{{more footnotes|date=July 2022}}
{{Short description|American sound engineer (1941–2017)}} {{Infobox person | name = Cal Harris (engineer) | image = Cal Harris at California recording studio in 1985.jpg | caption = Harris in California recording studio | other_names = Cal Harris, Cal "The Blade" Harris, Cal "RE20" Harris | birth_name = Calvin Lawrence Harris | birth_date = {{birth-date|August 9, 1941}} | birth_place = Marshall, Michigan | death_date = {{death-date and age|August 14, 2017|August 9, 1941}} | death_place = California | occupation = {{hlist|Record producer|director of Motown recording|mixing engineer}} | awards = {{hlist|Won a Grammy for album of the year 1984 with Can't Slow Down|TEC Award Nominee for outstanding creative achievement as recording engineer in 1985}} }} '''Calvin Lawrence Harris''' was an American sound engineer and the head of the recording department at Motown.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Motown Record Corp, 197 N.L.R.B. 1255 {{!}} Casetext|url=https://casetext.com/admin-law/motown-record-corp-1988|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223183726/https://casetext.com/admin-law/motown-record-corp-1988|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 23, 2022|access-date=2022-02-23|website=casetext.com}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite book |last=Betts |first=Graham |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RG_LAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Cal+Harris%22&pg=PT470 |title=Motown Encyclopedia |date=2014-06-02 |publisher=AC Publishing |isbn=978-1-311-44154-6 |language=en|page=PT470}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite book |last=Dahl |first=Bill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsCrDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Cal+Harris%22&pg=PT286 |title=Motown: The Golden Years: More than 100 rare photographs |date=2011-02-28 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-4402-2557-4 |language=en}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite book |last=Flory |first=Andrew |url=https://www.press.umich.edu/322080/i_hear_a_symphony |title=I Hear a Symphony: Motown and Crossover R&B |date=2017 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-11741-3 |location=Ann Arbor, MI|doi=10.3998/mpub.322080 }}</ref> He worked on projects such as Marvin Gaye's hit album ''What's Going On'', The Beach Boys' single “Good Vibrations”,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pet Sounds Session List|url=http://albumlinernotes.com/Pet_Sounds_Session_List.html|access-date=2022-02-23|website=albumlinernotes}}</ref> and Lionel Richie's Grammy award-winning album ''Can't Slow Down''. He is the father of jazz musician Cal Harris Jr. and programmer/keyboard technician Eric Harris.
== Biography == '''Cal Harris Sr.''' was born on August 9, 1941, in Marshall, Michigan. He began his musical career at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, as an intern for The Beach Boys. His work for at Gold Star gained him the recognition to get hired by Motown Records in the late 1960s. At Motown he became the head of the recording department.
He died on August 14, 2017, in a California hospital due to natural causes.
== Working at Motown Records == As the head of the recording department at Motown, '''Cal Harris Sr.''' was tasked with managing the team of sound engineers employed by Motown. As well as finding/hiring new engineers<ref>{{Cite web|title=Former Motown Producer Arthur Stewart|url=https://www.spreaker.com/user/iamrefocusedpodcast/former-motown-producer-arthur-stewart|access-date=2022-02-24|website=Spreaker|language=en}}</ref> and technicians.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Norman Elder|url=https://tapeop.com/interviews/89/norman-elder/|access-date=2022-02-24|website=tapeop.com|language=en}}</ref> Within his discography Cal is credited for remix, recording engineer, mixing engineer, and even as a producer on the 1977 album ''Rarearth'' by American rock band Rare Earth.
With Lionel Richie, Cal Harris recorded ''Can't Slow Down'', which went on to win the Grammy award for album of the year 1984.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lionel Richie|url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/lionel-richie/17291|access-date=2022-02-24|website=www.grammy.com}}</ref> Due to the success of the album he was also nominated for a TEC award in 1985.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The TEC Awards 1985 Winners|url=http://legacy.tecawards.org/tec/1985.html|access-date=2022-02-23|website=legacy.tecawards.org}}</ref>[[File:Cal Harris at the 1985 Grammys.jpg|thumb|Cal Harris (far right) attending the 27th Annual Grammy Awards in 1985 with a few of his family members.]]
== References == <!-- Inline citations added to your article will automatically display here. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:REFB for instructions on how to add citations. --> {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Cal}} Category:1941 births Category:2017 deaths Category:People from Marshall, Michigan Category:American audio engineers Category:20th-century births Category:Motown people