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Adele · S3 E4
Mark Ronson and Jim Abbiss
Two producers who shape the debut in different directions. One wants vintage soul. The other wants modern restraint.
2007, two studios in London, two completely different records being made. In one room, Jim Abbiss strips everything down to piano and voice. In the other, Mark Ronson stacks horns and handclaps until the track sounds like it was recorded in 1965.
Mark Ronson feat. Amy Winehouse, "Valerie" (official music video, 2007). The same producer who gave Adele "Cold Shoulder" also made this: a brass-soaked, vintage soul cover that became one of the defining tracks of the era. This is the Ronson sound in its purest form: horns, handclaps, and a vocal recorded like it's 1965. He brought exactly this energy to his sessions for 19.
Valerie (The Ronson Approach)
Originally by The Zutons, Ronson rebuilt "Valerie" from scratch with a full brass section, walking bass, and Amy Winehouse's vocal replacing the original indie-rock delivery. The same toolkit shows up on Adele's "Cold Shoulder": horns, handclaps, a retro rhythm section, and a singer who sits on top of the beat rather than behind it. Hearing the two tracks back to back is hearing the same production brain applied to two different voices. Ronson's Motown obsession gave 19 its confident, strutting side.
Two Producers, Two Visions
Jim Abbiss produces the majority of 19: the ballads, the quiet moments, the songs that feel like being alone in a room. Mark Ronson handles the other side: "Cold Shoulder" and the tracks that swing, that have horns and rhythm sections and the energy of a sixties girl group. The album works because both visions are on the same record, giving Adele room to be both the girl crying at the piano and the girl dancing in a Motown studio.
TAP TO REVEAL: What was Jim Abbiss' most famous production credit before he worked with Adele?
“"I just let her do what she wanted. The voice was so good that the less I did, the better the record sounded."”
Which band's debut album did Jim Abbiss produce immediately before working on Adele's 19?
Grace, Jeff Buckley
From Jeff Buckley's Grace (1994). One of the albums Penny played constantly in the flat. Buckley's vocal on the title track is raw, exposed, and built on dynamics that shift from a whisper to a scream without warning. This is the sound Jim Abbiss was chasing when he produced 19: a voice that doesn't hide behind production, that lets every crack and breath stay in the recording. Adele heard this album before she knew what production was. Abbiss heard it and knew exactly what to do with her.
Grace, Jeff Buckley (1994)
Read the lyrics while you listen. Jeff Buckley recorded this at 27 and died at 30. Penny played this album in the flat when Adele was a child. The vocal approach, letting emotion override technique, became the foundation of everything Adele does. Abbiss understood that connection and built the production of 19 around it.
The Producers of 19
The album is finished, the Critics' Choice is won, and the single is climbing the charts. But America hasn't heard of Adele yet. Next episode: Saturday Night Live, October 2008, and the luckiest scheduling accident in music history.
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