BEATLES MAGAZINE: RICHARD PERRY, RECORD PRODUCER DIES AT 82

Thursday, 26 December 2024

RICHARD PERRY, RECORD PRODUCER DIES AT 82

Richard Perry, a hitmaking record producer with a flair for both standards and contemporary sounds whose many successes included Carly Simon's "You're So Vain," Rod Stewart's "The Great American Songbook" series and a Ringo Starr album featuring all four Beatles, died Tuesday. He was 82.

Perry, a recipient of a Grammys Trustee Award in 2015, died at a Los Angeles hospital after suffering cardiac arrest, friend Daphna Kastner said.
"He maximized his time here," said Kastner, who called him a "father friend" and said he was godfather to her son. "He was generous, fun, sweet and made the world a better place. The world is a little less sweeter without him here. But it's a little bit sweeter in heaven."

In the '70s, Perry helped facilitate a near-Beatles reunion.

He had produced a track on Starr's first solo album, "Sentimental Journey," and grown closer to him through Nilsson and other mutual friends.

"Ringo," released in 1973, would prove the drummer was a commercial force in his own right — with some well-placed names stopping by.

The album, featuring contributions from Nilsson, Billy Preston, Steve Cropper, Martha Reeves and all five members of The Band, reached No. 2 on Billboard and sold more than 1 million copies. Hit singles included the chart toppers "Photograph," co-written by Starr and George Harrison, and a remake of the 1950s favorite "You're Sixteen."

But for Perry and others, the most memorable track was a non-hit, custom made.

John Lennon's "I'm the Greatest" was a mock-anthem for the self-effacing drummer that brought three Beatles into the studio just three years after the band's breakup. Starr was on drums and sang lead, John Lennon was on keyboards and backing vocals and longtime Beatles friend Klaus Voormann played bass. They were still working on the song when George Harrison's assistant phoned, asking if the guitarist could join them. George arrived soon after.

"As I looked around the room, I realized that I was at the very epicenter of the spiritual and musical quest I had dreamed of for so many years," Perry wrote in his 2021 memoir, "Cloud Nine." "By the end of each session, a small group of friends had gathered, standing silently along the back wall, just thrilled to be there."

Paul McCartney was not in town for "I'm the Greatest," but he did help write and arrange the ballad "Six O'Clock," featuring Paul and Linda McCartney on backing vocals.

---------------------------------------------------------------

🟠We invite you to visit our NEW #Facebook PAGE: BEATLES MAGAZINE NEWS