Joel Dorn r.i.p.

johmbolayajohmbolaya 4,472 Posts
edited December 2007 in Strut Central
Grammy-winning jazz producer Joel Dorn dies at 65ReutersMonday, December 17, 2007; 9:13 PMLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Veteran record producer Joel Dorn, who worked with such artists as Roberta Flack, Max Roach and the Neville Brothers, died of a heart attack on Monday in New York. He was 65.Dorn, a one-time disc-jockey at a Philadelphia jazz radio station, was perhaps best known for his work with Atlantic Records' prestigious jazz stable between 1967 and 1974. Working alongside the label's jazz chief, Nesuhi Ertegun, he brought a pop sensibility to works by musicians such as Roach, Herbie Mann, Les McCann and Eddie Harris, Mose Allison and Rahsaan Roland Kirk.Dorn once said his two biggest influences were songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and producer Phil Spector."To this day before I go in and make a record, I'll throw on 'Be My Baby' or a Coasters record," he said.In the pop field, he helped set Bette Midler and Flack on the course to stardom, producing their debut albums. He and Flack won consecutive record of the year Grammys, for "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (1972) and "Killing Me Softly With His Song" (1973).He also ventured into rock with the Allman Brothers Band's second release, 1970's "Idlewild South," and Don McLean's 1974 album, "Homeless Brother." (McLean was the inspiration for the songwriters of "Killing Me Softly...")Dorn "bridged the worlds of jazz and pop with enormous skill and grace, never compromising the integrity of his artists and their music," said Edgar Bronfman, Jr., the chairman and chief executive of Atlantic's Warner Music Group Inc parent.Dorn left Atlantic in 1974, and worked for other labels' acts, such as Leon Redbone, Lou Rawls and the Neville Brothers. His collaboration with the latter spawned their 1981 breakthrough "Fiyo on the Bayou."In his later years, he formed his own labels, and oversaw reissues of classic jazz albums for Columbia Records, Rhino Records and GRP Records. At the time of his death, he was a partner in the roots label Hyena Records, and was working on a five-disc tribute to his mentor, "Homage A Nesuhi." He is survived by three sons.

  Comments


  • oh, hell no.

    atlantic has always been one of my favorite labels, and dorn and jerry wexler were two guys i definitely wanted to sit down with and chew the fat over how it was back then. dorn had that same gift of gab that wexler has, and i loved reading interviews with the man (not to mention his liner notes for reissues on the 32 label, a now-defunct company that he ran with his sons back in the '90s). hed always use some colorful expression that id wind up stealing. dorn is the reason why i always say "flying rubber fuck" (as in, I don't give a...).

    anyway, great man, one whose love of music wasnt tainted by years of being in the biz. rest in peace...

  • twoplytwoply Only Built 4 Manzanita Links 2,914 Posts
    Wow. 65 is young, it's too bad he had to go that way. His name printed on a back cover prompted many a purchase. R.I.P.

  • tuneuptuneup 586 Posts
    there are not enough props in the world to give this man. Truly a sad day... Thanks so much for the music Joel.

  • RIP, that's a shame. His 32Jazz reissue series is a fave.

  • there are not enough props in the world to give this man. Truly a sad day... Thanks so much for the music Joel.

  • m_dejeanm_dejean Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut. 2,946 Posts
    His name printed on a back cover prompted many a purchase.



    R.I.P. Mr. Masked Announcer

  • Joel Dorn explains why 32 and Label M, his two reissue labels, folded:

    ???I walked away from 32 because I had partners who wanted to go into the Internet business. I don???t give a flying rubber fuck[/b] about the Internet business. So when they did that I walked and the label folded within six months. Label M was a little shaky from the beginning. The people who backed me were a little shaky, and then they were taken over by, basically, a colony of baboons. And, you know, they wanted to go into the Internet business. One of those dumb dot-com things. I don???t even understand it, you know. The guy who took over the people that funded Label M started to explain it to me, and while he was talking I just got up and cleared my desk. Y???know, I???ll talk to you later, have a nice time. Call me when the Internet comes to a town near you.???

    Read the whole thing here: http://www.jazzitude.com/joel_dorn01.htm

  • Joel Dorn explains why 32 and Label M, his two reissue labels, folded:

    ???I walked away from 32 because I had partners who wanted to go into the Internet business. I don???t give a flying rubber fuck[/b] about the Internet business. So when they did that I walked and the label folded within six months. Label M was a little shaky from the beginning. The people who backed me were a little shaky, and then they were taken over by, basically, a colony of baboons. And, you know, they wanted to go into the Internet business. One of those dumb dot-com things. I don???t even understand it, you know. The guy who took over the people that funded Label M started to explain it to me, and while he was talking I just got up and cleared my desk. Y???know, I???ll talk to you later, have a nice time. Call me when the Internet comes to a town near you.???

    Read the whole thing here: http://www.jazzitude.com/joel_dorn01.htm



    Call me when the Internet comes to a town near you[/b]



  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    Yep RIP to a true legend, his interviews always cracked me up too.

  • damn..65 is a little young. Sad that he left us..

    Layers is one of the best produced LP's ever.

    R.I.P.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    RIP.

    Don McLean's 1974 album, "Homeless Brother." (McLean was the inspiration for the songwriters of "Killing Me Softly...")

    Is Don McLean a pseudonym for Donny Hathaway? Is Miss American Pie about Hathaway's death?


  • Don McLean's 1974 album, "Homeless Brother." (McLean was the inspiration for the songwriters of "Killing Me Softly...")

    Is Don McLean a pseudonym for Donny Hathaway?
    another vocalist recorded "killing me softly" - and flopped - before roberta flack got to it

  • tuneuptuneup 586 Posts

    Don McLean's 1974 album, "Homeless Brother." (McLean was the inspiration for the songwriters of "Killing Me Softly...")

    Is Don McLean a pseudonym for Donny Hathaway?

    another vocalist recorded "killing me softly" - and flopped - before roberta flack got to it
    who was that??

  • another vocalist recorded "killing me softly" - and flopped - before roberta flack got to it

    who was that??



  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    another vocalist recorded "killing me softly" - and flopped - before roberta flack got to it

    who was that??



    I just listened to Mike Aldridge playing it on the dobro. Indeed it is credited to some guys I never heard of. I always thought Flack wrote it about Hathaway. How do you write that song about Don McLean? Do I need to go listen to his entire banjocentric folkrock cataloge?

    By the way I had Joel Dorn confused with Tom Dowd earlier.
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