Producer Spotlight: Jon Tiven (Vol. 2)

Koen and I started looking into Jon Tiven's production credits while we were working on our Fantasy American Explorers project.  When Koen interviewed Peter Lubin, we learned that Jon Tiven appointed Peter as associate editor of the New Haven Rock Press, back when both of them were teenagers.  Jon and Peter cofounded Big Sound Records in 1977.

In a sense, Jon Tiven's career has now come full circle, as his current band (The Midnight Hour) is fronted by legendary guitarist Steve Cropper AND vocalist Roger C. Reale. Big Sound released Radio Active by Roger C. Reale & Rue Morgue in 1978.  

Garnet Mimms was on Peter Lubin's initial list for Fantasy American Explorers.  Koen and I found Garnet's 2008 comeback album Is Anybody Out There?  and noticed that Jon Tiven had produced it.  As we dug further into Tiven's extensive credits as musician, composer and producer, we decided that a compilation would be our next project.  

Jon Tiven wrote a fascinating column called American Beat for Music Republic magazine. He recalls his early days as a working musician, record label rep, producer, and songwriter.  He shares memories of some of the legends that he has worked with, as well as younger performers whose careers he has helped to promote.  

We didn't go all the way back to the days of Big Sound and Ork Records (where Jon Tiven produced Alex Chilton and played in his own band, Prix).  We started with the 1993 and 1994 tribute albums and worked our way forward.  We found over 40 records from 1993 to 2024 that Jon produced or co-produced. Jon and Sally are on many of them as performers and songwriters, and many of their compositions have been recorded by other artists.  

So that's why there are two volumes, and they still don't include everything! Tiven also produced a 2019 solo album for Handsome Dick Manitoba and has collaborated with Stephen Kalinich.  A lot of singers, songwriters and musicians appear on multiple Jon Tiven productions.  He has a wonderful ability to bring talented folks together to collaborate, and we hope you enjoy the blues, country, funk, R&B, rock and soul music contained in these sets.

Producer Spotlight: Jon Tiven (Vol. 1)

We began to feature record producers here awhile back with our Get A Leg Up series (well-known musicians paying tribute to their heroes and boosting the careers of lesser-known artists).  More recently we have featured Dan Auerbach, Ted Templeman and Don Was.  Come to think if it, the first were actually Adrian Sherwood and Dennis Bovell.  

Today's featured producer is Jon Tiven, who is a friend and colleague of Peter Lubin.  Tiven went from writing about music to making music, as a member of Prix, The Yankees, and The Jim Carroll Band.  He also produced the 1975 sessions with Alex Chilton that became known as Bach's Bottom.

Like Chilton, Tiven turned his attention from power pop to soul.  He utilized his musical talents and industry connections to produce and perform on a series of tribute albums in 1993 and 1994 spotlighting the songwriters Don Covay, Arthur Alexander, Curtis Mayfield, and Otis Blackwell.  These tribute albums featured a wide range of performers from the worlds of rock, country, punk, soul and blues.

All of this activity led to more songwriting and production work with singers and songwriters: Wilson Pickett, Freddie Scott, Syl Johnson, Sir Mack Rice, Willie Jones, Betty Harris, Howard Tate, Garnet Mimms, Little Milton, Don Nix, Donnie Fritts, P.F. Sloan and Essra Mohawk (among others).  Tiven has produced four albums for soul singer Ellis Hooks, four for guitarist Steve Cropper, and three for Pixies frontman Frank Black.  His wife Sally Tiven plays bass on many of these records, and writes songs with Jon.

Jonder and Koen each chose songs from the past 30 years or so of Tiven's career writing, producing and playing with these legends of soul, blues and rock music. Today we share the first of two volumes, which features Koen's choices. 

The Auerbach Connection

I can’t recall when exactly The Black Keys started appearing on my radar, but I guess the connection with the old blues guy Junior Kimbrough probably had something to do with that.

Also appearances of their songs in soundtracks, e.g. Howlin’ For You in Limitless (2011) encouraged me to start taking them more seriously.

Enough to say that I became a kind of a fan, really enjoying their stuff.

However this post is not really about the Keys, but about one of the founding members: Dan Auerbach.

Occasionally his name was mentioned in reviews of other artists albums, either as a guitarist and/or producer, obviously the man was very active on various fronts!

But the real reason for this compilation was a blog post from one of our colleagues who wrote that he ’just makes everyone sound like Dan Auerbach, for better or worse?’

Some of the artists/groups mentioned there I was familiar with (Dr. John, Pretenders, Tony Joe White) but plenty more not (The Velveteers, Cadillac Sky, Jon Muq) and it seemed like a fun project to set up.

The result is a 22 song compilation in which Dan (& at times his record label Easy Eye Sound) was involved and I feel it holds up pretty well, but you should judge for yourself of course.

I know he has worked with others not included here and if there’s enough interest I might do a follow-up!

Tribute To Ted Templeman Vols.1 & 2

 

Tribute To Ted Templeman Vols.1 & 2

The idea for this compilation came as a result of reading Ted’s excellent autobiography; Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer’s Life In Music (co-authored by Greg Renoff).

Templeman got his start as the singing drummer in the sunshine pop band Harper’s Bizarre, who had a hit with Paul Simon’s The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy).  Ted was taken under the wing of their producer, Lenny Waronker, who shepherded him from rock star, to record producer, and eventually Vice-President of Warner Bros. Records.

The artists he was instrumental in the success of is impressive; Van Morrison, Montrose, Van Halen, The Doobie Brothers, & Little Feat.  Along the way he also produced albums for Aerosmith, Captain Beefheart, Bette Midler, Joan Jett,  Nicolette Larson, Eric Clapton, & (Jokonky mainstays) Cheap Trick.  

KISS' Gene Simmons had paid for VAN HALEN to record demos & shopped them around without success.  Gene couldn’t believe that he couldn’t get them a deal and released them from their agreement.  Their manager Marshall Berle (Milton Berle’s nephew) told Ted Templeman about them.  Ted brought Warner’s CEO Mo Ostin to see the band, signed them, & Ted recorded their first album (in two weeks).  

He produced Van Halen’s first six albums & went along with David Lee Roth when he split from the group.  He wasn’t against Sammy Hagar talking over VH’s vocals, but maintained that it wouldn’t be Van Halen without DLR (& he may have coined the phrase Van Hagar).  The two worked together until Diamond Dave decided against having Templeman produce his Eat ‘Em & Smile album at the last minute—after Ted had turned down helming Aerosmith’s Permanent Vacation to be available to do it.

Van Halen's Ain’t Talking ‘Bout Love is Ted’s favorite of all the tracks he produced.  Ted always worked with (and gave credit to) engineer Donn Landee & said Donn had the idea for Eddie to double his guitar solo with an electric sitar on the track.  The two were usually of the same mind.  When Eddie was playing something he used to warm up—that we now know as the face-melting guitar solo in Eruption—Ted suggested he roll tape, & Donn already had it rolling.

Not that Ted's instincts were infallible.  When Eddie Van Halen first played him the instrumental tracks for the #1 hit Jump, Templeman was underwhelmed.  Even after David Lee Roth wrote the lyrics Ted felt it was a mistake.  Something that Templeman didn’t put in the book was that almost all the backgrounds on the Van Halen albums he produced were sung by Michael Anthony, Ted, & Eddie.  Ted would double Eddie because his voice just wasn’t strong enough.

An earmark of Templeman’s production style was to intermingle members of the bands he recorded--having members of The Doobies & Little Feat back other artists.  Michael McDonald working with Carly Simon, or Eddie Van Halen playing with Nicolette Larson, for instance.  McDonald says working with Templeman “was one of the great experiences of my musical life.  [Templeman], Russ [Titelman] and Lenny [Waronker], to me, were three of the greatest producers that any of us will have ever known."

During the recording of VH's 1984, David Lee Roth asked Templeman to reach out to McDonald when he was struggling to find a melody and lyrics for one of my favorite VH songs; I’ll Wait.  (Until I started reading about its recording online, I didn’t know that it was so divisive among VH-fans…. people either love it or hate it!)  McDonald came through, and the first pressing didn’t credit him as a co-writer, which he had to push to get straightened out, adding ten toes to the tally of those Diamond Dave has stepped on.

So visit the comment section to nab my selections of the most memorable tracks that Ted Templeman & his engineer Donn Landee worked their magic on.  And if your curiosity is whetted by the tracks, I highly recommend Ted’s book!

https://www.alibris.com/Ted-Templeman-A-Platinum-Producers-Life-in-Music-Templeman-Ted/book/47659495?

Wasmopolitan Dance Party

HOW IT STARTED…

My Damn Channel launched in July 2007, has offices in New York and Los Angeles, and has grown into a multi-faceted and successful business with more than 500 original videos, over 20 channels, and over 40 series.

In addition to being its own destination, My Damn Channel has racked up more than 50,000 YouTube subscribers and also syndicates content through numerous deals.

My Damn Channel produces a steady stream of curated, original comedy and music programming.

Don Was produces the site’s music channel featuring original music and videos in every genre.

 

Fast forward to 2025 and My Damn Channel is still there BUT all the music has disappeared…

The Don Was sessions from 2007-08 are interesting as they cover a wide range of participants, from classic old-timers like Guy Clark & Cowboy Jack Clement to not well-known singer-songwriters such as Gordie Sampson & Steve Bruton.

The music goes from rock (Wayne Kramer, The Go, a.o.) to jazz (The Dave McMurray Trio, John Sinclair, a.o.) to Hendrix-style blues funk (Black Merda) to punk (The Ramrods) to afrobeat (NOMO) and more, all produced by Don who in some cases happily plays along on bass.

Here are all 33 tracks collected!

Note that the 2 Jill Sobule tracks were part of a commercial for a furniture outlet and contain some talk from Don and Jill.

 

The Don Was Connection

Some bands are difficult to pigeonhole as they seem to go over all the place, which in my opinion makes them worth investigating! In this case I decided to put the spotlight on Was (Not Was), a Detroit band who definitely qualify as quirky. They even had a few hits, e.g. Walk The Dinosaur, and often invited other singers to join in as guests, such as Madonna,  Ozzy Osbourne, Doug Fieger, Mel Torme, and even Leonard Cohen!

They only released 5 albums, the first in 1981 and the last one in 2008 after  a hiatus of 18 years!

There have been 5 compilations of which the last one Pick Of The Litter 1980-2010 does a great job of cherry picking most of the outstanding (+ some deep) tracks.

Unfortunately this makes a new Was (Not Was) compilation as good as redundant…

Therefore I shifted my attention to one of the founding members: Don Was.

Surprisingly enough he hasn’t released much under his own name, but instead has been much more active as a producer and bass player! Besides that since 2012 he’s also in charge of the famous Blue Note label…

The last couple of years Don has also done a lot of live performances, either as a member of Bob Weir’s Wolf Bros or with The Pan-Detroit Ensemble.

 

I was very surprised to find out that in 1977 Don started his musical career as a punk singer for a Detroit band called The Traitors!

During his time in Was (Not Was) he was already active as a producer for Sweet Pea Atkinson, Cristina, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, Helen Terry, Iggy Pop, and Willie Nelson among others.

In 1994 he was responsible for the soundtrack of Backbeat, a movie about The Beatles early days in Hamburg, not only composing the score but also producing the sessions where an all-star band of alternative rock musicians (incl. Dave Grohl) covered rock & roll classics.

In 1997 Don renamed Was (Not Was) temporarily as Orquestra Was and released Forever's A Long, Long Time, partly a tribute to Hank Williams and included jazzy guests like Herbie Hancock, David McMurray, Terence Blanchard and Harvey Mason as well as country singer Merle Haggard and former MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer!

Unfortunately this intriguing project failed commercially and never got a follow-up.

Continuing his job as producer he worked with Marianne Faithfull, Waylon Jennings, Wayne Kramer, Paul Westerberg, Jessi Colter, Amos Lee, Benmont Tench, and (back to the beginning!) Sweet Pea Atkinson for his final album on Blue Note.

 

For the first compilation I sneaked in 3 Was (Not Was) recordings, 2 from amazing Hal Willner tribute compilations + a surreal collaboration with Kris Kristofferson from their final Boo! album. From his production work I took a selection of songs on which he also plays, which is not always the case.

The second compilation is live (except for 1 track with Ryan Adams), Don working with friends, The Detroit Dukes, Lonnie Smith, Bob Weir, Wolf Bros, and The Pan-Detroit Ensemble.

 

The enclosed PDF includes all artwork and details of who played on each track + an overview of all published JOKONKY banners so far.

Get Yer Third Leg Up (More Artists Who Produced Their Idols)

Koen and Stinky set a high standard for this series; today we've got leftovers.  Ric Ocasek produced a lot of new bands (possibly to "give them a leg up"), but he didn't necessarily idolize them.  I chose a song from I'm So Confused, which Ric produced for Jonathan Richman.

The bassist on I'm So Confused is Darryl Jenifer of the Bad Brains, whose album Rock For Light was produced by Ocasek.  I doubt Ric idolized the Bad Brains, but Adam Yauch certainly did, and Yauch produced Build A Nation.

Rick Rubin may idolize the legends he produced (such as Johnny Cash and Tom Petty).  But if you've ever heard Rubin's band Hose, you can be sure that he idolized Flipper, and he produced American Grafishy.  Speaking of Tom Petty, he produced Chris Hillman's album Bidin' My Time (which features Roger McGuinn on The Byrds' rarity Here She Comes Again).

Jack White has also produced legends (Wanda Jackson and Loretta Lynn). The White Stripes' music was greatly influenced by the Flat Duo Jets, and Jack produced and released a live album for the Dex Romweber Duo, as well as their single The Wind Did Move.  

Stinky featured a Wanda Jackson album produced by Joan Jett. Justin Townes Earle produced Wanda's Unfinished Business. Iggy Pop has worked with several of his admirers (including David Bowie and Josh Homme). As a Detroit native, Don Was must have been thrilled to produce Brick By Brick (with Slash joining Iggy on guitar for Home).

Mavis Staples is another legendary singer.  Her cover of Funkadelic's Can You Get To That was produced by Jeff Tweedy, and One More Change was written and produced by Ben Harper. 

Stinky featured Mary Weiss. Today we've got La La Brooks (produced by Mick Collins), Ronnie Spector (produced by Joey Ramone) and Darlene Love (produced by Steve Van Zant).   Speaking of Little Steven, he and The Boss produced albums for their heroes Southside Johnny and Gary U.S. Bonds.  Don't miss Stinky's comp The Best of Ronnie Spector!

Koen featured Dr. John as a producer. Today's comp includes a Dr. John song produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys.  Auerbach was also entrusted by Tony Joe White's son to produce Tony Joe's posthumous album Smoke From The Chimney.  

Terry Adams of NRBQ has long praised Sun Ra.  Terry coproduced the Arkestra's A Song For The Sun.  Don't miss Koen's post on the American Explorer Series, which features albums produced by Terry Adams and Ben Vaughn!

Koen's comp of Willie Dixon includes a track produced by T-Bone Burnett. Stinky quipped that Burnett "has knobs in his hands more often than a hooker running a two-for-one special."  T-Bone twisted the knobs on Gregg Allman's Low Country Blues.

Like T-Bone Burnett, Joe Henry is probably better known for his production work than his own music.  Joe has produced Solomon Burke and Mose Allison.  

Flamin Groovies frontman Roy Loney made several fun records as Roy Loney And The Longshots, backed by the Young Fresh Fellows and coproduced by Scott McCaughey.

Adrian Sherwood has been featured here several times, and he produced several albums for his idol Lee "Scratch" Perry.  Tim Armstrong did a great job producing Rebirth for Jimmy Cliff.

Last but not least is Tanya Tucker's comeback While I'm Livin', coproduced by Brandi Carlisle and Shooter Jennings.  Stinky and I highly recommend the "making of" documentary.  

Artists Who Produced Their Idols: Get A Leg Up, Part 2!

Stinky writes: Many of the producers featured on this volume of GET A LEG UP produced so many albums that it’s sometimes difficult to glean which band was produced for the paycheck, and which ones were more of a labour of love (to quote Nick Lowe).

Mott The Hoople’s All The Young Dudes was written especially for and produced by David Bowie, who was a fan of the group. Bowie also produced his girlfriend Dana Gillespie singing another song Bowie penned, Andy Warhol. 

Iggy Pop was having a hard time morphing from a member of The Stooges to a solo artist when he & David Bowie became close. Bowie toured as Iggy’s keyboardist and produced The Igg-ster’s album TV Eye 1977 Live, which included I Wanna Be Your Dog.

While not her idols, Joan Jett was one of the old guard that was embraced by the punks. She cut some sides with Paul Cook & Steve Jones, and was fond of Darby Crash & The Germs. She produced their first album, from which Lexicon Devil was selected.

Run-DMC were unaware of Aerosmith when muso Rick Rubin suggested that instead of sampling the group —like many did at the time— they should ask Steven Tyler & Joe Perry to join them for Walk This Way, simultaneously giving rap music a leg up.

As the offspring of Suzi Quatro and her guitarist Len Tuckey, it’s safe to say that young Richard Tuckey idolized his famous mother—so he’s a perfect fit for our theme. He twiddled the knobs for Suzi Quatro & KT Tunstall’s Scar.

David Bowie wasn’t the only one who idolized Mott The Hoople. The Clash’s Mick Jones produced Ian Hunter’s I Need Your Love, which should have been a major hit.

Reigning Sound frontman Greg Cartwright produced Stop & Think It Over for one of his heroes, Mary Weiss of the Shangri-La's.

John Mellencamp masterminded Mitch Ryder’s comeback album Never Kick A Sleeping Dog, and When You Were Mine is a stand-out Prince composition that was given the Mitch Ryder treatment under the direction of “The Little Bastard” with Kenny Aronoff on drums!

One might wonder how Mike McGear managed to get Paul McCartney & Wings to back him on Leave It, much less to get Paul to produce it? Well, that’s because they’re brothers. Michael McCartney took the stage name McGear from a common expression of admiration. To be GEAR, something had to be outstanding—which is the case with this fun track.

Dave Edmunds produced many amazing acts, but the two included here are major influences on his music. He produced And The Night Stood Still for Dion, and Amanda Ruth for The Everly Brothers. A former A&R guy who frequents this blog shared with us that Dave deserved “combat pay” for trying to corral Don & Phil for not ONE but TWO albums! Amanda Ruth should have been a hit in this version AND the original version by Rank & File.

This live version of Sweet Little Sixteen by Chuck Berry was part of a live concert film supervised/produced by Berry super-fan Keith Richards, who selected the band, and even got Chuck to reunite with his original piano player Johnnie Johnson. (Chuck originally joined JOHNNIE’S group.) Another live concert (by another guy every musician seems to admire) yielded Roy Orbison’s spirited version of Mean Woman Blues. In this case, the concert and attendant album were produced by T-Bone Burnett, who has knobs in his hands more often than a hooker running a two-for-one special.

Tom Petty produced Sea Of Love for one of his heroes, Del Shannon. When original Heartbreakers bassist Ron Blair left his band, Petty swiped his replacement from Del’s. Jonder found some little-known info about Del Shannon: he paid for Bob Seger’s first demos & took them around to record labels. Which raises the question; “Why didn’t BOB SEGER produce Del’s comeback album, instead of Tom Petty?” Del Shannon was briefly considered to replace the recently deceased Roy Orbison in The Traveling Wilburys. Prior to forming that group, Petty & his Heartbreakers toured as Bob Dylan’s opening act/backing group. Band Of The Hand is Bob Dylan with The Heartbreakers, produced by Tom.

Lieber & Stoller were songwriters/producers who were among the first to become free agents, and they went on to own their own label Spark Records. They were eager to sign and produce The Coasters, who had recorded two of the duo’s

compositions in their previous incarnation as The Robins. They hit paydirt on their second attempt with the group, Riot In Cell Block #9.

Elton John always loved Kiki Dee’s voice. He signed her to his label Rocket Records, and produced the comeback album that Standing Room Only is taken from. 

As with Roy Orbison, every musician seems to love Dusty Springfield. So it’s no surprise that Pet Shop Boys gave Dusty “a leg up” with a song they wrote especially for her, What Have I Done To Deserve This.

Two of the toughest rock chicks in history teamed up for Wanda Jackson’s Treat Me Like A Lady. Wanda was encouraged by Elvis Presley himself to forgo her country career and to record rockabilly.  She not only did that, but also managed to top Elvis’ version of Let’s Have A Party. But I digress... here Wanda is produced by Joan Jett, who also sings & plays guitar.

Edgar & Johnny Winter were understandably fond of each other’s music, and they co-produced their high-octane version of Sam & Dave’s Soul Man. Bringing it all home is idontwannabeyouanymore by Billie Eilish, whose producer is her brother Finneas Baird O’Connell. Lock me in a studio with MY sister, and the only thing that’s likely to be produced is a slap fight or nasty rope burn.

Artists Who Produced Their Idols: Get A Leg Up!

Jonder wrote a few weeks ago: "This is a concept that Stinky and I have been kicking back and forth for quite awhile. There are musicians (like T Bone Burnett, Don Was and Joe Henry) who are probably better known as producers, and not everyone they produced would be considered an idol or influence." 

Then he came up with an impressive list of artists who had produced other artists, and invited me and Stinky to come up with our lists! And so another Jokonky project was born…

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.]