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.
