Jack Douglas, the producer behind iconic albums like Aerosmith’s Toys in the Attic and John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy, has died.
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Douglas’ daughter, Sarah, confirmed to Rolling Stone that her father died on May 11 from complications of lymphoma. Douglas was 80.
“He most enjoyed being with his family — his wife, his four children, and five grandchildren — and he died peacefully, with us surrounding him,” his family told the outlet in a statement. “He lived an incredible life and was an amazing storyteller; He was very, very funny and goofy and loved to tell jokes; He loved what he did, and he worked til the very end. We will miss him a lot.”
Born in the Bronx, New York, Douglas began his career as a folk musician in the early 1960s. He even worked as a songwriter for Robert F. Kennedy’s 1964 senatorial campaign. He soon shifted his focus to studio work, attending the Institute of Audio Research and taking a job as a janitor at the newly opened Record Plant in midtown Manhattan.
However, he soon found his way behind the console, working as an engineer on recordings by Miles Davis, The Who, the New York Dolls, and Alice Cooper. He also contributed to John Lennon’s Imagine album, forging a friendship with the former Beatle that would culminate in their collaboration on Double Fantasy in 1980.
It was Alice Cooper’s producer, Bob Ezrin, who encouraged Douglas to step into the producer’s chair. Under Ezrin’s guidance, Douglas co-produced Aerosmith’s sophomore album, Get Your Wings, and Cooper’s Muscle of Love.
Jack Douglas’s Career Highlights Include Songwriting Credits with Aerosmith and a Seminal Collaboration with John Lennon
Douglas’s reputation grew rapidly in the ’70s. 1976 was an especially productive year, with Douglas at the helm for Aerosmith’s Rocks, Cheap Trick’s self-titled debut, and Patti Smith’s Radio Ethiopia. He also produced strong, though less famous, albums for Starz, Montrose, and Bux.
Douglas continued his collaborations with many of these artists on later albums, including Cheap Trick’s renowned At Budokan and Aerosmith’s Live! Bootleg. His collaboration with Aerosmith was so close that he received a songwriting credit on their 1977 song “Kings and Queens.”
The peak of Douglas’s career arrived with Double Fantasy. He was instrumental in helping John Lennon and Yoko Ono put together a premier band, featuring David Bowie alums (drummer Andy Newmark and guitarist Earl Slick), bassist Tony Levin from Peter Gabriel’s band, and session guitarist Hugh McCracken. Following Lennon’s shocking murder soon after the album’s release, Douglas brought much of the same band back together for Ono’s poignant Season of Glass the next year.
After a brief separation, Douglas reunited with Aerosmith for their 1982 album Rock in a Hard Place. He later produced their 2004 blues cover album, Honkin’ on Bobo, and their 2012 release, Music From Another Dimension!. Douglas also produced several of Joe Perry’s solo albums and worked with other artists, including Graham Parker, Zebra, Starz, Supertramp, and Slash.
Late last year, Douglas sat for a lengthy interview on a podcast hosted by Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan. The chat is a goldmine for rock nerds, including a tale of Lennon recognizing Douglas from a Liverpool newspaper and insights into working with legends like George Harrison, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, and Bob Dylan.