Shel Talmy, Who Produced Hits by The Who, The Kinks and Other 1960s British Bands, Dies at 87

Shel Talmy, a Chicago-born music producer and arranger who worked on such British punk classics as The Who’s “My Generation” and The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me,” helped oversee hits by Manfred Mann and the duo Chad & Jeremy and was an early backer of David Bowie, has died. He was 87.

Talmy’s publicist announced that he died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. The cause was complications from a stroke.

Talmy was a recording engineer in his mid-20s when he visited London for a planned vacation and ended up in the midst of the emerging 1960s British rock music scene. As one of the rare independent producers of the time, he signed up The Kinks and oversaw many of their biggest hits during the mid-’60s, from the raw breakthrough single “You Really Got Me” to the polished satire of “A Well Respected Man” and “Dedicated Follower of Fashion.”

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Talmy would then oversee the rise of another British act, The Who, producing such landmarks as “My Generation,” featuring Keith Moon’s explosive drumming and Roger Daltrey’s stuttering vocals, and “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,” an early experiment in guitar feedback.

Talmy’s other British hits included Chad & Jeremy’s “A Summer Song,” The Easybeats’ “Friday on My Mind” and Manfred Mann’s cover of Bob Dylan’s “Just Like a Woman.” He also worked on some of the first recordings featuring Bowie, who was known as Davy Jones at the time, and used a teen-aged Jimmy Page as a session guitarist for The Kinks.

His post-1960s credits include projects with Vicki Brown, Band of Joy and The Damned.

Talmy is survived by his wife, Jan Talmy, brother Leonard Talmy, daughter Jonna Sargeant and granddaughter Shay Berg.