RIP: Producer Sandy Pearlman Dies At 72

Photo Credit: Robert Duncan’s Facebook

Pitchfork reports that beloved Rock producer, songwriter, studio executive, and poet Sandy Pearlman has died at age 72.

After Sandy Pearlman suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, his longtime friend Robert Duncan set up a GoFundMe page to help aid the producers recovery. Robert Duncan initially broke the news via Facebook, and he has now confirmed his friends death with a touching photo (featured above) with the caption stating Pearlman, “passed peacefully surrounded by love”.

Duncan also praised his friend on his GoFundMe page that he set up back in June.”He is a pioneer of rock criticism, at Crawdaddy and other seminal publications, a pioneer of heavy metal (a phrase he may have been the first to use, as a rock critic), a pioneer of punk, paisley underground and goth”, Duncan wrote.

Sandy Pearlman is best known for his work with Blue Öyster Cult and The Clash. Pearlman was major factor in the creation of Blue Öyster Cult and even gave the band their first name, Soft White Underbelly. Pearlman also was booking Blue Öyster Cult’s first gigs around New York,  and found them the interview with Clive Davis (then Columbia Record President) who got them their first deal.

Pearlman continued to produce Blue Öyster Cult’s debut self-titled album along with the seven more albums that would come. Sandy Pearlman assisted with the producing and writing for some of the bands largest hits, “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”, “Godzilla”, and “Burnin’ For You”.

Pearlman produced for a variety of groups between 1970-90 (Pavlov’s Dog, the Dictators, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra). In 1978, CBS brought Pearlman in to produce The Clash’s second LP, Give ‘Em Enough Rope, to help grow the popularity of the punk music genre. Pearlman eventually served as manager to Black Sabbath for a few years between 1979-83. He then went on to become Vice-President of eMusic, an early online music retailer. In 2009, Sandy Pearlman was named an at-large member of the National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress. Rest in peace Sandy Pearlman.