Columbia Records A&R executive and record producer Don DeVito has died, according to a tweet by Peter Fletcher, President Of Plan R Marketing, and "favored" by Sony's Greg Linn:
"My Hero, Don Devito. A great record man RIP #columbiarecords"
DeVito is most known to Bob Dylan fans for his production of the 1976 album, Desire. He co-produced the live albums Hard Rain and At Budokan, was "Captain In Charge" (and behind the remix of the 1999 reissue) on the 1978 album Street Legal, and produced the "concert audio" for The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration. He also worked on various compilations and archival projects, and was thanked on the album, Dylan & The Dead. DeVito has even been described as Dylan's publicist.
Emmylou Harris has credited DeVito for enlisting her on the Desire sessions. DeVito was a friend of Mary Martin's, who among other things, suggested Bob Dylan check out The Hawks (later The Band):
"There was a fellow at Columbia that was a fan, who was like an executive producer, and I think Dylan told him 'I need a girl singer.' Don DeVito was his name and I got a call that Dylan wants you to sing, but that wasn't true because he just wanted a girl singer. I mean we basically shook hands and started recording. I didn't know the songs, the lyrics were in front of me, and the band would start playing and he would kind of poke me when he wanted me to jump in. Somehow I watched his mouth with one eye and the lyrics with the other. You couldn't fix anything. What happened in a moment was on the record." (Emmylou Harris, Gibson.com, 2010).
In addition to his work with Dylan, DeVito produced, executive produced, or remixed recordings by Aerosmith, Carole King, Goo Goo Dolls, Tony Bennett, The Byrds, Ron Wood, Mott The Hoople, and many others. He has also worked with Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, and Pink Floyd.
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