In the Anglo-American music world he was the “producer with the golden touch” (“New York Times”). In this country he was more considered the man at actress Jane Fonda’s side: producer Richard Perry, who died on Tuesday (December 24th) at the age of 82 in a hospital in Los Angeles.
“I liked Richard from the moment we met. “He was tall and lanky, with a shock of dark, curly hair and a broad smile,” writes the great Brabra Streisand in her memoir “My Name is Brabra.”
The two met in 1971 with the aim of linking the revue singer with the pop and rock counterculture. A delicate exercise. “At our first meeting he came with a lot of songs and we listened to them together. My hesitation about collaborating quickly disappeared and I thought, ‘This could be fun and musically liberating,'” Streisand said.
A combination in higher spheres
The result was her album “Stoney End”, on which she interpreted previously unfamiliar tracks by Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman. A combination in higher spheres. “Richard had a knack for finding the right song for the right artist.”
Since this psychologically demanding task – “Streisand” was after all considered a diva – Perry had created a special position for herself in producer country. A king of the well-groomed Croosover. “He had an unerring ability to accompany troubadours through productions that would not normally have suited them, while still maintaining their intimacy and aura,” writes colleague David Browne of American Rolling Stone.
On the other genre side, these include the symphonic detours by Carly Simon and Harry Nilsson. For example, Nilsson’s version of “Without You”, which later achieved mega-mainstream honors. Or the velvet paw arrangements of Simon’s “The Right Thing to Do”, “Haven’t Got Time for the Pain” or his masterpiece with Simon, “You’re So Vain”. Perry came into play when word-heavy songwriters were looking for the right, then radio-friendly, hooks.
Middle of the Road was his art
In the late 1970s, the coming-of-age singer-songwriter movement was overtaken by punk and disco. And Perry stayed true to his particular path. He worked with the unusual UK singer Leo Sayer and with him created the globally successful cuddly number “When I Need You” and the Discofox classic “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”. Perry’s 1977 James Bond song with Carly Simon, “Nobody Does It Better,” or his Burton Cummings piano bar banger “Stand Tall” achieved a similar effect. Middle of the Road (MOR) was his great art.
Even in the eighties he was able to shine with this, for example when he helped the Pointers Sisters to a medium-sized world career. Their singles “Slow Hand”, “I’m So Excited”, “Automatic” and “Jump (For My Love)” fit perfectly into the emerging MTV era. The slow groover “Rhythm of the Night” by DeBarge is still suitable for beach parties today.
A capstone to this absolutely astonishing career in front of and behind the mixing desk is a combination that is only now showing its significance in the age of country pop: the duet by Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias, “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” , which also passed through Perry’s golden hands.