Articles
An Educator’s Perspective on the Film,
“Tom Dowd and The Language of Music” (2003)
Produced and Directed by Mark Moorman.
Distributed by Palm Pictures, available on DVD.
A Confidence Man Revealed
I’m one of the lucky ones. I can actually tell my students that on a fall
evening in 1997, I got to meet and shake hands with one of the true giants of
the 20th century recording industry – Thomas John Dowd. He was presenting
a lifetime achievement award to my friend; engineer Al Schmitt, one of a
long line of storied Dowd protégés. The admiration between the two recording
masters was palpable, and standing between them backstage, the feeling can
best be described as love. That intense feeling is one that is shared over and
over throughout Mark Moorman’s outstanding 90-minute documentary, “Tom
Dowd and the Language of Music.”
At its heart, this is a simple love story. Dowd, who passed away in 2002, found
a way to create the ultimate environment, both artistically and technically.
One that allowed an unbelievable range of artists such as Eric Clapton,
Aretha Franklin, John Coltrane, Bobby Darin, Ray Charles, Thelonius Monk
and The Allman Brothers Band to achieve their most notable recording
achievements. For that, he earned their eternal admiration and respect. Dowd
represented a prefect balance between a passionate man of music and a
technological revolutionary. It’s safe to say that from Edison’s invention of
recording in the late 19th century, up until the latter 20th century, there have
been few, if any, whose imprint on recorded music is greater.
As an educational tool, the film is unparalleled for showing future generations
of musicians, producers and engineers the path to true greatness as an
engineer or producer. Dowd’s secret, if there was just one, was that no matter
who he worked with, they trusted him implicitly as he brought out their finest
musical achievements. In the words of Eric Clapton, “When I started out I didn’
t have any interest in ‘background-boys’ like Tom. [That changed] later when I’
d seen how musically proficient he was… he really [did] know music much
more than I had any grasp of. So in those days whenever I had an idea or
wanted to record something, I would always think of Tom first, above anyone
else. He was like a father.” For those seeking to master the art and craft of
recording, there can be no higher praise. Simply put, great artists must have
ultimate confidence in those whom they entrust to help them realize their art.
Dowd was the master confidence man when it came to nurturing great music.
More importantly, from an educational perspective, he was a well rounded,
caring thinker, a far cry from some of the self-absorbed producers of today.
This comes through loud and clear in many of Dowd narratives Moorman
interweaves throughout the dozens of clips of musical legends reminiscing
about their relationship to their esteemed colleague.
As a teenager, Dowd’s native intelligence in science was recognized and he
was invited to work at Columbia University as part of the team developing the
theoretical foundations for the atomic bomb. In 1946, he left military service
and upon finding out that he would have to reenroll at Columbia as a
freshman, and be forced to learn pre-1940 science, after he basically helped
re-write the rules of physics and chemistry as a Manhattan Project team
member, he opted out of academe and instead found his calling in the music
recording industry.
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