Lucky 13

Our producers Hall of Fame
By MATT ASHARE  |  October 17, 2007

Chairmen of the boards: Our critics pick the 14 producers with the fattest, meanest beats
Any comprehensive list of all the great producers in the history of recorded music would stretch on for just as long as a compendium of the greatest rock and pop albums ever recorded. And it would be every bit as subjective. With that in mind, here what should be thought of as a good place to start — 13 of the more notable producers of all time.

• The Bomb Squad — for Public Enemy and the art of sampling.

• Gamble and Huff — for Philly soul.

• Berry Gordy Jr. — for Motown.

• John H. Hammond — for discovering and recording Count Basie, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, and Bruce Springsteen.

• Glyn Johns — for all of those Who albums.

• Quincy Jones — for Thriller and all his Sinatra sessions.

• John “Mutt” Lange — for AC/DC, and for Def Leppard too.

• George Martin — for all those Beatles albums.

• Jimmy Miller — for Exile on Main St., Sticky Fingers, Let It Bleed, and Beggars Banquet.

• Andrew Loog Oldham — for all those early Stones albums.

• Sam Phillips — for discovering Elvis and all of his Sun Studio sessions

• Phil Spector — for his “wall of sound.”

• Tony Visconti — for all those Bowie albums.

Related: Loose Ends, Greetings from E Street: The Story of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band by Robert Santelli, Folk re-revival, More more >
  Topics: Music Features , Elvis Presley, Entertainment, Gamble and Huff,  More more >
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