Richard Perry, one of the most stylish and successful record producers of the 1970s and '80s, died Tuesday (December 24) at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 82 years old. His cause of death was cardiac arrest, said Daphna Kastner Keitel, a friend.
Perry's biggest hits include Nilsson's “Without You” and Carly Simon's “You're So Vain,” both of which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also received Grammy Awards for Record of the Year. These two classic hits typify Perry's production style – flawless, powerful and precise. Other hits that have this unmistakable Perry stamp include Leo Sayer's “When I Need You” (also No. 1 on the Hot 100) and Burton Cummings' smash “Stand Tall” (a top 10 hit on the Hot 100 in 1977 ).
Perry produced more than 30 top 20 hits on the Hot 100, including Barbra Streisand's powerful version of Laura Nyro's “Stony End,” in which the legendary star dove into contemporary pop music for the first time. and a string of The Pointer Sisters' hits, including the soulful “I'm So Excited” and “Jump (for My Love).”
Perry was Bulletin boardTop Singles Producer in the magazine's year-end recaps twice, in 1977 and 1984. Received back-to-back Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 1977 and 1978.
He had a 42-year run of top 10 albums on the Billboard 200. He first reached the top 10 in July 1968 with a highly unlikely project, an album by pop culture phenomenon Tiny Tim. His last top 10 album project was Rod Stewart's Fly Me to The Moon…The Great American Songbook, Vol. 5 in November 2010.
Perry produced back-to-back No. 1 hits. 1 on the Hot 100 by two different artists – Ringo Starr (“Photograph” and “You're Sixteen” in 1973-74) and Sayer (“You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” and “When I Need You, and two in 1977).' Starr's smashes were historic – the first and only time a former Beatle had back-to-back No. 1 singles. 1 on the Hot 100.
Perry never won a Grammy in competition, but eventually received a Trustees Award from the Recording Academy in 2015. His other nominations, not already mentioned, were Album of the Year for Nilsson Schmilsson (the album that hosted “Without You” and its quirky follow-up hit, “Coconut”), Best Pop Instrumental Performance for an instrumental version of “Jump (For My Love)” (The Pointer Sisters won Best Pop Performance from duo or group with vocals for the vocal version) and Best Music Video, Short Form, for The Pointer Sisters So excited collection, in which he was the video director.
Perry's long string of hits with The Pointer Sisters really showed what he could do. The band was considered a B-act, at best, when Perry announced in 1978 that he was signing them to his new Planet Records. The band had some modest hits, but few expected them to become one of the most consistent acts in pop music. Under Perry's guidance, they did just that, with five top five hits on the Hot 100 – a cover of Bruce Springsteen's “Fire,” “He's So Shy” (a Tom Snow/Cynthia Weil song with a back-to-the-girl style .-group hits of the early 60s), “Slow Hand,” “Automatic” and “Jump (For My Love),” which went on to soundtrack one of the most intelligent scenes Love actuallywhen the Prime Minister played by Hugh Grant just can't resist this beat. (Who could?)
Perry was very much a pop producer, but his music touched other genres as well. He produced “To All the Girls I've Loved Before” by Julio Iglesias & Willie Nelson, which reached No. 1 on Hot Country Songs in 1984 and won single of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards and was nominated in that category at the Country Music Association Awards. Perry also had a No. 1 hits on the R&B and dance charts.
Richard Van Perry was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 18, 1942, to Mack and Sylvia Perry, who made and sold musical instruments and also served as music teachers. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1964 with a degree in music and theater, Perry returned to New York. He formed his own independent record company, Cloud Nine Productions, in June 1965. In March 1967, he moved to Los Angeles. His first album production job was the debut of Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, Safe as milkwhich he co-produced with Bob Krasnow. The album was released in June 1967. That November, Perry was hired by Warner Bros. Records as a staff producer.
His first assignment was recording Tiny Tim, who had become a novelty sensation Rowan and Martin's Laugh-Inthe runaway #1 show on TV. The falsetto-playing singer's debut album, God bless Tiny Timclimbed to No. 7 on the Billboard 200, boosted by a remake of the 1920s novelty song “Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips With Me,” which became a top 20 hit on the Hot 100.
Perry also recorded albums with legendary stars Fats Domino (Fats is back) and Ella Fitzgerald (Ella), both of which cracked the Billboard 200. Perry left Warner Bros. in 1970 and almost immediately became one of pop's most sought-after producers.
His first major score as an indie producer was for Streisand Stoney Endreleased in late 1970, in which the then-28-year-old superstar for the first time sang songs written by and intended for an audience around her age. The album entered the top 10 of the Billboard 200 in March 1971, becoming Streisand's first top 10 album in over four years. Perry also produced her next two albums, Barbra Joan Streisand and Live concert in the forum. These projects showed the more modern direction for many of Streisand's biggest hits in the 1970s, including A star is born in 1976.
In 1973, Perry produced Starr's album Ringo. John Lennon wrote the opening track, “I'm the Greatest,” which was the closest the Beatles came to a reunion in the decade between the band's breakup in 1970 and Lennon's death in 1980. Starr, Lennon and George Harrison all played on the track (along with Billy Preston and Klaus Voormann). Paul McCartney was not involved in the track, but he and Linda McCartney contributed to another song, “Six O'Clock”, on which they appeared. The album reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200, while holding off the top spot thanks to Elton John's incomparable Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
In January 1974, Rolling Stone named Perry “Producer of the Year” for 1973 Rolling Stone Music Awards “for his work with Carly Simon (with session drop-in Mick Jagger) and with Ringo Starr (with guests Lennon, Harrison and McCartney).”
In 1978, Perry played a record producer American hot waxa film about DJ Alan Freed. (In 1955, at age 12, Perry was a regular in Freed's live shows at the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre.)
Perry produced DeBarge's “Rhythm of the Night,” a top five hit in 1985 and the first top five hit written by hit machine Diane Warren. While most of Perry's hits were new songs, he also produced his share of remake hits, including Johnny Burnette's “You're Sixteen” (for Ringo Starr, then 33, an age-inappropriate song choice that barely evoked twists then but be much more problematic today), Inez Foxx's “Mockingbird” (featuring Charlie Foxx) (on pop music's “It Couple” 1974, Carly Simon and James Taylor), The Platters' 'Only You' (also for Ringo Starr) and The Flamingos' 'I Only Have Eyes for You' (for Art Garfunkel).
In 1988, Perry produced a passion project, Rock, Rhythm and Blueswhich consisted of classic oldies from the 50s, each performed by a different contemporary artist. The album featured Elton John, Christine McVie, Chaka Khan and Michael McDonald among others. One of the tracks, Randy Travis' version of Brook Benton's “It's Just a Matter of Time,” reached the top Bulletin boardon the Hot Country Songs chart and received a Grammy nod for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male.
In 1993, Perry produced Ray Charles My worldwhich made the Billboard 200. A track from the album, Leon Russell's classic “A Song for You,” charted on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart and won a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male.
Perry and Carly Simon reunited in 2004 for the standards collection Moonlight Serenadewhich reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and received a Grammy nod for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. Perry did some of his best work with Simon. “You're So Vain” is simply one of the best singles of the 1970s No secrets The album, which topped the Billboard 200 for five weeks in early 1973, is a classic, from its revealing album cover (very provocative for 1972) to its can't-miss track record. Released in 1977, “Nobody Does It Better” is one of the best and sexiest James Bond themes ever written (hat tip: songwriters Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager).
Perry's last great riot in the Bulletin board the charts were by Rod Stewart The Great American Songbook series. All five volumes, released between 2002 and 2010, charted in the top five of the Billboard 200. All five received Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. Perry was credited as a producer on four of the five volumes.
In April 2020, Perry published his memoir, Cloud Nine: Memoirs of a Record Producer.
Perry is survived by his younger brothers Roger, Fred and Andrew. His marriages to Linda Goldner and Rebecca Broussard ended in divorce. Perry was in a relationship with actress and activist Jane Fonda from 2009 to 2017.
