About the Author

John Simon (born Norwalk, Connecticut, 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 '60s 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 "The Child Is Father to the Man" by Blood, Sweat & Tears. He began playing piano when he was four. By the time he graduated from high-school, he was already leading and writing for several bands and had composed two original musicals. At Princeton University he continued his role as a bandleader, taking a band to the finals of the 1st Georgetown Intercollegiate Jazz Festival. After Princeton, at Columbia Records, his work included "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, co-written by Paul Simon (no relation) sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. With the success of "Red Rubber Ball", Simon was assigned other pop music artists like Frankie Yankovic, "America's Polka King" and jazzman, Charles Lloyd. The first production for which he also wrote extensive arrangements was "Songs of Leonard Cohen", Cohen's debut album, followed by the Simon and Garfunkel album, "Bookends" and the debut album of Blood, Sweat and Tears. After leaving Columbia, Simon produced Gordon Lightfoot. After that, Janis Joplin and her band, Big Brother And The Holding. While producing an album for The Electric Flag, he met blues master, Taj Mahal, beginning a musical association which continues to the present. His name is often linked with The Band with whom he was very closely associated. The albums he produced with them, "Music From Big Pink", "The Band" and "The Last Waltz" stand as precursors to the genre later labeled "Americana". He was also the Music Director for "The Last Waltz" concert. Other albums of note from that period were with John Hartford, Steve Forbert, David Sanborn, Mama Cass, Michael Franks, Seals and Crofts and the influential jazz arranger, Gil Evans. In the Eighties, Simon composed the score for the film, "Last Summer", wrote two ballet scores for the choreographer, Twyla Tharp and composed circus music for aerialist Philip Petit (after his solo walk between the World Trade Towers). He was the Music Supervisor for a Broadway venture called "Rock & Roll! The First 5,000 Years" and produced the Original Cast Album of "The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas." At one point, Paul Simon urged John Simon to be a singer-songwriter in his own right. Consequently, in the early Seventies, he recorded two albums for Warner Brothers, "John Simon's Album" and "Journey". Then, fifteen years later, saw the first of four albums for labels in Japan, the first of which, "Out On The Street", was released in the U.S. by Vanguard. Simon and wife, C.C. Loveheart, wrote and performed a cabaret act called "Alone Together For The First Time Again" and, more recently, co-authored a popular play, "Jackass Flats", which had its professional premiere in June of 2011. A self-described "compulsive musician". Simon continues to be active. These days he performs his own material in concerts on rare occasions but plays piano weekly with his jazz trio in his hometown near Woodstock, NY.

Reviews

#5 on Billboard Magazine's list of the Top Ten Music Books of 2018"WHEN JOHN SIMON JOINED THE BAND'S BROTHERHOOD HE FIT LIKE A GLOVE. I CAN'T IMAGINE ANOTHER RECORD PRODUCER IN THE WHOLE WORLD WHO COULD'VE MATCHED JOHN'S WORK ON MUSIC FROM BIG PINK AND THE BAND."Robbie Robertson"Simon's star-studded debut memoir populated with humorous details and matter-of-fact commentary is incredibly readable."KIRKUS REVIEWS"Simon tells never-before-told tales of those rich, often rollicking years in his colorful new book."Steve Israel More Praise: "John Simon has always been one of our most musical producers, a mix of musical and social skills. Part arranger, part psychiatrist, part instrumentalist, part pure music lover, part camp counselor."John Sebastian "Simon's role with The Band was particularly crucial, and some of the most fascinating portions in his book detail its creation. Throughout, Simon strikes a tone that's droll and engaging." Jim Farber "In the late 1960s, John Simon may have had the keenest ear of any record producer. He also had the most open heart, the most self-deprecating ego. That is why, moving on from the fellowship of the Band, he was able to make his way through the music business without accusations of betrayal, manipulation, and theft trailing behind him, and why he could write a book without a hint of rancor, complaint, whine or resentment... He tells his stories as if you could have been right there with him"Greil Marcus