Richard Podolor

Producer BORN 1936

Born in Los Angeles, Richard Podolor started as a singer, but ultimately carved out his reputation in the backrooms of American pop. An early (uncredited) co-write was drummer Sandy Nelson’s 1959 US Top 5 smash Teen Beat: as a guitarist, Podolor assisted in the birth of surf rock when he led Richie Allen & The Pacific Surfers. Running his independent American Recording Co studio in Hollywood, he would engineer sessions by The Monkees, Electric Prunes and Donovan before producing Steppenwolf’s and Three Dog Night’s signature hits. From hard rock (Iron Butterfly) to country rock (The Dillards), there were few genres that evaded him through the ’60s and ’70s, while rock’s heavy hitters (Don Henley, Heart, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac) hired his facilities in the ’80s. Three Dog Night singer Danny Hutton recalled Podolor selflessly teaching him how to produce, adding that his friend had, “the best ears of anyone I’ve ever met”.