In this special live episode of Gear Club, John and Stewart chat with the legendary Jack Douglas. Jack was born in the Bronx, New York. Starting out as a folk artist in the mid 60’s, Jack worked as a songwriter for Robert F. Kennedy’s senatorial campaign. Jack moved to England for a time playing in a number of bands before returning to New York where his band, Privilege, recorded their first and only album at Phil Ramone’s A&R Studios.

Jack talks about how that experience inspired him to study the art of recording. Jack was a member of the first graduating class of the Institute of Audio Research landing him the position of janitor at The Record Plant. Jack’s story of moving up through the ranks of that legendary studio (and getting fired and rehired along the way) is inspirational. Record Plant’s owner Roy Cicala gave Jack an opportunity to hone his craft by giving him projects from ads to jazz to full orchestras.

Jack went on to engineer and produce seminal records by artists including Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Miles Davis, Lou Reed, The James Gang, Alice Cooper and The New York Dolls. In 1980, Jack was awarded the Grammy for Record of the Year for his production of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy. Jack continues to work today charting music for TV and film as well as teaching a class in studio etiquette.