I am still not quite sure what the exact role of the record producer is. Generally they seem more like movie directors than movie producers (although in Nashville in the 60's and 70s they were like dictators), some are sound architects, some are inspirers, some are partners, some have particular sounds and approaches they bring to everyone they produce. The best almost have a signature as well so you know their stamp.
Not many of them become household names like George Martin did with his work for the Beatles or Berry Gordy with Motown. But this blog is not about producers per se but those producers that have helped shaped my music collection and my taste.
The first one to do that was Tony Visconti and his work first with Bowie in the 70's and then again later in Bowie's career. A real symbiotic relationship - always seeming to be able to get the most out of each other. Maybe as they started as a team so early - when flatting together and forming an early version of The Spiders from Mars called The Hype. Visconti was also Marc Bolan's producer through his best work with T Rex. However he does not always get it right and I believe he helped John Hiatt make Hiatt's worst album 1982's pretty awful All of a Sudden. In recent years in addition to the Bowie comebacks he has been helming albums by another favourite of mine - Alejandro Escovedo. It is well worth reading Visconti's biography.
The next producer I became interested in also came from the Bowie Connection. Brian Eno's production work first with Bowie (From Low to Heroes to Lodger), then Devo's Are we not men? and finally an indispensible run of Talking Heads' Albums. Eno was a critical part of the late 70's and early 80's sound. The sampling on the essential My Life in the Bush of Ghosts was certainly well ahead of its time. Of course Eno produced many albums in his own write but to me he always needed someone to spark and spark off to get the best from him.
I won't say too much about Eno's work with U2 other than that it did bring Daniel Lanois' production work into the fore. Another producer whose work I have also found interesting. Lanois always seems to bring a certain atmosphere to his recordings - no matter whom he is recording with,
Lanois' credits include two of my favourite Dylan albums Oh Mercy and Time out of Mind, Willie Nelson's Teatro, Emmylou Harris' Wrecking Ball and Neil Young's solo guitarfest Le Noise (get it?).
So there is my list of producers - connecting music I have bought over the last 40 years and responsible for shaping much more music than that they are directly involved in.
Not many of them become household names like George Martin did with his work for the Beatles or Berry Gordy with Motown. But this blog is not about producers per se but those producers that have helped shaped my music collection and my taste.
The first one to do that was Tony Visconti and his work first with Bowie in the 70's and then again later in Bowie's career. A real symbiotic relationship - always seeming to be able to get the most out of each other. Maybe as they started as a team so early - when flatting together and forming an early version of The Spiders from Mars called The Hype. Visconti was also Marc Bolan's producer through his best work with T Rex. However he does not always get it right and I believe he helped John Hiatt make Hiatt's worst album 1982's pretty awful All of a Sudden. In recent years in addition to the Bowie comebacks he has been helming albums by another favourite of mine - Alejandro Escovedo. It is well worth reading Visconti's biography.The next producer I became interested in also came from the Bowie Connection. Brian Eno's production work first with Bowie (From Low to Heroes to Lodger), then Devo's Are we not men? and finally an indispensible run of Talking Heads' Albums. Eno was a critical part of the late 70's and early 80's sound. The sampling on the essential My Life in the Bush of Ghosts was certainly well ahead of its time. Of course Eno produced many albums in his own write but to me he always needed someone to spark and spark off to get the best from him.I won't say too much about Eno's work with U2 other than that it did bring Daniel Lanois' production work into the fore. Another producer whose work I have also found interesting. Lanois always seems to bring a certain atmosphere to his recordings - no matter whom he is recording with,Lanois' credits include two of my favourite Dylan albums Oh Mercy and Time out of Mind, Willie Nelson's Teatro, Emmylou Harris' Wrecking Ball and Neil Young's solo guitarfest Le Noise (get it?).
So there is my list of producers - connecting music I have bought over the last 40 years and responsible for shaping much more music than that they are directly involved in.
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