R.I.P. Dick Dearborn, Engineer on ‘Vehicle”
We were saddened to hear that Dick Dearborn had just passed away at age 91. Dick was the CBS staff engineer when the Ides Of March first came into Columbia studios on Fairbanks in Chicago to record our first demos for what would get us our record deal with Warner Brothers.
Guided by our producer/ managers Frank Rand and Bob Destocki we had come to the session with four new songs to present. The last song on our demo tape was a song we would perform at teen clubs all over Chicagoland called Vehicle. 
Dick Dearborn always wore the suit and tie of a loyal CBS employee but his heart was that of a true musician. He had a kind and patient manner as he set up the many microphones required to accommodate a big horn band like the Ides and dialed in the sounds. In those days we all recorded at the same time in one room, so leakage between instruments were always a huge issue. Dick handled that with ease.
As Larry said, “He saved the master take of Vehicle with a razor blade and experience.. !” referring to the well-known story about the accidental deletion of part of the master take and Dick having to splice it in from a different take.
He was also the master of one of the first 16 track multi- track recorders in Chicago.
After we landed our record deal he engineered our entire album with Frank and Bob producing.
Dick will be remembered for many things (his son and I have talked recently about Dick when we met a few times at a blues bar in Saugatuck) but for the Ides he will always be the guy that caught lightning in a bottle- one magical take on a song that would take us Berwyn teens to the top of the charts. Dick, you were the co-pilot of our Vehicle. Rock in peace. Jim Peterik, Larry Millas, Bob Bergland and Mike Borch.
Thanks to Dick’s son James for the photos.
