Ramone, with 14 Grammys to his name, is the consummate Establishment producer. His clean professionalism has brought a touch of class to a wealth of baby boomer landmarks, from Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years
to Billy Joel's The Stranger
and Ray Charles's Genius Loves Company
. Over the course of his memoir, Ramone constantly drops these names and more, often veering into a string of anecdotes to illustrate a point. One page about artists' working methods, for example, includes mention of Frank Sinatra; Bob Dylan; Peter, Paul, and Mary; and Barbara Streisand, with little distinction made as to quality or genre. This makes for a readable but repetitive book. The conversational style means that certain artists are brought up again and again, and sometimes the book relies upon long block quotes from musicians that would have benefited from being pared down to their relevant lines (such as one in which Liberty DeVitto of Billy Joel's band talks about changing the rhythm of “Always a Woman to Me”). Amid all of this, there are genuinely interesting stories, and fans of Sinatra, Simon and Dylan should find pleasure in the long in-studio narratives. (Oct.)
