RIP Phil Ramone: A Producer and His Musical Destiny

His name was music.

A lifetime of recording: Phil Ramone.

Phil Ramone passed away in a New York hospital this morning at age 72, a development that followed his admittance into medical care a few weeks earlier for an aortic aneurysm.

The legendary producer may be gone from this Earth, but fortunately the nature of his profession ensures that his legacy will ring on. As an undisputed master of recorded sound, Ramone’s trade – and the undercurrent that drove him — was squarely focused on preserving sonic signals that would last far into the future.

And that makes sense, because everything about him was musical, starting with his name. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the first time I ever heard the words “Phil Ramone,” they became a song in my head: a rhythmic triplet, it’s an unusually satisfying combination of consonants and vowels that converge to become their own hook.

Some names seem to be a self-fulfilling prophecy – magically bestowing beauty or athletic prowess on its owner. In Ramone’s case it was an unparalleled ear, matched with an equally rare talent for broadcasting what he heard back out into the world.

The Record Director

Ramone’s landslide list of hits isn’t just a who’s who of music, it’s the who’s who. Ready? Here’s a small sampling: Burt Bacharach, The Band, Bono, Laura Branigan, Ray Charles, Karen Carpenter, Chicago, Peter Cincotti, Natalie Cole, John Coltrane, Bob Dylan, Sheena Easton, Melissa Errico, Gloria Estefan, Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Elton John, Quincy Jones, Patricia Kaas, B. B. King, Julian Lennon, Shelby Lynne, Madonna, Barry Manilow, Marilyn Monroe (via her immortal “Happy Birthday to You” for JFK), Richard Marx, Paul McCartney, George Michael, Liza Minnelli, Anne Murray, Olivia Newton-John, Sinéad O’Connor, Fito Páez, Luciano Pavarotti, Peter Paul and Mary, Andre Previn, Diane Schuur, Carly Simon, Paul Simon, Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart, Barbra Streisand, James Taylor, The Guess Who, Dionne Warwick and Stevie Wonder.

Literally thousands of other musicians, bands, producers, composers, engineers, arrangers, and label executives can say they spent time with him in studios. Along the way, the prodigal violinist who grew up in Brooklyn (he was born in South Africa) was awarded 14 GRAMMYs for his efforts, works that included Still Crazy After All These Years and 52nd Street, right on up to Tony Bennett’s Duets II in 2012.

And although Ramone was a global force, his lifelong NYC center made this city’s facilities a big beneficiary of his presence. The studio he started in 1959, A & R Recording, turned West 48th Street in Manhattan into a musical epicenter, where his lifelong reputation of faithfully representing an artist’s vision, at the same time that he dove into the latest available recording technology, was solidified.

Troy Germano, Founder and Owner of Germano Studios, was CEO of the famed Hit Factory where he watched Ramone oversee countless sessions.

“Phil Ramone really knew how to direct a record – he knew how to make people feel comfortable, yet he could also bring the best out,” explains Germano, who first met Ramone in 1966. “It’s the same as in sports, where every once in a while a great coach comes along who was also a great player: Phil could relate to everyone on both sides of the glass. He was a musician, an engineer, and a producer.

“And for the people he produced,” Germano continues, “Whether it was Billy Joel, Paul Simon, or Barbra Streisand — even if they were contemporaries, he was an uncle or a father figure to them. That’s what made Phil so special.”

Listening and Learning

As a journalist whose life revolves around producers and engineers, it was inevitable that I would have several interviews and chance encounters with Phil Ramone.

I would quickly learn to savor those encounters, whether they came over the phone or in person. If it were the former, I would drink in the sound of his voice – a deep, calming instrument of its own, which engaged in the conversation with 100% focus.

Whether the topic at hand was mic placement, reflections on his legendary colleagues like Tom Dowd, or his more recent work with PS203’s Orchestra for Children, every word he said carried weight – the good kind. He spoke with all the confidence of his experience, tempered with a humble perspective on his role in facilitating timeless creative acts.

But it was the in-person meetings with him that stuck even more in my mind. Maybe I’m in this profession because I’m naturally electrified by legends like Ramone – the essential hits that he brought to billions of ears worldwide surrounded him in my eyes, creating a sonic aura that I could see.

It was at our last in-person encounter that Phil Ramone presented me powerful words to go along with all the songs. I saw him at a songwriter benefit and waited for my opening with the icon, finally nabbing him at the buffet table and hoping to get a few seconds of his time.

Instead, I received several minutes with the master, discussing his latest projects and some Paul Simon sessions that were about to start. Then, never having had a chance to ask him about it before, I inquired what he thought was the key to such an enduring career as his.

What came next was as simple as it was unforgettable: “I keep my ears open,” he observed, his resonant voice seeming to ring out through the room – and right through me. “WIIIIIDE open!”

I immediately realized I had heard a profound truth about himself — which doubled as fantastic advice for all of us to live our lives. It was the perfect explanation for the musical path that Phil Ramone was always destined for — just as his name predicted.

–    David Weiss

Please note: When you buy products through links on this page, we may earn an affiliate commission.