Died On This Date (October 27, 2002) Tom Dowd / Legendary Producer
themusicsover Tom Dowd
October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002
Tom Dowd was an innovative record producer and engineer who helped develop the Atlantic Records sound thanks to hundreds of popular albums he collaborated on. A master of physics, Dowd worked on the Manhattan Project while in the Army prior to his days at Atlantic. The Manhattan Project was the code name for the development of the first atom bomb. After his time in the service, Dowd got a job in the studio at Atlantic Records where he produced or engineered albums by the likes of Ray Charles, Bobby Darin, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Derek & the Dominos, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, the Allman Brothers, and many many more. Dowd was far from a silent producer behind the board. He has been credited numerous times for helping develop and shape the sound of the artist into what ultimately made them famous. He was also instrumental in the growth of stereo and eight-track recording in the industry. Dowd continued to work right up until the time of his death, October 27, 2002. He died of emphysema a week after his 77th birthday.
What You Should Own
Taylor Mitchell was an up-and-coming singer songwriter who was just beginning to build her career in her home country of Canada when her life was tragically cut short. Mitchell recorded her first EP in 2007 and released her full length debut For Your Consideration, in March of 2009 . Mitchell’s back-up band for her latest album included a cast of all-star musicians who have played with the likes of Ani DiFranco, Ron Sexsmith and Kathleen Edwards. Taylor Mitchell, 19, was hiking in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Nova Scotia, when she was attacked by two coyotes. Mitchell died of her injuries in a Halifax hospital.
Xavier Cugat was a musician, singer, songwriter, band leader, cartoonist, and actor whose various careers ran some 65 years. Born in Spain, he moved with his family to Cuba where he was trained on the violin. In 1915, his family moved again, this time settling in New York City. His first band of note, the Gigolos, was a popular Tango band in New York. During the ’30s, Cugat became the leader of the house band at New York’s fames Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. It was around this time he got into acting, so he spent much of the next three decades flying back and forth between New York and Los Angeles to work at th hotel and make movies. He also did some time as the cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times. Cugat made several hit records during the ’40s, most of them popular Latin dance tunes of the day. Xavier Cugat died of heart failure at the age of 90.
Hoyt Axton was country singer songwriter and actor who came to prominence as a folk singer in the ’60s and then again as country singer in the ’70s. Even though he released several successful albums and acted in and performed on numerous television shows and films, it was Axton’s skills as a songwriter that separated him from the pack. Over the years, his songs were made into hits by the likes of Ringo Starr (“No-No Song”) Steppenwolf (“The Pusher”) and of course, Three Dog Night (“Never Been To Spain” and most famously, “Joy to the World” aka “Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog”). His songs have also been covered by 