Phil Ramone dead at 72

[hooper]

Phil Ramone, Producer...Won 14 Grammys and sometimes called 'The Pope of Pop'.  One of the godfathers of popular music as we know it.  Owner/founder of A&R Records.  He became the go-to guy for Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Ray Charles, Barbara Striesand... worked with Paul McCartney, Elton John, The Band, Quincy Jones, Dave Grusin, Kenny Logins, Pheobe Snow, countless others... and produced Bob Dylans 'Blood on the Tracks'.

His biography is a very interesting and enjoyable read for anyone interested in the history of rock/pop music.
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Records-Scenes-Behind-Music/dp/B001Q9E9NS

One of his lesser known achievements... he inadvertently helped to bring down a US President.   Back in 1962 President JFK called Phil and asked him to design and install a hidden recording system in the Oval Office so that Kennedy would be able to document conversations for later use when he wrote his memoirs.  Subsequent presidents also found the system useful, including Richard Nixon, but it was the Oval Office recordings that eventually forced Nixon to resign.