John Patrick Boylan II (born March 21, 1941) is an American

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

Career

Boylan grew up in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. Upon graduating from

Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 1860, ...

, he and his brother Terence Boylan worked with music publisher Charles Koppelman in

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It origin ...

before moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

in the late 1960s. There they recorded an album as the Appletree Theatre. After a stint as one-third of the group Hamilton Streetcar (with

Buzz Clifford Reese Francis Clifford III (October 8, 1941 – January 26, 2018), known professionally as Buzz Clifford, was an American pop singer and songwriter. His biggest success came with his recording of " Baby Sittin' Boogie" (1961), which peaked at No ...

of "Baby Sittin' Boogie" fame, and original group member Ralph Plummer – the group was originally named on behalf of former member John Burge, aka Ian Hamilton) which in 1969 recorded a self-titled album for Dot Records (Dot: DLP25939), John then started to develop a career as a producer, working with

Ricky Nelson Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...

the Association The Association is an American sunshine pop band from California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the ''Billboard'' charts (including " Windy", " Cherish", " Never My Love" and " Along Comes Mary") a ...

, the Dillards, Presence and others. He also managed

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

– in particular, introducing her to a then unknown group of musicians who went on to become her backing band in 1971, and later became the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, jus ...

. After working in the early 1970s with Pure Prairie League and Commander Cody, he had one of his biggest successes sharing the production duties of the first

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

with the band's founder Tom Scholz. The group's label,

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical m ...

, rewarded him by offering him the position of Vice President, West Coast, where he stayed for a decade. During this period, he produced many further successful albums, notably with

Charlie Daniels Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, pioneering Southern rock. He was best known for his number-one country hit "The De ...

Mickey Gilley Mickey Leroy Gilley (March 9, 1936 – May 7, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 19 ...

and the Little River Band. In 1986, he left to form his own company, Great Eastern Music. One of his first projects was to produce the album '' The Simpsons Sing the Blues''. Boylan's new passion in producing children's music resulted in albums by The Chipmunks and the Muppets. In 1998, he produced the ABC-TV prime time special ''

Elmopalooza ''Elmopalooza!'' is a ''Sesame Street'' special that aired on ABC on February 20, 1998. It was taped in the middle of the 29th season of ''Sesame Street'' and featured songs by celebrity guests. About the show The special begins with an announcer ...

'', and the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

for which he won the

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children The Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children was an honor presented to recording artists for quality children's music albums at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Hono ...

. He was also pivotal around this time in launching Sheila Nicholls' career in music. After hearing a demo from her NYC band, Splendidfrock, he executive-produced and provided the raw materials for her to record her first album ''Brief Strop''. He has also worked on several motion picture soundtracks, including '' Urban Cowboy'' and '' Born on the Fourth of July''. Boylan is a professor teaching critical listening skills and music business-audio careers for the

Citrus College Citrus College is a public community college in Glendora, California. The Citrus Community College District, which supports the institution, includes the communities of Azusa, Claremont, Duarte, Glendora and Monrovia. Founded in 1915 by educa ...

Recording Arts program in

Glendora, California Glendora is a city in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, California, east of Los Angeles. As of the 2020 census, the population of Glendora was 52,558. Known as the "Pride of the Foothills", Glendora is nestled in the foothills ...

References

External links

John Boylan Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2003) {{DEFAULTSORT:Boylan, John Living people Record producers from California 1941 births Bard College alumni Grammy Award winners Citrus College people