Posted on: November 26, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Phil Ramone – Making Records / 2007 Borders / 14 Tracks / http://www.bordersstores.com / http://www.philramone.com /

Phil Ramone has been around the record industry for an amazingly long period of time, starting producing and recording music for other individuals all the way back in 1959. Among the greats that Ramone has worked with in the enarly fifty year period since ey started are Burt Bacharach, Ray Charles, Chicago, Frank Sinatra, and Billy Joel. “Making Records” is a highlight reel (but in audio) of the greatest tracks that Ramone has produced; while this is only a single CD, it would not be a problem to make a three, four, or five CD set featuring a “greatest hits” of Ramone’s time behind the board.

It was during this year – 2007 – that Ramone released a book that told the story of eir time in the music industry, and this CD should be seen as a “must buy” for individuals that buy the book, as it highlights some of the exact songs and artists that Ramone discusses during “Making Records: The Scenes Behind The Music”. I have a suggestion though, and I’m not sure that it would fly. This is assuming that this compilation still exists, but how about including a second disc of material with the book, consisting of “fair use” snippets of about 30 or 40 songs that Ramone had eir hands in. If this was possible, individuals could read, find a mention of “play track 22” now, and get more of an appreciation for the evolution of Ramone’s style over the last fifty years. Regardless, this compilation has some stellar hits – Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing”, Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” (which leads off the CD), and Kenny Loggins’ “Celebrate Me Home” are all present here.

There is not much to unite all of these tracks, save for the fact that they are some of the most popular tracks in modern music history, and they have all been lovingly crafted by the artists and mastered to a near-perfect state by Ramone. There is little to say beyond that; I feel that the aforementioned idea about the linking of the compilation to the book would be a smart one, and even the evolutionary stages of Ramone’s career placed into a box set would be money in the bank. The compilation itself is great for listening in the car and singing along to; even if individuals have all of the constituent songs on their original albums, the compilation allows individuals to draw comparisons and decisions about the songs present in a completely new way.

Top Tracks: Sexual Healing, Celebrate Me Home

Rating: 7.0/10

Leave a Comment