I can’t believe I managed to miss this news. I was just on the phone with my friend Neal Smith (2011 R&R Hall of Fame Inductee with the band called Alice Cooper) and he sort of casually mentioned to me, “You know that Jack Richardson passed away a couple of weeks ago, right?” Seriously, I had no idea. Richardson was a studio legend best known for producing over fifteen albums for The Guess Who, but he’s also responsible for sending a young Bob Ezrin to New York to produce Alice Cooper (the band)‘s breakthrough album, Love it to Death (1971). He went on to produce John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy and Alanis Morrisette’s phenomenally successful debut, Jagged Little Pill among many other best selling albums. Jack was considered to be a “Drummer’s Dream Producer” and during the time I wrote for Modern Drummer I interviewed many players who sang Jack’s praises. Jack Richardson is also the father of noted music producer Garth Richardson, who actually mixed the sound for the reunited Alice Cooper Band when they performed at Revolver Magazine’s Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles last month. Richardson was 81 years old when he passed away on May 13, 2011 after years of declining health. You can read more about the life and career of Jack Richardson at This Link.