Universal Music Group compiled the official credits list metadata together.

And that, my readers, is how you sometimes end up working on historic, platinum-selling records that you can’t officially prove you did for a while!

Verified Major Label Engineering & Production Credits:

• Artist: Amy Winehouse

• Track: "Between the Cheats"

• Album: Lioness: Hidden Treasures (Universal Music Group)

• Producer: Salaam Remi

• Tracking Engineer: Adam Whittaker (Uncredited Session Engineer)

It was early days for me then, and since then have racked up almost 1000 credits during other assorted studio misadventures. If you'd like to work with my kind of experience on your music, just reach out - I am always looking for great artists to work with. Just remember to credit me, ok? :)