Reice Hamel

American recording engineer, who later changed his name to Reice Hamel. A pioneer in the field of live music recording. He literally invented many of the live music recording techniques and invented his own recording equipment. Many of the early recordings that he did in the San Francisco area were done out of his Porsche convertible and later in his custom VW bus mobile recording studio. The outdoor performances of Joan Baez in the early 60s were captured on tape by Reice Hamel using his custom designed recording systems. Born June 18, 1920 in Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City, New York USA – Died October 1, 1986. "On May 23, 1975 [John H. Meier, American associate of Howard Hughes involved in the Watergate Scandal,] received an offer of assistance that was more a threat than a comfort. It came in the form of a mysterious call from a man offering to set up a system whereby Meier would be able to tape his telephone calls. The man introduced himself as Reice Hamel but Meier could not place him, nor the mutual friends Hamel claimed that they had. Meier gave a vague promise to consider the offer. Hamel was one of the best wiremen in North America. He was a gifted sound technician who had recorded many stars including Frank Sinatra, Joan Baez, Barbra Streisand and The Who." - Age of Secrets: The Conspiracy that Toppled Richard Nixon and the Hidden Death of Howard Hughes by Gerald Bellett