Jack Douglas passed away last week at the age of 80. It never occurred to me until writing this story that he was the most important record producer of my life. Sure, the first line in his obit will always be that he became John and Yoko’s most important post-Beatles collaborator, but for myself and for many Pencil Storm readers he will be best remembered for mentoring and producing Aerosmith on their early classic records. And for “discovering” Cheap Trick playing a bowling alley in Waukesha Wisconsin, getting them signed and producing their brilliant if not commercially successful debut record for Epic Records. He did mix Live at Budokan. That one was commercially successful.
So, back to Jack being the most important producer of my life, a case could be made: No Jack Douglas means no Aerosmith or Cheap Trick. This begs the question, without those two bands would my life even be worth living? I guess…maybe I would have spent my teenage years wondering “Geez, there just has to be something better than REO Speedwagon?”
Anyway, below is an excerpt of a story we posted a few years back where Joe Oestreich and myself bumped into Jack. RIP.
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Our pal Lou Brutus was hosting an event at XM Radio called Cheap Trick Live at Budokan Revisited and he invited myself and Joe Oestreich to attend the exclusive event if we found ourselves in the Washington, DC area on Sunday, June 13th (2004!). We happened to be recording some new tunes in Saline, Michigan but by Watershed terms, that qualified as “in the area” so we made the road trip east for the show anyway.
It was a no-brainer. Cheap Trick performed live in front of 60 people with Jack Douglas himself mixing the gig for the ultimate Budokan experience. We would have driven from Seattle to attend.
Anyway, at one point during the performance, the band took a break. it was being recorded so it was more of TV show feel than a live show, and Joe & I wandered into the XM commissary to see if we could find some beers or something a little more rock n roll to wet our whistles after the long drive. No luck. Like I said, it had a backstage TV show kind of vibe so we settled for a couple cups of coffee in white styrofoam cups. It was just us in the room and then who walks in but Jack Douglas himself. There was nobody else in the room. He comes up next to us to grab a cup of coffee and Joe & I looked at him with those star-struck eyes Ohio guys get when bumping into a big star.
You could see the disappointment on his face when he realized there was no escape and these two nerdy superfans were going to demand some of his attention. I mean, this is Jack Douglas. The man who signed and produced Cheap Trick, produced all the major Aerosmith records and was, um, not only John Lennon’s producer but a close personal friend as well.
He was bracing for a question that he had already answered one million times when in a moment of brilliance, Joe Oestreich broke the awkward silence and said, “Jack, right? Hey, man we really dug that Local H album you produced. That’s a great record.”
Jack paused for a moment and then a big smile came across his face, “Thanks. I love that record too, did you stick it out to the end?” (exact quote)
The record was Here Comes the Zoo and we had in fact, “stuck it out to the end” many times. The whole album was a masterpiece but the final song, “What Would You Have Me Do?” channeled “Need Your Love” by Cheap Trick while reprising many of the hooks previously heard on the record. Jack was rightfully proud of this production and we could tell he was excited to talk about Local H with fellow fans instead of more Beatles or Aerosmith questions. He couldn’t have been friendlier. The break was over so he went back to mixing Cheap Trick and we went back to our folding chairs to watch. Wow. We just met Jack Douglas and didn’t humiliate ourselves. Long odds indeed but Joe Oestreich had pulled an ace out of his sleeve to save the day.
Below is the final track on that Local H record.
Jack saw and encouraged the dark side of Cheap Trick on their self titled debut. His plan was to save hits like “I Want You To Want Me” and “Dream Police” for the follow-up but he never got the chance to produce what would become In Color. Drugs derailed the schedule for Aerosmith’s record Draw The Line which he was already committed to producing.
Jack returned to produce Standing on the Edge but sadly was unable to mix it himself. This one Jack mix shows how much better the record could have been compared to the 80’s-sounding shlock it ended up becoming. I always hoped he would get a chance to remix the whole record. It wasn’t meant to be.
Jack put together one of the greatest three record runs in rock history with Get Your Wings, Toys In The Attic and Rocks. All these records sound as fresh today as when they were released and every single song is way better and than every single song ever released by The Strokes. Dig “Uncle Salty.” yo.
Jack was a young assistant at The Record Plant in New York when The Who showed up late and boozed-up for a recording session. Jack’s boss didn’t want to deal with these maniacs so he had Jack call him with and excuse to leave the session and left the young engineer alone to run the session. The Who played “Won’t Get Fooled Again” for the very first time and Jack was the person in the room to hear it. Below is a recording from that session.
Below: Jack talking about John Lennon after his death.
Did you know Jack produced a Graham Parker album? I didn’t until he mentioned it on the Billy Corgan podcast. This is pretty great.
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