Richard Perry, Record Producer With a Golden Touch, Dies at 82

Richard Perry, a renowned record producer who became one of the most influential figures in pop music during the 1970s and ’80s, passed away on Tuesday in Los Angeles at the age of 82. He was widely recognized for his collaborations with artists like Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, the Pointer Sisters, and others.

According to his friend, Daphna Kastner Keitel, the cause of his death was cardiac arrest, which occurred in a hospital.

Perry’s career as a producer began in the late 1960s with some of music’s more unconventional projects. Notably, he produced Tiny Tim’s debut album God Bless Tiny Tim (1968), which featured the Top 20 hit “Tip-Toe Thru’ the Tulips With Me,” and Captain Beefheart’s Safe as Milk. However, by the early 1970s, Perry had become a key player in the music industry, known for his ability to create hit records with a polished production style that sounded exceptional on the radio.

One of his landmark works was producing Barbra Streisand’s 1971 album Stoney End, where Streisand explored contemporary pop songs by artists like Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell, and Randy Newman. Perry also produced Harry Nilsson’s Nilsson Schmilsson (1971), which included the hits “Without You” and “Jump Into the Fire,” Ringo Starr’s solo albums Ringo (1973) and Goodnight Vienna (1974), and Carly Simon’s No Secrets (1972), which featured her famous track “You’re So Vain.”

Perry, a trained oboist, drummer, and former member of a doo-wop group, had an acute sense for perfecting a song’s performance, often utilizing large studio budgets and meticulous attention to detail. For instance, in the making of “You’re So Vain,” he went through three drummers and recorded 100 takes before achieving the desired sound. The song became a No. 1 hit and left an enduring mystery regarding its subject. While Simon has remained somewhat coy about the inspiration, Perry once revealed that Simon described the character as a composite based largely on actor Warren Beatty.

Beyond his work in the studio, Perry led a glamorous lifestyle befitting a top-tier producer. His memoir, Cloud Nine: Memoirs of a Record Producer, recounts thrilling stories of late-night outings with Paul Simon, dancing with Tina Turner, and hosting lavish parties at his Hollywood Hills home, which had once belonged to Ronald Reagan. In his later years, he was romantically involved with actress Jane Fonda.

In the studio, Perry preferred to think of himself as a “song doctor” rather than a producer with a distinctive style. Unlike other producers who left their mark on recordings, Perry’s hallmark was clarity—his work was easily identifiable through its crisp, polished sound. Critics came to respect him as one of the architects of the soft rock sound that dominated the 1970s. Stephen Holden of Rolling Stone described him as a “commercial genius,” noting his ability to craft “cold and glamorous” sounds that appealed to the mainstream.

Born Richard Van Perry on June 18, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York, Perry was the son of Mack and Sylvia Perry, who owned a musical instrument business. In his memoir, Perry fondly recalls attending concerts by early rock icons like Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Buddy Holly. He began his musical career at 16, singing bass with the Legends (later renamed the Escorts), recording several singles in the early 1960s, including a version of “Somewhere” from West Side Story.

After earning a degree in music from the University of Michigan in 1964, Perry initially pursued Broadway but soon became drawn to the pop record scene. He partnered with Gary Katz, who would later become Steely Dan’s producer, to form the production company Cloud Nine. In 1967, Perry relocated to Los Angeles and began his work with Tiny Tim, recording his debut album for Buddah Records. He also recorded albums for Fats Domino and Ella Fitzgerald during this time.

In the early 1970s, Perry’s reputation grew rapidly, and he went on to produce albums for Art Garfunkel, Andy Williams, Diana Ross, and Leo Sayer, whose You Make Me Feel Like Dancing topped the charts in 1977. Perry also had a brief misstep in 1974 with Martha Reeves’ comeback album, which failed to connect with audiences.

By 1978, Perry launched his own label, Planet Records, where he signed the Pointer Sisters and helped redefine their sound, making them a pop and rock radio staple with hits like “Fire” and “Slow Hand.” He eventually sold Planet to RCA. In the 1980s, Perry continued to innovate, working with the Pointer Sisters on synth-pop hits like “Jump (For My Love)” and producing their iconic music video for “I’m So Excited,” for which he received a Grammy nomination as a director.

Though Perry never won a competitive Grammy, he was honored with a Trustees Award for lifetime achievement in 2015. Other notable projects in his later career included producing Julio Iglesias’s To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before (1984), DeBarge’s Rhythm of the Night (1985), and collaborating on Rod Stewart’s Great American Songbook series, which earned critical and commercial success.

Perry is survived by his brothers Roger, Fred, and Andrew. He was married twice, to Linda Goldner and Rebecca Broussard, both of which ended in divorce.https://wordpress.com/

Despite his high profile and success in the industry, Perry always downplayed his role, focusing instead on elevating the artist and song. As he put it in a 1985 interview with Musician magazine, “I try to make the artist the biggest and best they can possibly be… I always conceived of producing as bringing the artist to life in someone’s living room in the most glorious, complimentary performance one could imagine.”