I have been a fan of Eddie Money’s music since my mid-teens when Two Tickets to Paradise was a hit here in Australia. This song has remained a favourite of mine and has made me appreciate his later albums such as Nothing to Lose and Can’t Hold Back.
Although Baby Hold On was the first single from his debut album, it was Two Tickets to Paradise that became Eddie’s signature tune, despite only reaching number 22 on the charts.
The album was recorded on a 24-track tape machine using an API 24-input console. Common effects of the time such as the Urei 1176 compressor, Pultec equalisers, and Pye limiter were used. Andy Johns reportedly applied a lot of compression to the various instruments during recording.
Much of the vocal and guitar work that defines the final sound of the record was actually completed after the main live tracking sessions. Eddie Money recorded his keeper vocal takes using a Neumann U47, a microphone that had become a studio standard for lead vocals by the 1970s. Guitarist Jimmy Lyon also recorded many of his lead guitar parts during these later sessions, including the blistering coda to Two Tickets to Paradise. Lyon’s amplifier was captured using a single Shure SM57 placed on the speaker, with compression applied to control the dynamics and help the guitar cut through the dense rock arrangement.
Andy Johns was known for achieving powerful results using surprisingly simple microphone setups, and the drum sound on the album is a good example of this approach. Rather than relying on complex multi-mic techniques, Johns used relatively few microphones placed strategically to create a sense of space and impact. For the drum overheads he used a pair of Neumann U87 microphones positioned above the kit. In addition, two more U87s were placed approximately three metres behind the drums to capture the room sound.
These rear microphones were heavily compressed, a technique that helped exaggerate the ambience and power of the drum kit. The compressed room signal was recorded to separate tracks and blended into the drum mix, giving the drums both punch and a sense of scale that contributed to the overall character of the recording.
Mixing took place at The Record Plant in Studio D using an API console. The classic EMT 140 plate reverb and the newer EMT 250 digital reverb were both used throughout the album, adding both traditional plate ambience and early digital reverb textures that helped shape the final sound of Eddie Money’s debut release.
Sadly, Eddie passed away in 2019 after battling cancer.