Review: Tom Dowd And The Language Of Music

Subject: Review: Tom Dowd And The Language Of Music
From: GUEST,Dale
Date: 27 Oct 03 - 09:54 PM

Tom Dowd And The Language Of Music

While whipping through the channels a couple of hours ago, I stopped momentarily on the Sundance Channel, which had just started the above linked film, a biography of music producer/engineer Tom Dowd. I thought to myself,"Oh, this won't be anything I am going to want to watch," but how wrong I was. It was an extremely entertaining and educational film (hard to find both qualities in the same film!) about a pioneer in the post WWII recording industry. I say pioneer because of the many innovative things he was involved with in a career spanning more than 50 years.

Quote from his daughter, Dana Dowd:
"As you all watch Tom Dowd and The Language of Music, please embrace every last story, song and laugh because that is the way he would have wanted it. The man you see on the screen is not some character acting; it is just simply the camera catching the essence of one of the last true gentlemen.

I want to thank all the people who took time to be interviewed for this documentary, Mark Moormann for a vision, and everyone else who has made this possible. The only wish I have is that my father would have been here to see the final product and have one more final day in the spotlight. Instead he is a star keeping the sky bright."

I concur with that. Manhattan Project Physicist turned Recording Engineer Tom Dowd would have been a person worth knowing, I think. The story of his life was an entertaining one for sure. I never turned away from his story until it was finished. Only in the closing credits did I realize that he passed away late last year. Checking the Mudcat Forum Search, I saw he has been mentioned here just once, in a list of those who had gone on in 2002. I think he deserves more attention than that.

From the Sundance Channel website:
YEAR 2003 81 MINS, Color
Appeared at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival
While his work may be obscure to those who don't memorize the credits on classic CDs, in the music business Tom Dowd is legendary. A recording engineer and producer who transformed the sound of American music, Dowd influenced many all-time great albums by John Coltrane, The Allman Brothers Band, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk and Otis Redding. Mark Moormann's inspiring documentary features interviews with Dowd and musicians including Ray Charles, Eric Clapton and Aretha Franklin, to recount the work of this unsung hero of the recording studio. TVG

Next showing: FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2003 7:30 PM Eastern. Check your local listings for additional showings.

Subject: RE: Review: Tom Dowd And The Language Of Music
From: GUEST,Dale
Date: 27 Oct 03 - 10:04 PM

Tom Dowd list of credits at allmusic.com

The link at the Language Of Music site for Tom Dowd's discography is incorrect. Check out the above listing, I'm sure you'll all agree that it is a most impressive list.

Subject: RE: Review: Tom Dowd And The Language Of Music
From: fat B****rd
Date: 28 Oct 03 - 02:48 AM

I've just looked through the list...bloody hell !!!

Subject: RE: Review: Tom Dowd And The Language Of Music
From: michaelr
Date: 28 Oct 03 - 03:17 PM

A fascinating film about a great man, one of the most influential engineers in popular music, on a par with George Martin. Highly recommended!

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: Review: Tom Dowd And The Language Of Music
From: M.Ted
Date: 28 Oct 03 - 06:53 PM

I am looking forward to seeing this--I missed it once before, and sort of forgot, so thanks for the reminder!   We tend to not remember producers and engineers, though it is pretty much true that recorded music is really the producers art--we also tend to forget what a big impact a few people have had--the list above is amazing, not just in the artists that it includes, but in the amazing longevity that he had in the music business--and look at the monster hits that he had!

Subject: RE: Review: Tom Dowd And The Language Of Music
From: okthen
Date: 30 Oct 03 - 06:41 AM

I was reading the notes on the back of my newly aquired, 1962 LP by Shel Silverstein and noticed Tom Dowd credited as recording engineer, so I went to the above list and couldn't find Shel's name in the credits. Odd, anyone any idea why not?

Subject: RE: Review: Tom Dowd And The Language Of Music
From: okthen
Date: 30 Oct 03 - 06:43 AM

PS would like to see this programme, hope it gets shown over here.

Subject: RE: Review: Tom Dowd And The Language Of Music
From: GUEST,Dale
Date: 31 Oct 03 - 10:57 AM

Just a reminder ~~ TONIGHT, October 31, 7:30-9:00 PM Mudcat Standard Time, Sundance Channel.

About the missing Shel Silverstein credit, my guess is that though the list of Tom Dowd's credits reads like a musical who's who, it would be difficult to be all inclusive over such a long career. I'd say Silverstein would be among the "countless other celebrated musicians" listed below.

"With credits including Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Otis Redding, John Coltrane, The Allman Brothers Band, Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, Bob Marley, Thelonius Monk, Cream, Rod Stewart, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Booker T. & the MG's and countless other celebrated musicians, Tom Dowd's pioneering work in recording techniques helped shape the sound of modern music as we know it today." ~~ from the film site.