John Simon (record producer)
| John Simon | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 11, 1941 Norwalk, Connecticut, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, producer, composer |
| Instruments | Piano, saxophone, tuba, vocals |
| Associated acts | The Band |
| Website | www |
John Simon (born August 11, 1941) is an American music producer, composer, writer and performer. Recognized as one of the top record producers in the United States during the late 1960s and the 1970s, Simon produced numerous classic albums that continue to sell more than 30 years later, including The Band’s Music from Big Pink, The Band, and The Last Waltz,Cheap Thrills by Big Brother & the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin, Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel, Songs of Leonard Cohen by Leonard Cohen, and Child Is Father to the Man by Blood, Sweat & Tears.
Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, United States, Simon's father, a country doctor, taught him violin and piano at the age of 4. He began writing songs before he was ten and by the time he graduated from high-school, Simon was already leading and writing for several bands and had composed two original musicals. Simon enrolled at Princeton University where he wrote three more musicals and continued his role as a bandleader, taking a band to the finals of the 1st Georgetown Intercollegiate Jazz Festival.
After Princeton, Simon was hired as a trainee at Columbia Records. He was first assigned to the Legacy department under the guidance of Goddard Lieberson, then the president of Columbia. Simon’s work during that period involved original cast albums of Broadway shows and audio documentary albums, including Point of Order, an LP of the notorious Senate hearings conducted by rabid anti-Communist Senator Joseph McCarthy, and The Medium Is the Massage, inspired by the writings of media guru Marshall McLuhan. In 1966, he arranged and produced “Red Rubber Ball” by The Cyrkle. The song, which was co-written by Paul Simon (no relation) of Simon and Garfunkel and Bruce Woodley of The Seekers, went to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.
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