Lou Reizner (1934 – June 26, 1977) was an American record producer,
A&R executive and head of
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...
' European operations. He produced
Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...
's first two solo albums, the
orchestral version of
The Who
The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
's
rock opera ''
Tommy'', and
Rick Wakeman's ''
Journey to the Centre of the Earth''. As an A&R executive, he signed
Van der Graaf Generator
Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Judge Smith, Chris Judge Smith. They were the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much ...
and arranged a US deal for
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
.
Early career
Born in Chicago, Reizner started off as a singer and recorded a 7-track EP of classic cowboy songs entitled ''Chante Cow-Boy'' for the French label Le Chant Du Monde, before going to work for Mercury Records.
He produced
Dick Campbell's debut album ''Dick Campbell Sings Where Its At'' in 1965, using
Mike Bloomfield
Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American blues guitarist and composer. Born in Chicago, he became one of the first popular music stars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrume ...
and
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, who had previously backed
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
, to give a Dylanesque sound. Reizner was a keen talent spotter, and moved to England in 1966 where he produced
Big Jim Sullivan.
[ Allmusic Biography of Lou Reizner by Bruce EderRetrieved February 10, 2010] He gave the Greek Rock band Aphrodite's Child their name. He signed and produced
The Eyes of Blue, introducing them to
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...
and collaborated with them on the soundtrack of the film ''The Toy Grabbers'' (released in the US as ''Mother''). He also arranged for the Eyes to score the music to, and appear in, the film ''
Connecting Rooms'', and used them as a backing band, when, having signed
Buzzy Linhart, he produced his album ''Buzzy'' in 1968. The same year, he produced the
Buddy Miles Express debut album ''
Expressway to Your Skull''.
In October 1968 he signed
Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...
to his first solo contract and produced his first two albums ''
An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down'' (called ''The Rod Stewart Album'' in the US) and ''
Gasoline Alley''.
He signed
Smile
A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile.
Among humans, a smile expresses d ...
(a precursor to
Queen
Queen most commonly refers to:
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen (band), a British rock band
Queen or QUEEN may also refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Q ...
) and was executive producer on their 1969 recordings, although, other than a US single "Earth" they were not released until 1998, long after his death. He also signed
Van der Graaf Generator
Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Judge Smith, Chris Judge Smith. They were the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much ...
to
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...
in 1968, and arranged a US contract for
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
. He even co-wrote, sang on and produced two tracks for the film ''
The Italian Job'' (another Quincy Jones film), which were issued as a single in 1969. In 1970 he signed Strawberry Dust and co-produced their album ''Women and Children First'' with
John Weathers, renaming the band Ancient Grease for the album release. The album and band failed but the band later evolved into
Racing Cars.
Reizner's output was extremely varied. In 1971 he produced Brazilian
Tropicalismo artist
Caetano Veloso
Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicália, which encompas ...
's third self-titled album (his ''
1971 album'' or ''A Little More Blue''); ''Third of a Lifetime'' by hard rock band
Three Man Army; Wishful Thinking's album ''Hiroshima'' and its title song "
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...
", (which became a hit for
Sandra in Germany in 1990), and
Dave Morgan's solo album ''Morgan''.
Symphonic rock
He then conceived and produced the orchestral version of
The Who
The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
's
rock opera ''
Tommy''. Tommy was recorded by the
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
with the
English Chamber Choir, conducted by
David Measham and arranged by
Will Malone. The album was launched at a live performance on December 9, 1972, at the
Rainbow Theatre, London, with The LSO, The ECC, The Who and an all star cast. This, "the orchestrated ''Tommy'' was to be Lou's crowning achievement".
The double album was issued in a lavish box set, with a full colour booklet including the story, the lyrics and illustrations of the cast in character, "which was at the time the most elaborate album package yet created", and which won the
Best Album Package Grammy in 1974.
Whilst still producing hard rock bands such as Three Man Army, Reizner also continued his
symphonic rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the ...
work, with
Rick Wakeman's
concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
''
Journey to the Centre of the Earth''. Issued in 1974, this also featured the LSO and the ECC, conducted by Measham and arranged by Malone.
Film soundtracks
The success of these extravagant productions encouraged him to work on the soundtrack to ''
All This and World War II'', a 1976 film comprising
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
newsreels, set to
Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
songs, re-recorded by current artists such as
The Bee Gees
''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...
,
Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...
,
Status Quo
is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, economic, legal, environmental, political, religious, scientific or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the curren ...
and
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...
.
Although the film fared badly, the soundtrack album charted in the UK and US. The album included
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
's version of "
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", which had been issued in 1974, and Rod Stewart's version of "
Get Back" which became a UK hit single. The film also includes a
Will Malone and Reizner cover of "
You Never Give Me Your Money".
Reizner went on to produce the music to the 1977 film ''
Black Joy'' featuring
Gladys Knight & the Pips
Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early ...
,
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
,
The Drifters and
The O'Jays
The O'Jays are an American Rhythm and blues, R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appea ...
. He was still working prolifically, when he died of colon cancer, in June 1977.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reizner, Lou
1934 births
1977 deaths
Businesspeople from Chicago
Record producers from Illinois
20th-century American businesspeople
American expatriates in the United Kingdom
Deaths from colorectal cancer in England