William Semmes “Bleu” Evans (May 18th, 1950) Recording Engineer/Producer and Recording Studio Acoustic Designer and now a Member of The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. William Evans is also a Member of The Grammy Hall of Fame, inducted with Clifton Chenier's, (The King of Zydeco) Grammy award winning album, "Bogalusa Boogie", recorded at Bogalusa Louisiana's World Famous "Studio in the Country" in 1973. This award goes to the album, artist, producer, engineer, and studio. Recipient of: "The 2022 Ozone Foundation Lifetime Music Achievement Award" Presented by: "The Ozone Music Education Foundation”, Greg Barnhill, Michael Blanche, Ricky Windhorst, Christine Barnhill, John West, Buzz Jackson, and Randy Russell. Recipient of: "The 2022 Louisiana Music Lifetime Achievement Award" Presentation by: Mary DuBuisson, Louisiana State Representative, District 90, for “The Office of William (Billy) Harold Nungesser, 54th Lieutenant Governor and Director of The Ministry of Culture, State of Louisiana” and “The Ozone Music Education Foundation”, by, Greg Barnhill, Michael Blanche, Ricky Windhorst, Christine Barnhill, John West, Buzz Jackson, and Randy Russell. William S. Evans (known as “Bleu” Evans in the entertainment industry) is a recording engineer, producer, and studio acoustic designer and builder, who is a Louisiana Native. He designed and built Studio in the Country (the third studio he built, one of the world’s most famous and productive studios ever) in Bogalusa, Louisiana at the age of 21. He began drawing the plans for the design at age 16, started construction in 1971, and completed the studio, with the help of his father, R.S. “Smokey” Evans. The studio opened to the public on July 7, 1973. His creation has attracted many famous artists and producers who recorded albums producing sales of over 170 million units. Over 64 Gold and Platinum Albums have been recorded, mixed, or been partially recorded at Studio in the Country (United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia). Many of these albums were also engineered and/or produced by Evans. These artists represent numerous multi-platinum records that were produced at Studio in the Country. They include classic platinum albums by Kansas: “Masque”, “Leftoverture”, and “Point of Know Return”. “Leftoverture” and “Point of Know Return” contained the gold-certified hits: "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind". Other Gold and Platinum albums from Studio in the Country include “Stevie Wonder's Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants”, “Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium, Vol. 1”, Stevie’s “At the Close of a Century”, and “Song Review”, “Save His Soul” by Blues Traveler, “Smells Like Children” by Marilyn Manson, “Boats, Beaches, Bars and Ballads” by Jimmy Buffett, “Heartbreak Station” by Cinderella, "Inspiration" and "Anthology", certified- gold, by Maze, Featuring Frankie Beverly, and the 12 times platinum “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack album. Additional work done at Studio in the Country includes “The Hungry Years” by Willie Nelson was recorded here by Evans and many additional tracks by Willie Nelson which appear in the movies “On the Road Again”, "Honeysuckle Rose", and 2 additional albums, the Jack Nitzsche Produced, “Fiyo On The Bayou” by The Neville Brothers, Stevie Ray Vaughan, “Louis Prima Meets Robin Hood” by Louis Prima (Disney Pictures), The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's certified-gold “An American Dream”, "20 Years of Dirt", and Thunderhead's self-titled first album (produced by Johnny Winter and Bleu Evans), Zebra's certified-gold self-titled debut album “Zebra”, “Rock 'N' Roll Gumbo” by Professor Longhair, Pete Fountain's “Alive in New Orleans”, The Wild Magnolias “They Call Us Wild” by The Wild Magnolias, Peter Yarrow's “That's Enough For Me” working with Allen Toussaint, numerous albums by Louisiana's LeRoux (including the hit single "New Orleans Ladies"), “Lonesome Road” by Doc and Merle Watson, Betty Davis’s “Is It Love Or Desire” (Miles Davis’s Wife), Willie Tee's "Anticipation", “High Life” by Frankie Miller, "Spanish Doors" from the “Adorata” EP by The Gutter Twins, “American Patchwork” by Anders Osborne, and “My Feet Can't Fail Me Now” by The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. A major contributor of the success of Studio in the Country are all the recording artists from all over the world. Albums including Grammy Award winner “I'm Here”, “Frenchin' the Boogie”, and the Grammy Hall of Fame Inductee along with Studio in the Country, “Bogalusa Boogie” by Clifton Chenier were recorded here and numerous albums by Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, including “Blackjack” and the Grammy-winning “Alright Again” were also recorded and mixed at Studio in the Country. Other artists who have used the studio include Ani DiFranco, Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, The Mills Brothers, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Greg Dulli, Gregg Wright, Potliquor, Phil Harris, The Twilight Singers, Perry Como, L’il Queenie and the Percolators, Wilson and Earl Turbinton, Johnny Nash, Ronnie Kole, Dr. John, Leslie Uggams, Dick Van Dyke, Mandrill, Memphis Slim, Dick Rivers (The French Elvis), Tony Joe White, Zachary Richard, Wayne Newton, Melanie, The Scoundrels (UK), C.C. Adcock and Revolution Mother (whose lead singer is professional skateboarder Mike Vallely), Allen Toussaint, Linda Ronstadt, John D. Loudermilk, Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys, Revolution Mother, Supagroup, and The Iguanas. A major contributor of the success of Studio in the Country is Philippe Rault, an historic music producer from France, who brought and recorded many worldwide artists here. Evans also recorded and mixed or was a consultant for many motion picture sound tracks with Jack Nitzsche producing including “Cruising” with Al Pacino, “The Exorcist”, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, with Jack Nicholson, “King of the Mountain” with Deborah Van Valkenburgh, and “Officer and A Gentleman” with Richard Gere which resulted with an Academy Award for the Oscar winning song of the Year, (Best Original Song) "Up Where We Belong" written by Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie and performed by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and topped the charts in several other countries. It also sold more than one million copies (Platinum Award) in the US and was recognized by the Recording Industry Association of America as one of the Songs of the Century. Cocker and Warnes were awarded the Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and Nitzsche, and Sainte-Marie won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Evans also engineered music in motion pictures for Dennis Hopper.
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