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"Tom Dowd and the language of Music" News
DVD Captures Producer Dowd's Life and Music
Fri May 7, 2004 10:53 PM ET By Christopher Walsh NEW YORK (Billboard) - To see and hear the documentary film "Tom Dowd and the Language of Music" is to experience the history of American music. Perhaps more than anyone else, Dowd, who died Oct. 27, 2002, at age 77, is responsible for the recordings that define 20th-century America. From Manhattan to Memphis to Macon, Muscle Shoals and Miami, Dowd recorded and produced a staggering catalog of R&B, jazz, pop and rock. The documentary will be released Aug. 24 on DVD on the heels of a limited theatrical run. Director Mark Moorman enjoyed ample participation from Dowd, along with current and former Atlantic Records executives Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin. But it is the music and those who made it that animate this tribute to an extraordinary man. Participants include Eric Clapton, Ray Charles, Les Paul and members of the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. "Tom Dowd and the Language of Music" features the producer/engineer in such settings as the Atlantic Records office/studio in Manhattan, where jazz and R&B legends recorded seminal works after office hours. Dowd also recounts his involvement with the Manhattan Project while he was studying physics at Columbia University. The Manhattan Project and its aftermath are as defining a component of Dowd's era as his subsequent work. Among the most moving moments of the film are studio and stage footage of Booker T. & the MG's, the racially integrated house band of Memphis' Stax Records. Atlantic had formed an alliance with Stax to produce and distribute the latter's prodigious output. Along with his leadership at many Stax sessions, Dowd's technical prowess greatly improved Stax's recordings. In the film, the humble Dowd explains the state of recording technology at the outset of his career. "At that time," he recalls, "it was a different art form with regard to the musicianship, the concept of recording and the limitations of the equipment that you had to capture the performance with." Despite those limitations, Dowd made recordings that decades later are still revered. Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus and Aretha Franklin are a few of the artists within his storied discography. Toward the end of his career, Dowd embraced the latest technology. In the film, he notes the transformation in recording brought by the digital audio workstation. At Miami's Criteria Studios, Dowd worked with contemporary artists and technology well into his eighth decade. It was there that Dowd recorded Derek & the Dominos' "Layla," featuring Duane Allman. Giving a rare peek into the creative process, the film shows Dowd playing individual tracks from "Layla," revealing Clapton and Allman's climactic duet unadorned by the rhythm section and percussion overdubs. As he moves faders on the console, it is clear that time did not diminish Dowd's enthusiasm. Reuters/Billboard |
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I loved the end where Tommy is playing the piano, perfect. I had the
pleasure and privilage of working with Tommy, on a couple of tunes on 461 Ocean Blvd. and watching him mix the first quad mixes in Criteria Studio "C". The scene with Tommy & Layla kinda freaked me out. Atlantic was throwing out some safeties, which were stacked in Criteria Studio B, we needed some tape, ;-) so we took "Layla", put it on the 16 trk and listend to it, before wiping it. Most of the amazing stuff Duane did was at the end of the tune, ridiculous. I then understood why Albhy held him in awe, and why he got the nickname, Skydog. One last thing, Tommy Dowd was a genius with a razorblade, when that was all you could use to edit! Tom "Daughter Dowd" wrote in message om... DVD Captures Producer Dowd's Life and Music Fri May 7, 2004 10:53 PM ET By Christopher Walsh NEW YORK (Billboard) - To see and hear the documentary film "Tom Dowd and the Language of Music" is to experience the history of American music. Perhaps more than anyone else, Dowd, who died Oct. 27, 2002, at age 77, is responsible for the recordings that define 20th-century America. From Manhattan to Memphis to Macon, Muscle Shoals and Miami, Dowd recorded and produced a staggering catalog of R&B, jazz, pop and rock. The documentary will be released Aug. 24 on DVD on the heels of a limited theatrical run. Director Mark Moorman enjoyed ample participation from Dowd, along with current and former Atlantic Records executives Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin. But it is the music and those who made it that animate this tribute to an extraordinary man. Participants include Eric Clapton, Ray Charles, Les Paul and members of the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. "Tom Dowd and the Language of Music" features the producer/engineer in such settings as the Atlantic Records office/studio in Manhattan, where jazz and R&B legends recorded seminal works after office hours. Dowd also recounts his involvement with the Manhattan Project while he was studying physics at Columbia University. The Manhattan Project and its aftermath are as defining a component of Dowd's era as his subsequent work. Among the most moving moments of the film are studio and stage footage of Booker T. & the MG's, the racially integrated house band of Memphis' Stax Records. Atlantic had formed an alliance with Stax to produce and distribute the latter's prodigious output. Along with his leadership at many Stax sessions, Dowd's technical prowess greatly improved Stax's recordings. In the film, the humble Dowd explains the state of recording technology at the outset of his career. "At that time," he recalls, "it was a different art form with regard to the musicianship, the concept of recording and the limitations of the equipment that you had to capture the performance with." Despite those limitations, Dowd made recordings that decades later are still revered. Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus and Aretha Franklin are a few of the artists within his storied discography. Toward the end of his career, Dowd embraced the latest technology. In the film, he notes the transformation in recording brought by the digital audio workstation. At Miami's Criteria Studios, Dowd worked with contemporary artists and technology well into his eighth decade. It was there that Dowd recorded Derek & the Dominos' "Layla," featuring Duane Allman. Giving a rare peek into the creative process, the film shows Dowd playing individual tracks from "Layla," revealing Clapton and Allman's climactic duet unadorned by the rhythm section and percussion overdubs. As he moves faders on the console, it is clear that time did not diminish Dowd's enthusiasm. Reuters/Billboard |
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"Daughter Dowd" wrote in message
om... DVD Captures Producer Dowd's Life and Music Fri May 7, 2004 10:53 PM ET I caught this on TV recently and it was absolutely incredible. |
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Daughter Dowd wrote:
The documentary will be released Aug. 24 on DVD Now we have to wait till August ????!!!! Why are you torturing me? -- -- John Noll Retromedia Sound Studios Red Bank, NJ 07701 Phone: 732-842-3853 Fax: 732-842-5631 http://www.retromedia.net |
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Daughter Dowd wrote: The documentary will be released Aug. 24 on DVD on the heels of a limited theatrical run. Loved it on the Sundance Channel. I ordered the DVD, which was supposed to have come out this past February. No wonder I haven't received it yet. : ) Don |
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