Tom Dowd & the Language of Music

This documentary provides a wonderful insight into the recording business as it was in the early days when Tom Dowd established himself as one of the foremost recording engineers of our time. To learn that he passed away shortly after the film's completion is extremely sad, as he was a unique talent. He love for music comes through loud and clear in both his personal comments, and those of the myriad stars he committed to tape and wax. It is hard to believe that someone could remain at the top of his industry for a full half century, influencing multiple generations in the process. Anyone with an interest in music, recording, or production should enjoy this comprehensive look at Tom Dowd and his life.

Tom Dowd & the Languange of Music is an excellent look at one of the key background people of popular music. Not only did Dowd make several technical innovations in the engineering field, he recorded some of the most important records of the 20th century. He worked with Tito Puente, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane, Dusty Springfield, Rod Stewart, etc. I especially liked the interviews with giants such as Jerry Wexler, Ahmet Ertgun, Eric Clapton, Allman Brothers, Ray Charles, Les Paul, etc. Although sometimes the praise seems a little much at times, it is well deserved when you you see him work the board again.

Tom Dowd's influence on American popular music can't be exaggerated. As the main recording engineer at Atlantic Records, he worked with a wide range of musicians in many different genres, including jazz, soul, rock, and blues. How much you enjoy this documentary may depend on how interested you are in the music of the late 20th century, though my disinterest in and dislike of the music of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Bands hasn't dampened my enthusiasm for the film. There's some great footage of Aretha Franklin in the studio and some stunning excerpts from the Stax/Volt European tour of 1967, plus enlightening interviews with Atlantic execs Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the film is the amount of time spent on Dowd's teenage years spent working on the Manhattan Project, but director Mark Moormann manages to make it an integral and important part of this tribute to a wonderful and talented human being.

I loved this. I'm a fan of a lot of the musicians and bands featured in this movie so that makes me a little biased. That aside Tom Dowd as portrayed in this film is a wonderful, truthful and inspirational person. He produced and engineered all kinds of music not sticking to just one genre. He seemed to excel at everything he tried. If you are interested at all in the recording process or are a fan of the allman brothers, eric clapton, ray charles, booker t. and the MGs, aretha franklin, cream, duane allman then I recommend this movie. It shows footage of some of the artists in the studio and has tom talking throughout about everything. It also covers the history of Atlantic records and criterion studios in Miami. Don't forget to find out about the 5 M's

This film has fabulous archival footage and some interviews with the greats -- Ray Charles, Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler, Eric Clapton - and many others. And some of the footage is well shot.

But the film's story suffers - a lot - from the oddly constructed narrative. It was as if the filmmaker wasn't sure what the story was he wanted to tell and therefore kept starting and stopping as if he was still deciding. From all these fits and starts all over the film -- some stories ultimately lead lead somewhere and some of which lead no where at all. It felt more like the rough cut of a film, not the final film itself.

It was a disappointment to me because of the great access that the filmmaker had and how little story-telling ability he demonstrated.