John Simon (record producer)

John Simon ( born August 11, 1941 in Norwalk, Connecticut) is a rock producer, pianist and keyboardist.

Even as a small child got Simon instruction for piano and violin, and before he was ten years old he wrote his first song. As a teenager he was a band leader and composer of various bands his school and wrote two musicals. Beginning of the 60s he got a job as a producer at Columbia Records and produced initially only relatively unknown artists, such as Joseph McCarthy, the Charles Lloyd Quartet, the Sunset Serenaders and Frankie Yankovic. Commercially successful he was first in 1966 as a producer of the Single Red Rubber Ball by The Cyrkle ( a composition by Paul Simon and Bruce Woodley ).

Thus, Simons began career as a top producer. In 1967 he was at the Monterey Pop Festival here, where he met Peter Yarrow. Together with this he produced the soundtrack to the 1968 film You Are What You Eat. At the same time Simon made ​​the acquaintance of Howard Alk, who in turn introduced him to the band, which was not famous then. Simon liked the sound of the band and decided to help them. He made first to the backing band of Tiny Tim, he produced at this time precisely. Later he took together with the band on and the demo -take, which should help them to fame.

Simon 1968 was also producer of Simon and Garfunkel's Bookends, Cheap Thrills by Big Brother and the Holding Company, Child Is Father to the Man by Blood, Sweat & Tears and Leonard Cohen's Songs of Leonard Cohen, all on Columbia Records. There were Cass Elliot Dream a Little Dream of Me and Gordon Lightfoot Did She Mention My Name on other labels and he played on Late Again by Peter, Paul & Mary. As a culmination of the year produced Simon Music from Big Pink by The Band, their debut album.

In 1969 for Simon with the productions of The Bands The Band and The Electric Flags The Electric Flag. On the advice of Paul Simon and Dylan producer Alan Grossman Simon finally signed as a solo artist at Warner Brothers and released in 1970 his debut John Simon's album, where musicians such as Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Cyrus Faryar, Rick Danko, Leon Russell, Jim Gordon, Delaney Bramlett, Jim Price, Carl Radle, Rita Coolidge, Bobby Whitlock and Jean Millington play. Otherwise, he produced this year only Down Home by Seals & Crofts.

Published in 1972 Simon a second solo album called Journey. During the 70s, Simon often operated as a studio musician, for example, Eric Clapton, Howlin 'Wolf, Taj Mahal, Dave Mason and Jesse Ed Davis. He also worked with, among others, John Martyn, Al Kooper, David Sanborn, Steve Forbert, Cyrus Faryar, Gil Evans, John Hartford, Michael Franks, Martin Mull and continue to work with The Band. Together with Robbie Robertson wrote the piece Davy 's on the Road Again, which was recorded in 1978 by Manfred Mann's Earth Band and released on the album Watch.

In the 1980s and 90s, Simon produced, inter alia albums by Emmylou Harris, John Sebastian, Winter Hours, Bireli Lagrene, the Kips Bay Ceili Band, Pierce Turner and Christine Lavin. To this day, Simon is still active in the music scene.

• Music producer
• Pianist
• Keyboardist
• American musician
• Born in 1941
• Man