Friday, November 5, 2010

Old Stuff Friday: Friends of Tom Dowd

One of the greatest documentaries ever made is Tom Dowd and the Language of Music. Tom's career in music is truly amazing. From the Wikipedia biographical entry:

"Dowd took a job at a classical music recording studio until he obtained employment at Atlantic Records. His first hit was Eileen Barton's "If I Knew You Were Comin', I'd Baked a Cake." He soon became a top recording engineer there and recorded popular artists such as Ray Charles, The Drifters, The Coasters, Ruth Brown and Bobby Darin, including Darin's famous rendition of Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht's "Mack the Knife". He captured jazz masterpieces by John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker. It was Dowd's idea to cut Ray Charles' recording of "What'd I Say" into two parts and release them as the A-side and B-side of the same single record.

Dowd worked as an engineer and producer from the 1940s until the beginning of the 21st century. He recorded albums by many artists including Eric Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Derek and the Dominos, Rod Stewart, Wishbone Ash, Cream, Lulu, Chicago, The Allman Brothers Band, Joe Bonamassa, The J. Geils Band, Meat Loaf, Sonny & Cher, The Rascals, Willie Nelson, Diana Ross, Kenny Loggins, James Gang, Dusty Springfield, Eddie Harris, Charles Mingus, Herbie Mann, Booker T. and the MGs, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin and Joe Castro.[3] Dowd received a Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in February 2002."

A few of Tom's musical colleagues:

John Coltrane: Naima



Ruth Brown: Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean



Ray Charles: What'd I Say?



Allman Brothers: Whipping Post



Lynyrd Skynyrd: Free Bird



Website: Tom Dowd and the Language of Music

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