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Rubinesque

G-Fafif Jul 02 2013 01:58 PM

Rick Rubin, he who has crafted much of contemporary popular music for the past three decades, speaks to Newsweek or The Daily Beast or whatever it's called about the sweep of his remarkable career. Rubin is no stranger to the Billboard charts. Since the mid-1980s, he has been the industry’s very own burly, bearded version of Forrest Gump, appearing in the background, slightly blurry but ever present, at a remarkable number of key musical moments. Except that Rubin's ubiquity is not an accident. His production credits include LL Cool J’ Radio (which may have been the first real hip-hop album); The Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill; “Walk This Way” by Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith; Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (as executive producer); the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Blood Sugar Sex Magik; Tom Petty’s Wildflowers; Johnny Cash’s American Recordings series; and various songs and albums by Justin Timberlake, System of a Down, Metallica, Slayer, Danzig, Weezer, AC/DC, Nine Inch Nails ... The list goes on. Since purchasing Shangri-La in 2011—and since parting ways with Columbia Records, which he co-chaired from 2007 until 2012 or so—Rubin has recorded a string of hits right here in Malibu: the Chili Peppers’ I’m With You, the Avett Brothers’ The Carpenter, Kid Rock’s Born Free, Josh Groban’s Illuminations, Adele’s 21. “I always feel like there’s something magic in recording studios,” he says. “There’s a reason good music continues to be made in them. It’s just some mojo element.” But now Rubin may have topped himself. As we sit down in the garden—he with an espresso-protein shake, me with a glass of water—Black Sabbath’s long-awaited reunion album, 13, which Rubin produced, is perched at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Another Rubin production, Kanye West’s Yeezus, will soon displace Black Sabbath in the top slot, giving Rubin two consecutive chart-topping records by two different acts. Few, if any, other producers have ever managed such a feat. It’s the perfect moment to explore how Rubin got here—from Long Island to Malibu, from New York University to Shangri-La. Highlighted here because "Ricky," as I knew him, was my second-grade through high school classmate who made it very big. I turned him onto Kosher Comics and Uncle Floyd, but he pretty wisely avoided me when it came to musical tastes, though I imagine he could have given Alan O'Day an incredible boost. Last spoke to him 30 years ago last week. He was excited about Hüsker Dü. I was excited about Hubie Brooks. Somehow our paths diverged.

seawolf17 Jul 02 2013 02:03 PM Re: Rubinesque

Really? Neat. One of the all-time greats.

G-Fafif Jul 02 2013 02:07 PM Re: Rubinesque

Funny how he always describes himself as the "only punk in my high school," implying he was some kind of outcast. His musical tastes may have been singular -- he was in a band called The Pricks -- but he was a really popular guy. Not exactly Ferris Bueller but he seemed to get on well with everybody and get away with anything he chose. I've been reading profiles like these every few years since the mid-1980s. Still get a huge kick out of it.

Mets – Willets Point Jul 02 2013 02:13 PM Re: Rubinesque

I was hoping this thread would have portraits of curvy women.

G-Fafif Jul 02 2013 04:06 PM Re: Rubinesque

Mets – Willets Point wrote: I was hoping this thread would have portraits of curvy women. Woman with a curve.

Ashie62 Jul 02 2013 04:39 PM Re: Rubinesque

You gave him Uncle Floyd" to break many punk acts like the Ramones..

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 02 2013 05:06 PM Re: Rubinesque

It's nutso how much genre-breadth his career entails. He's got the widest musical career of any producer I can think of.

seawolf17 Jul 03 2013 07:38 AM Re: Rubinesque

G-Fafif wrote: Mets – Willets Point wrote: I was hoping this thread would have portraits of curvy women. Woman with a curve. I never saw the attraction to Jennie Finch until I met her in Rochester a few years back. Her husband Casey Daigle was with the Red Wings at the time, and we went to a game and ran into her in the team store. She's stunning in person.

TransMonk Jul 03 2013 08:32 AM Re: Rubinesque

Rubin is a personal hero of mine. I consider him the best rock producer of the past 25 years. Most everything he has touched has turned to gold (to my ears, anyway).

sharpie Jul 03 2013 08:56 AM Re: Rubinesque

On the other side of the coin I went to high school with Walter Afanasieff who produced the sounds of Michael Bolton and Mariah Carey.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 03 2013 09:24 AM Re: Rubinesque

I went to high school with Mariah Carey, who was produced by Walter Afanasieff.

Edgy MD Jul 03 2013 09:46 AM Re: Rubinesque

I went to high school with Rob Taylor, who produced Public Enemy and Tupac and other hip hop acts I mostly ignored. But I'm grateful for him introducing me to the Fat Boys.