Mark Kerner Abramson (March 16, 1934 – May 20, 2007) was 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 artist. He produced recordings of Judy Collins,

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Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love o ...

, Phil Ochs,

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, Judy Henske,

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and many other artists.

Career

Starting out as one of Elektra Records' earliest producers in 1958, he learned audio engineering working closely with label founder

Jac Holzman Jac Holzman (born September 15, 1931) is an American music businessman, best known as the founder, chief executive officer and head of record label Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records. Holzman commercially helped launch the CD and home video form ...

. In Holzman's history of Elektra ''Follow the Music'', he recalls Abramson's production work: "He had a natural musical and dramatic sense and absorbed the practical aspects of engineering rapidly. He was an artist himself, with an even temperament, able to get along very well with the artists, and he became a hybrid recording engineer/producer—our first." In addition to music production, Abramson directed art films and promotional music shorts of

and

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts ...

. Notably, the films made for The Doors' "Break on Through" and "The Unknown Soldier" were early forerunners of the music video era and were shown at live concerts. After leaving Elektra, Abramson became more involved in the visual arts, and his photography, paintings and sculpture have been exhibited in numerous galleries. In his later years, he was Program Director for Family of Woodstock in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 20 ...

. While filming his movie and unavailable as a record producer, Judy Collins took a sabbatical, waiting for her favorite producer to return.

Personal life and death

Abramson was married in 1967 to Janet (Janis) Young in a small country church near Philadelphia. Together they had two sons, Ethan and Jared. His wife was a stage, movie and television actress, appearing in ''The Boston Strangler'' with Tony Curtis- as the only potential victim to survive, and in ''Loving'', with George Segal, as his "adulterer partner". She was a regular on the NBC soap operas, ''Our Five Daughters'' and ''Another World''. They separated in the late 1970s, and Young went on to teach in the drama department at

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...

for about two decades. Mark Abramson died in May 2007.

References

1934 births 2007 deaths Record producers from Massachusetts Elektra Records Nonesuch Records American artists People from Brookline, Massachusetts {{US-record-producer-stub