05/13/2026
Legendary producer Jack Douglas has died. Jack died on Monday, May 11, from complications caused by lymphoma. He was 80. Jack, born on November 6, 1945, was a native of the Bronx who landed a job at the Record Plant recording studio in New York City - as a janitor - and worked his way up literally from the bottom. During those first years, he befriended John Lennon in the process, resulting in some engineering work for Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band on the 1971 album, "Imagine". Besides engineering for Lennon and Yoko Ono, Jack worked with the Who on the "Lifehouse" project which became their album, "Who's Next", Lou Reed on his third solo album, "Berlin", and the New York Dolls on their self titled debut. Jack's first production jobs were with Aerosmith, co-producing their second album, "Get Your Wings" and getting solo production credit on the follow-up, "Toys In The Attic".
A partial list of Jack Douglas' production credits (as producer or co-producer) include: the Aerosmith albums "Draw The Line" (1977), "Get Your Wings" (1974), "Honkin' On Bobo" (2004), "A Little South Of Sanity" (1998), "Live! Bootleg" (1978), "Music From Another Dimension!" (2012), "Rock In A Hard Place" (1982), "Rocks" (1976) and "Toys In The Attic" (1975), Alice Cooper "Muscle Of Love" (1973), Cheap Trick "Cheap Trick" (1977), "Rockford" (2006) and "Standing On The Edge" (1985), the Knack "Round Trip" (1981), John Lennon and Yoko Ono "Double Fantasy" (1980), Montrose "Jump On It" (1976), New York Dolls "One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This" (2006), Graham Parker "Another Grey Area" (1982), the Joe Perry Project "Let The Music Do The Talking" (1980), the Michael Schenker Group "Rock Will Never Die" (1984), Slash's Snakepit "Ain't Life Grand" (2000), Patti Smith Group "Radio Ethiopia" (1976), Starz "Starz" (1976) and "Violation" (1977), Supertramp "Some Things Never Change" (1997) and Zebra "No Tellin' Lies" (1984) and "Zebra" (1983).
Engineering, mixing and other credits include work with Alice Cooper, Blue Oyster Cult, David Bowie, Flo and Eddie, Garland Jeffreys, Labelle, John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band, the New York Dolls, Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band (with Elephant's Memory), the Who and many, many more.
I had the honor of meeting Jack twice. The first time was at WFUV in 2010 when he was promoting the release of the "Double Fantasy Stripped Down" album, which featured a remastered version of the original album with a new alternate remix which removed much of the original's production polish. He spent considerable time on the air with WFUV's morning DJ, Claudia Marshall, who was a personal friend. This was back in the good ol' days when I followed Marshall at 10AM. Knowing that Jack was going to be in the studio, I arrived early that morning and sat in on their conversation, talking at length with Jack throughout his stay. Then in 2019, I was sitting near Jack at a Ringo Starr and the All Starr Band show at the Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City. Upon going over to him and reintroducing myself, he excitedly told me about a special project he just completed with Ringo and... John Lennon. He wouldn't get into the specifics, but told me I would hear it soon. That project was Ringo's version of the Lennon song "Grow Old With Me". The original was an unfinished Lennon demo that was released back in 1984 on John and Yoko's album, "Milk And Honey". Jack had brought the demo to Ringo's attention and worked on the string arrangements for Ringo's finished version on his 2019 album "What's My Name". That string arrangement incorporated a motif based on George Harrison's Beatles song, "Here Comes The Sun". Ringo's finished version also featured Paul McCartney on bass and backing vocals.
Rest in Peace, Jack, and thank you for enriching our world with your contibutions to the soundtrack of our lives. See less
