Posted on 30th Nov 2011 @ 5:46 PM

Grammy award winning record producer and former Columbi Records A & R executive Don DeVito passed away this past Friday at the age of 72. While at Columbia, he helped with the successful careers of some of Rock's best known artists including Billy Joel, Aerosmith, Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen, and Simon and Garfunkle. However, he is probably best known as the producer for Bob Dylan's greatest works: ‘Blood on the Tracks’ and ‘Desire.’ DeVito also produced the live recordings of  ‘Hard Rain,’ which documented Dylan’s 1975-76 Rolling Thunder Revue tour, and ‘At Budokan,’ from Dylan’s 1978 world tour. In addition, DeVito oversaw a Dylan TV special based on ‘Hard Rain’ that was broadcast on NBC in 1976.

His Grammy Award was given to Mr. DeVito in 1989 for his work on ‘Folkways — A Vision Shared: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie & Leadbelly." This featured track from Dylan, Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Brian Wilson and U2 among others. DeVito was also helped produce ‘The Concert for New York City,’ an all-star concert post 9/11 concert which raised more than a million dollars for the Robin Hood Relief Fund.