First artist that came to mind was Tom Waits, due to my Chuck E. Weiss collection, but he also produced John Hammond’s Wicked Grin, a collection of great Waits covers.
J.J. Cale is pretty well known, but I guess not many people were aware of his production work… Surprise, surprise, he was responsible for (again!) John Hammond’s blues album Got Love If You Want It.
My first post here was about Robert Palmer, who had a big hit with Moon Martin’s Bad Case Of Loving You. He produced Moon’s Mystery Ticket, trying to update his sound with mixed results. Palmer apparently was a fan of The Comsat Angels, even helped them get on Island Records and produced their Chasing Shadows album.
Scottish indie rock band The Bluebells were close to a much more famous artist. B-side track All I Ever Said was (according to the liner notes) "a song full of words and chords produced by our old bonhomie, Elvis ‘King’ Costello".
Dave Edmunds liked Del Shannon and was responsible for the gorgeous And The Music Plays On, a 1974 single. Shakin’ Stevens started as the lead singer of The Sunsets and their first album A Legend was another Edmunds production. The final Edmunds track here is a classic: Flamin' Groovies’ Slow Death.
Joan Osborne was (& is) a big fan of The Holmes Brothers and in her liner notes of their Speaking in Tongues (produced by Osborne), she explains how she first met them in a New York Bar where they were playing.
Steely Dan’s Walter Becker did a great production job on Rickie Lee Jones’ Flying Cowboys. It even gave her a minor hit song, Satellites.
David Byrne tried his best with The B-52's Mesopotamia, but unfortunately the band members weren’t that impressed with the results…
John Cale got quite a name as a producer with Nico and The Stooges, but I selected The Modern Lovers’ Roadrunner.
David Baerwald (from David + David as well as solo) produced a few tracks from Susanna Hoffs' 1996 self-titled album.
I’ve posted about Bennie Wallace here before and like his first album, the follow-up Bordertown was produced by Dr. John as well.
Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) did a good roots production job on Tish Hinojosa’s Homeland.
Don Dixon is probably best known for his work with R.E.M., but this Guadalcanal Diary track is excellent too.
[Thanks, Koen! Stinky came up with the title of this series, Get A Leg Up! His set of songs produced by famous artists for their musical heroes is coming soon.]
Get A Leg Up, Vol. 1:
ReplyDeletehttps://tinyurl.com/KoensLeg
Koen came up with a set of great albums and artists that weren't on the list that Stinky and I had thought of, which is one of the best parts of having a third collaborator! To me, the Tish Hinojosa album is a perfect example of why we decided to call it "Get A Leg Up". Tish had tried for years to break through in Nashville. She moved back to Texas but made one more trip to play a showcase at the Bluebird Cafe, and was approached by A&M afterward. On her website, she credits "the persistence of Patrick Clifford, rocker-come-culturesurfer" for the recording contract, as well as the "buttload" of new songs she had written in Austin.
Steve Berlin brought Los Lobos bandmates Louie Perez and Cesar Rojas to the sessions, as well as JD Foster, Greg Leisz, and the legendary Flaco Jimenez. Established musicians gave "a leg up" to a deserving newcomer (rather than anyone's musical idol). In this case, the "newcomer" had been writing and performing for two decades by the time Homeland was released.
Del Shannon is an example of the "leg up" that Stinky and I first had in mind. The Beatles, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and others have cited Del as an inspiration (as well as the revolutionary sound of Max Crooks' solo in "Runaway"). Drop Down and Get Me (Del's 1981 album produced by Tom Petty) was on our original list, but Koen pointed out that Edmunds had already given Del "a leg up" by producing that 1974 single.
Great comp, Koen! I’m using a cut Tom Petty produced for Del Shannon (even if he is an “also ran!”) - Stinky
ReplyDeleteThanks for the background info on Tish Hinojosa, I had no idea at all!
ReplyDeleteIn some cases these productions were not necessarily a 'leg up', but just another job, e.g. the first Shakin' Stevens album... Shaky's first manager Paul 'Legs' Barrett wrote a seriously vicious account about those years with The Sunsets in which Shaky is being portrayed as pretty dumb-ass with a great voice. According to Barrett Dave really admired The Sunsets' drummer, Robert 'Rockin' Louis' Llewellyn, who'd fronted several bands previously as the vocalist and he was the main reason for producing the band... Despite Dave's objections, Shaky handled most of the vocals and Rockin' Louis had only 4 songs. In 1999 the original Sunsets won a legal battle against Shaky (& Dave!) on charges of non-payment of royalties for reissue of their 1970 debut album A Legend...
Mark E. Smith of The Fall had a lyric, "I hate the guts of Shakin' Stevens."
DeleteHa ha that Mark E. Smith quote jonder!! If I had I only kept a list when I started posting, I'm sure I would have many more to add. Perhaps future software could do it...maybe even grab that song that sticks in your head and find title someday. These totally connect the dots with stuff I'm learning about really helps. Had you heard how REM had borrowed some lyrics from The Revelaires album 'The Joy Of Knowing Jesus' when it was handed to them for inspiration? I'm sure youse guys can find more with a search. I need to seek out Wicked Grin and I think I finally posted the Bluebells after Mark U. had rejected it when I sent it in back in the oughts. Vital work you all do here...I think I'll be reminded about y'all when I listen to Soul Asylum's 'We Three' song again. CHeers!
ReplyDeleteMark E. Smith also declared, "If I ever turn out like U2, slit my throat with a garden vegetable." I still miss him!
DeleteI remember that REM song, "Voice Of Harold". I was a BIG fan for a few years. The dBs Repercussion blog has an audience recording of a show I attended in 1984, when the dB's opened for REM on an outdoor sports field at USF in Tampa. I think we paid 4 bucks apiece to see them.
Yeah, thanks man -- "We Three" could be our theme song!