Jack Douglas: Lennon's Producer | The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan
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What was Jack Douglas's experience meeting John Lennon?
I mean, crossing the North Atlantic in November is no fun on a little tin can of a ship. Word got out that maybe we were smoking pot after the session was over, and then Yoko would get, like, pissed off at us. And she'd call us, and John and I looked at each other, and before I could do it, John went,
In amongst all this, here comes Aerosmith.
Mm-hmm. You know, I never said no to them.
Yeah, what was your role in this?
I was a getaway driver.
Thank you so much for being here. Long-time fan. Here we are together, talk nerd stuff, recording, and, of course, the bacchanal that is rock and roll. Mm-hmm. You've been in the epicenter of it now for a good 50, gosh, 50-plus years.
50-plus years, yeah. Yeah.
So... Even though it's the most obvious thing in the world, I'd like to start with the day you met John Lennon because it seems to me it's the watershed moment of your life because the moment you meet John Lennon, your life literally does change. Right. It's not like you met him and then your life changed later. I mean, your life changed the day you met John Lennon.
Yeah, it did, but... Is that fair? I mean... I don't know if it's totally fair because I was on some kind of path already. But this was unexpected. And if you did some research, you probably know that the whole Liverpool thing
No, that's the second part of my question, you see. Yeah, so... No, because the reason I say that is because you were on a trajectory. You were already working as an engineer. You were working at the record plant. Yeah. And you worked your way up literally from janitor on up. Yes. So it's not to discount what you were doing, but I'm saying is... that's the day John Lennon personally walks you into a session and says, can we give this guy something to do? And now suddenly you're working with Phil Spector and all these musicians.
Yeah. It took a, it took, it took a notable change.
But, but if it's not, if you don't think it's fair to put it that way, tell me why it isn't fair to put it that way. Cause that's why I asked the questions. I, I, I asked my questions, assumptions, but,
it did cause a huge change in my life. But I didn't think that day that it was going to be the kind of change that it turned out to be. I see. I see.
But looking back now, do you look at it that way?
Yes. Okay. For both good and for both bad and tragic. Yeah. And for me, you know, like, it led me on a really self-destructive kind of journey after his passing.
Yeah.
But for him to recognize me from a newspaper article in the Liverpool Echo in 1965 was very stunning. And my surprise was that he was... surprised to meet me. Like, of all the rooms I walk into, here's the guy that was like, you know, we should have been just on the front pages of our local newspaper. We just released Rubber Soul.
Yeah.
And there's these two guys on a ship with their guitars and their van from landing.
So for people who don't know the story, I actually knew the story. You and a friend go over to Liverpool, 1965.
How did Jack Douglas become involved in producing Lennon’s records?
It's the winter, I believe.
Yeah, December.
Okay. And you show up on a ship. You don't even have an immigration permit, nothing. You just show up and you decide you're going to be rock stars in Liverpool.
Not even a return trip ticket. But, you know, you had that energy once where it doesn't matter.
It's a kind of a beautiful blind faith or something. Yes. And which turned out, honestly, to be accurate because that has everything to do with why the day you meet John Lennon, you go, well, by the way... I was in Liverpool once. Yeah. And he knows the story. It's like he recognizes you from the story.
Yeah. You know what he asked me? You know, in that picture in the newspaper, I've got a 1955 Les Paul custom with a Bixby.
Okay. Was it with the one with the D'Addario pickup?
I can't remember. No, no, no. This is the original 1955 Magnesium pickups. Okay. The second question he asked me was, you still have that?
Yeah. See, now there's a musician.
He wasn't much interested in my partner's guitar. He had a Moserite, which I don't even think he knew what a Moserite was.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What was Jack Douglas's experience meeting John Lennon?
0:00–3:45
2
How did Jack Douglas become involved in producing Lennon’s records?
3:45–6:47
3
What challenges did Jack face while working with Phil Spector?
6:47–9:29
4
How did Jack Douglas contribute to Aerosmith's early albums?
9:29–12:27
5
What unique production techniques did Jack use for Cheap Trick at Budokan?
12:27–15:46
6
How did Jack Douglas navigate his career with various legendary artists?
15:46–19:05
7
What was Jack's perspective on the relationship between John Lennon and Yoko Ono?
19:05–22:18
8
How did Jack Douglas reflect on his journey through the music industry?
22:18–1:34:01
Speakers
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