The Work Continues
Roger “The Immortal” Nichols left mounds of gems behind. We’re sharing them — releasing the unreleased, telling the untold, and finishing what he started. Here’s what’s happened since.
Reelin’ in the Early Years of Steely Dan — GRAMMY Museum
Dozens of Roger’s never-before-seen Steely Dan photo negatives — from the making of Can’t Buy a Thrill, Countdown to Ecstasy, and Pretzel Logic (1972–74) — debut publicly for the first time at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles. The panel, moderated by Cimcie Nichols and Jake Malooley, features founding Steely Dan guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter alongside legendary session guitarist Dean Parks.
Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary
HBO’s Music Box: Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary, directed by Garret Price and executive-produced by Bill Simmons, licensed photos from Roger’s archive for its November 2024 premiere. Roger’s lens captured the studios where the genre was forged — and the film brings that footage to a new generation.
The Second Arrangement — Steely Dan’s Lost Track
In 1979, during the Gaucho sessions, a junior engineer accidentally erased 75% of “The Second Arrangement” — a track Walter Becker, Donald Fagen, Gary Katz and Roger all loved. Forty years later, Cimcie found a forgotten cassette in her mother’s possession: a rough mix Roger had taken home the night before the erasure. The tape was professionally transferred at United Recording in 2021 and the song officially surfaced to the public.
Deconstructing Steely Dan — The Roger Nichols Methods
Author and editor Mike Lawson — who compiled The Roger Nichols Recording Method — tours a deep-dive presentation breaking down the techniques behind some of the most meticulously engineered records in pop history. Recent talks live on Roger’s YouTube archive.
Wendel Sample Pack — 8× Grammy Drum Sounds
Roger built Wendel — the 75-pound blue box now considered an early DAW — in 1978, and it ended up on Steely Dan’s Gaucho, Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly, John Denver, Toto, Stevie Wonder and more. The official Wendel Sample Pack delivers 500+ rare samples from Roger’s private collection, carefully converted from the original 50kHz/16-bit raw cartridges to modern 48kHz/24-bit.
Immortal Goods — The Roger Nichols Store
Official Wendel and Roger Nichols merch — shirts, prints, and more — over at Threadless. Every order helps fund the documentary work and the ongoing release of Roger’s archive.
The Roger Nichols Documentary
A short film and a feature-length documentary about Roger’s life and work are in development — both centered on the history of digital recording and Roger’s invention of drum replacement and sampling. We’ll share more here as the production progresses.
The Roger Nichols Recording Method
Roger spent decades distilling his “101” approach to audio production into a teachable form. Published by Alfred Music in 2013 (and currently being updated into an evergreen edition), the book walks the reader from microphone analysis to mixing strategy and ships with Pro Tools session files Roger personally set up.
8 GRAMMY Awards
The Archive
Roger wrote a column at EQ Magazine for over 15 years. His complete EQ writings are available in book form — and Tape Op, Sound on Sound, and others have profiled his career and methods.
Tributes
Walter Becker and Donald Fagen nicknamed him “The Immortal” because he mysteriously avoided electrocution in a potentially fatal studio accident.
— Roger Nichols, biography
An Artist Among Sound Engineers.
— The New York Times obituary headline
Tracks Roger engineered — Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly among them — became the established standards by which audio engineers tested speakers.
— Tape Op Magazine
Discography & Credits
Every Steely Dan album. 17 years with John Denver. Sessions with the Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder, Frank Zappa, Béla Fleck, Crosby Stills & Nash, James Taylor, Mark Knopfler, Rickie Lee Jones, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, and more.
Coming Soon
He had unfinished plans. We aim to finish them.