Thomas J. Dowd Bio:

Thomas J. Dowd

A native of New York City, Thomas J. Dowd was born, raised and educated in Manhattan. His father, a concertmaster, and mother, an opera singer, encouraged his love for music and stressed self-discipline in his schooling. Graduating with a strong foundation in math and science from Stuyevant High School in June of 1942, Tom, unlike most of the boys in his class, was too young for the military draft and thus able to continue his education.

He went on to attend City College at night and play professionally in the band at Columbia University (eventually becoming conductor), where he soon attained a position at the university's physics laboratory. Working for the Office of Scientific Research Development (OSRD), the teenager found himself under the guidance of such men as John R. Dunning, Bill Havens and future Nobel Prize winner James Rainwater.

Upon turning 18 years old, Tom was drafted into the military and immediately commanded the rank of sergeant. His assignment remained the same, though, continuing the secretive work in the physics labs of Columbia University. He operated a cyclotron, changed targets, performed density tests of different elements, and recorded statistics as part of the Neutron Beam Spectography division.

At the forefront of a new generation of recording engineers, Tom put microphones on each instrument and pushed the limits of the direct to disc recording technology. With his innovative approach, and a growing reputation for making 'hit' records, he quickly made friends of musicians, and began recording such greats as Dizzy Gillespie , Joe Turner and the Ravens . The young man from Manhattan had a new career.

After an early 1950's stint with the United States Information Agency (USIA) and the Voice of America, which included first-hand accounts of McCarthy-era investigations, Tom Dowd made recordings of Atlantic artists that would alter the sound of modern music. The Clovers, Ruth Brown, Joe Turner, Clyde McPhatter, LaVern Baker, the Drifters, and Ray Charles all recorded under the supervision of Dowd, who possessed the unique ability to turn out records that sold equally well on both sides of the racial line

Atlantic felt the financial squeeze from 'white' cover versions of their most popular songs, more than other R&B companies, for the very reason that their records were so tightly arranged, and therefore easy to duplicate. In fact, before Dowd came to Atlantic as their full time engineer in 1954, he often found himself in the studio doing commercial cover versions of 'race records' he had recorded for Atlantic.

Atlantic, of course, was able to change with the times, and from 1956 to the early 1960's they had major rock 'n roll hits with such Dowd recorded artists as the Coasters ('Yakety Yak'', 'Charlie Brown', 'Poison Ivy'), Bobby Darin ('Splish Splash', 'Mack the Knife'), and the re-formed Drifters with Ben E. King ('Save the Last Dance For Me'). Tom Dowd's musicality, technical expertise and his contagious enthusiasm won the confidence and trust of musicians, making him a favorite of artists and executives alike.

Ironically, Dowd often found himself recording rock 'n roll and pop standards by day, and capturing jazz legends 'on the fly' later that same night. Thelonius Monk, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy, Lennie Tristano and Chris Connor all trusted Tom to capture the magic of their recording sessions.

Included in this impressive jazz resume is one of modern music's true immortals: John Coltrane . Dowd-recorded albums such as 'Giant Steps', 'Central Park West' and 'My Favorite Things' exposed Coltrane's genius to the world, and furthered Dowd's reputation as a cutting-edge engineer.

Atlantic Records arranged a distribution deal with Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee . Jerry Wexler of Atlantic sent Tom to see what their 'problem' was with some consistently inconsistent equipment. The next day, Tom met Jim Stewart, president of Stax Records, and was introduced to life in the segregated South of the early 60's. Tom rebuilt the studio's mono Ampex 350 before the very eyes of their talented house rhythm section, and quickly earned the respect of the group which included Duck Dunn, Steve Cropper, Al Jackson and Booker T. Jones: Booker T. and the MG's.

Soon to follow were sessions in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with artists such as Wilson Picket ('Mustang Sally'), and a new Atlantic signee, Aretha Franklin . As Tom recalls, "Aretha always did her best renditions at the piano. Every time she tried to record a song standing up, it never worked. So when I produced her I always had to do live performances and capture her vocals while she was singing and playing." It obviously worked, because during her induction speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 25 years after their first of many hits together, Aretha thanked her old friend Tommy Dowd for his important contribution in the creation of the classic 'Aretha' sound.

I n early 1970, Tom oversaw the design and construction of rooms at Criteria Recording Studios in Miami. He relocated to Florida, and soon brought in a Memphis rhythm section, the Dixie Flyers, to work as the house band. 'Atlantic Records South' was born.

One of the first projects Tom undertook in Miami was with a Florida-born guitarist he had met and recorded in Muscle Shoals. Now playing with his brother Gregg, Duane Allman and The Allman Brothers Band came south. Because of conflicting dates the previous year, Tom had been unable to record 'The Allman Brothers Band' (engineered by Tom's assistant, Adrian Barber), the group's first album. Soon though, he had recorded the band's second album, 'Idlewild South,' in the Criteria studio, and then in 1971 produced the perennial favorite, 'The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East.' Thus began collaboration with the ABB that has covered 25 successful years filled with moments of great joy and pain, periods of frustration, moments of re-birth, wall's filled with Gold albums, and ultimately the acceptance of The Allman Brothers as one of the legendary groups in rock history.

It was during their initial 'Idlewild South' collaboration that a phone call led to one of the great albums of rock history. In an unusual move for him, Tom took a call during recording. Tom remembers, "The band finished playing and I was still on the phone. Duane came in and waited until I had finished. I apologized and described that I had to take that call because it was from Eric Clapton's manager. Duane then ran titles and songs and sang some of Eric's solos to me. I then went on to tell him that Eric had a group that he wanted to record and was coming to Miami for that purpose in late August. Duane asked if he could come by the sessions, as he and the Brothers were doing a concert somewhere on Miami Beach around the same time. Normally, knowing how shy Eric was (having recorded Cream), I would have said no, but then Duane was such a soft human being, I knew he would adjust to whatever the circumstances were. Sure' I said, 'give us a call when you get in town'."

Upon the arrival of Eric and his band, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon and Bobby Whitlock, Tom recalls, "I couldn't believe my eyes when the equipment came into the studio. The bass amp was an Ampeg piggy back with a single 15" speaker and the guitar amp was a Fender Champ! The alternate guitar amplifier was a Fender Princeton. The last time I had recorded Eric he and Jack Bruce were employing double stacks of Marshall 's!"

"The next day, Duane called, the Brothers were going to play in town that night. Now I told Eric about the phone call and The Allman Brothers Band and Duane's wanting to drop by. Eric's eyes lit up and he looked at me and said, 'you mean the chap who played on the end of Hey Jude?' the Wilson Pickett record for which Duane had played a sensational solo. 'Matter of fact, yes.' Eric wanted to see this man play and meet him! I arranged for a limo to take us to the show and I notified one of the crew that we'd try to sneak in. They were waiting for us as we rolled up and they guided us around the side of the stage and we crawled into the space between the stage and the audience where the photographers usually stand.
 
Duane was playing a solo when he spotted us. He stopped playing and Dickey Betts looked up to see what the problem was and promptly started playing his own solo. Nobody else in the band knew what was going on, but they went on to do a great show. After the show, we all exchanged greetings backstage, and then The Allman Brothers Band and Derek and the Dominoes decided to go back to the studio and jam. What a free for all."
 
"The rest of the Allman Brothers left, but Duane stayed on for a few days as he and Eric were deeply moved by each others' style of playing. With each being soft spoken and in awe of the other's abilities, ego's were on permanent vacation. And so started ten days of recording and overdubbing, with Duane going and then coming back, that captured about 99% of the now famous 'Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs' album."
 
The rest of the '70's proved to be a very busy time for the veteran producer. Thus began a string of recordings with the likes of Eric Clapton ('461 Ocean Blvd.' ), Rod Stewart ('Atlantic Crossing', 'A Night On the Town', 'Foot Loose & Fancy Free', 'Blondes Have More Fun'), re-mixes for Willie Nelson ('Shotgun Willie & Phases and Stages') and enormously successful albums with Lynyrd Skynyrd ('Gimme Back My Bullets', 'Street Survivors' and 'One More For/From the Road'). Another decade came to an end with Tom Dowd utilizing his engineering skills and musical expertise to further his impressive career. Would the time ever come to settle down?

Continuing in South Florida throughout the 1980's. These include a Kenny Loggins hit record ('Keep the Fire' with the single 'This Is It'), the first album for Michael Bolotin (a.k.a. Bolton), 'Chicago XIV' for Columbia/Epic, Pablo Cruise and Rita Coolidge for A&M, Taxxi on MCA, Robin Gibb on Polydor, Diana Ross on RCA, Collin James on Virgin, New Model Army on EMI, Eddie Money ('No Control' and 'Where's the Party'), Rod Stewart ('Body Wishes'), Meatloaf ('Midnight At the Lost and Found') and a rather forgetful album with Dexy's Midnight Runners , serving as a reminder that even a legendary producer is not immune to the occasional flop.

The '80''s also saw Tom and Eric Clapton continue their collaboration into a third decade. Tom recorded 'Money and Cigarettes' and then the hugely popular 'August' in 1986 with Phil Collins . This included "It's In the Way That You Use It'' and 'Tearing Us Apart' with Tina Turner. This release served to announce both Eric and Tom still had the magic to make records that could achieve both commercial and critical success on a grand scale.

In the 90's on he spent a great deal of time lecturing in Florida schools, Served on the original FMPTA and was a founding member of the Florida NARAS chapter. T he summer of 1996 marked 50 years in the recording industry for Tom Dowd. Still going strong, he was nominated for a Grammy in that year for his collaboration on the John Coltrane box set, and produced a live recording that won The Allman Brothers Band a Grammy award for Best Acoustic Rock Performance.

This award was the culmination of a strong comeback in the '90's for The Allman Brothers Band. Starting with the successful album ' Seven Turns ' in 1990, Tom and the ABB produced ' Shades Of Two Worlds ' in 1991, a fine live recording on ' An Evening With the Allman Brothers ' in '92, and the marvelous 1994 release of ' Where It All Begins. ' The Allman Brothers Band, crafted by long-time friend Tom Dowd, continued to carry their free-flowing blend of rock, blues and jazz to an ever-expanding audience throughout the decade.

Still busy with other artists in the studio, Tom's credits in the '90's include acts as diverse as Primal Scream (' Give Out But Don't Give Up '), Popa Chubby (' Booty and the Beast '), Tinsley Ellis and many more. Tom's ability to mold the recording sessions of artists of varied ages and genres is testament to a man whose talents are equal to those of the artists he records.

Having played a vital role in the creation and implementation of the technique and technology used to capture sound over the previous half-century, Mr. Dowd is, quite literally, a walking history book and technical manual. An energetic, gracious man, Tom shared his knowledge with as many people as possible, speaking at high schools, colleges and universities. He chronicled a manuscript depicting his career in the recording industry, leading to the commencement of a documentary project entitled Tom Dowd & the Language of Music .

E ntering the new millennium, Tom Dowd’s mind was sharp as ever, but his body began to slow. He did keep a busy schedule, though, continuing to record veterans and up-and-comers alike.

His 30+ year collaboration with The Allman Brothers Band continued, serving as a producer, confidant and friend of the group. He produced A New Day Yesterday , the debut album for gifted guitarist/singer/songwriter Joe Bonamassa. Tom also produced an album for Susan Tedeschi , the 2000 “ Best New Artist ” Grammy nominee, as well as recording with 2, featuring singer Joe Condiracci . Tom’s work on an album for Gladys Knight was nominated for a Grammy, and he continued nurturing and developing the musical careers of unsigned artists.

Tom was the recipient of a 2002 Grammy for his seemingly endless contributions to the modern recording industry. Friends and family gathered in Los Angeles to see him receive the award in his usual selfless, humble manner.

After a lengthy battle with emphysema, Tom Dowd passed away on October 27, 2002 in South Florida.

In honoring his legacy and love of the South Florida community we rename the Star Gala Lifetime Achievement Award the Tom Dowd Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is presented to South Florida industry residents that have contributed to the betterment of the South Florida community even as managing a successful national or international artistic/industry career.

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