Paul Allen Rothchild (April 18, 1935 – March 30, 1995) was a prominent American record producer of the 1960s and 1970s, widely known for his historic work with the Doors, producing Janis Joplin's final album Pearl and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's first two albums.
Life and career
Early years
Born in Brooklyn, Rothchild grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey and graduated from Teaneck High School in 1954. He had a musical family; his mother was an opera singer, and Rothchild studied classical music conducting.
Rothchild began his career on the Boston folk scene, recording and releasing recordings (sometimes on his own label, Mount Auburn Records), by local folk artists, including the Charles River Valley Boys. He became a house producer for Jac Holzman's Elektra Records label in 1964; Rothchild also produced the band's second album, East-West, one of the most influential albums of the 1960s and the first example of what became acid rock. The early Butterfield Blues Band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
Career
By the mid-1960s, Rothchild was established in the Los Angeles music scene, and his house on Lookout Mountain in Laurel Canyon was inhabited by many of the future musical superstars of the 1960s and 1970s. He produced the original song demo of Crosby, Stills, & Nash that landed the group a recording contract (it was actually Crosby, Stills and John Sebastian on the recording, with Sebastian later replaced by Graham Nash). Rothchild originated the concept "LEDO" (Leadered / Equalized / Dolby / Original). This format ensured the final tape would represent Rothchild's sonic vision for future generations. Nash reported in his autobiography Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life, that it was this experience that led Crosby Stills And Nash to decide that they didn't need a producer, and that Joni Mitchell's later experience with Rothchild also convinced her to produce her own work.
Rothchild is perhaps best known as the producer of the first five albums by the Doors.
See also
- Outline of the Doors