When I was hunting for new stuff in the 70's I would always look at the label and who produced the record - if I saw certain names I would buy it without even listening to it.

Apart from the obvious like H-D-H and Gamble & Huff I always bought anything by the following:

Teddy Randazzo

Charlie Callello

Mike Terry

Baker Harris Young

Bert Keyes

Who would you rely on

After reading Dave Moores article on his site, I'd have to say Ollie McLaughlin.

>>see here for the article<<

GEORGE KERR AND JERRY WEXLER BOTH PRODUCED SOME GREAT SOUNDS.

Man, there are so many...........the unsung heroes of Rare Soul: Some more "unsung" than others:

Bridges Knight Eaton

Don Davis

LeBaron Taylor

J M Mathews

Len Jewel

Hestor/Wylie

Ed Wingate

Geo-Si-Mik

Pied Piper

Jo Armstead

Etc Etc.........I'll give someone else a go.

Regards,

Dave

www.hitsvillesoulclub.com

I'd say the Columbians are the best producers.........oops must be thinking of something else ;-))

Derek

...Best 'Producers'? Unquestionably Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel.

Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane can go fcuk themselves...

TONE

GOOD TOPIC ALWAYS LOOKED FOR JOHNNY PATE,CURTIS MAYFIELD,ANYTHING WITH A WOMACK ON EDDIE SINGLETON,MIKE TERRY ALSO!

Like to play Devil's Advocate on this one. Within the context of a rare Soul Site there is no doubt that we have a passion for producers who created classic '60s and '70s soul. But much of it was obscure, local, indie and hence rare. Many of them were largely unsuccessul commerically. So is the role of a producer to record great music or to see the job through distribution, marketing and into the shops. If you apply that criteria then HDH and Gamble and Huff are peerless. Others like Ollie McLaughlin are studio geniuses with less evident producer success. I accept that getting national distrcution is no mean feat. But the producer's job doesn't end when the musicians go home.

Don't shoot me its only a debate.

Phill Wright was a consistantly good producer/arranger from Chicago, I always try and get a listen to anything I come across by him.

BH

GEORGE KERR AND JERRY WEXLER BOTH PRODUCED SOME GREAT SOUNDS.

George Kerr for me as well. Just love his "sound". Atmospheric with loads of space to hear vibes, strings etc, but not over polished, still with a raw edge. Also Curtis Mayfield's Curtom early 70's productions are faultless on acts like Natural 4 and Leroy Hutson etc. Even if the producer doesn't twiddle any knobs himself, he knows and gets the right people in to arrange and engineer etc.

Jordi

On the West Coast side of things, Miles Grayson .

Anything that says "Pied Piper"