Never Say No to a Rock Star

June 20, 2016
In an uneven memoir, psychotherapist Berger tells of his life in the early 1970s as an apprentice to legendary producer Phil Ramone before putting his own stamp on numerous recordings as an engineer for A&R Studios. Ramone, as Berger describes, was "brilliant and a baby, an inspiring hitmaker and a world-class psycho." With humor and self-deprecation, Berger shares a glimpse of life behind the scenes with artists including the New York Dolls, and Solomon Burke. Paul Simon, he recalls, was a perfectionist, "driven by some mysterious demon." Berger takes pleasure in recalling that there's a little bit of his own blood in Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, which he helped produce. He calls Judy Collins one of his "great teachers" because of her artistic sensibility, which he calls a "way of being in the world and responsiveness to the highest levels of quality and feeling." Phoebe Snow reveals to him through her attitude toward life and music that the artist "sees for us and suffers for us because we'd rather not go there ourselves." Berger emphasizes the oft-repeated theme that music enables us to transcend the moment and deeply and emotionally connect with others and ourselves in unforeseen ways.