Shel Talmy, the producer behind some of rock music’s most famous songs and acts, has passed away.
He was 87 years old.
His representative confirmed the news in a statement to ‘The Guardian’, where they shared that Talmy died in his sleep due to complications from a stroke.
The statement shares: “Even the briefest survey of the most important pop and rock recordings of the 1960s needs to include something produced by Shel. That in itself is a extremely meaningful legacy… Talmy is truly a unique product.”
Sheldon Talmy, born in Chicago in 1937, began his career in Los Angeles at Hollywood’s Conway Studios, where he produced early pop, R&B and surf music during the genre’s heyday.
During a vacation in 1962, he was hired by Decca Records, a record label he had joined under false pretenses.
“I said, ‘I’m supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread was invented’ and launched a bunch of hits that I never made. Until they found out it was all bullshit then I had my first hit, and they were very polite,” he said of the experience.
While working at the label, he met the manager of a band later called The Kinks and produced their first releases “Long Tall Sally” and “You Still Want Me”. However, he would go on to produce their next single, “You Real Got Me”, which became one of the most notable rock hits of the decade.
Pete Townshend of The Who became a fan of Talmy’s work. He wrote a song inspired by the producer’s work called ‘I Can’t Explain’. Their next single was produced by Talmy and was called “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere”, however, he would produce their biggest hit “My Generation”.
In the mid-’60s, Talmy worked with David Bowie to produce two singles with the bands he formed before his 1967 debut solo album.
After an extremely prolific period in the 1960s, Talmy returned to America and almost gave up producing because he was disillusioned with the music industry.
“The early 70s were a very desolate period,” he said. It’s not the same music scene. Everything started to come together.”
The producer occasionally had later production credits for artists such as Coven, Vicki Brown and the Fuzztones.
Tags Dead, Rest In Peace, The Who, The Kinks, David Bowie