Jon Landau

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For the film producer, see Jon Landau (film producer).

Jon Landau is an American music critic, manager, and record producer, most known for his association in all three capacities with Bruce Springsteen.

As a critic, Landau wrote for Rolling Stone and other publications. He had a history of giving controversial reviews. At the height of his Creem prowess, Landau accused Eric Clapton of being merely a "master of Blues Cliches". Later, he gave The Rolling Stones' record Sticky Fingers a zero star review in Rolling Stone magazine [1]. The magazine later listed it as the 63rd greatest album of all time [2]. Landau, however, was unrepentant.

Landau first produced The MC5, a Detroit based band with overt political overtones. Landau replaced the group's original manager John Sinclair when Sinclair was sentenced to nine years in state prison for drug possession. Landau advised the group against continued drug use, and produced their most commercially successful albums, which still lost money for Atlantic Records.

Landau's prophetic 1974 article in The Real Paper [3], wherein he famously claimed "I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen", is credited by Nick Hornby [4] and others with fostering Sprinsteen's popularity.

Landau was then hired by Springsteen, and is cited as co-producer on Springsteen studio records from 1975's Born to Run, through 1991's Human Touch and Lucky Town. He was instrumental in encouraging Springsteen to sue his first manager Mike Appel, which resulted in a protracted court battle and absence from the studio for Springsteen at the height of Springsteen's first taste of popularity. Landau is also considered to have influenced Springsteen artistically [5] as well as professionally.

Other artists that Landau has managed and/or produced include Livingston Taylor, Jackson Browne, and Shania Twain, among others.

Landau was once married to the New York Times film critic (and later book reviewer) Janet Maslin.