John Leventhal
- Country
- Americana
- Musician
- composer
- record producer
- audio engineer
- Guitar
- bass guitar
- keyboard instruments
- drums
John Leventhal (born December 18, 1952) is an American musician, producer, songwriter, and recording engineer who has produced albums for William Bell, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Michelle Branch, Rosanne Cash, Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin, Sarah Jarosz, Rodney Crowell, Jim Lauderdale, Joan Osborne, Loudon Wainwright III and The Wreckers. He has won six Grammy Awards.[1]
Career
As a musician, he has worked with such artists as Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson, Bruce Hornsby, Elvis Costello, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Charlie Haden, David Crosby, Levon Helm, Edie Brickell, Paul Simon, Patty Larkin, Susan Tedeschi, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Steve Forbert, Kelly Willis, Donald Fagen, Ry Cooder, and Johnny Cash.
As a songwriter, over 200 of his songs have been recorded by various artists, including Rosanne Cash, Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn, Michelle Branch, The Tedeschi Trucks Band, Vince Gill, George Strait, Shelby Lynne, Patty Loveless, Jim Lauderdale, Joe Cocker and William Bell.
In 1988, he produced and co-wrote Shawn Colvin’s Grammy winning debut album Steady On. He arranged and played multiple instruments on Marc Cohn's 1991 hit "Walking in Memphis". In 1998, he won a Grammy Award for Record and Song of the Year for producing and co-writing the song "Sunny Came Home"[2] (a 1997 hit for Colvin). Leventhal produced and co-wrote all of the songs on Rosanne Cash's 2014 release The River & the Thread. On February 8, 2015, The River & the Thread won three Grammy awards: Americana Album of the Year, Best American Roots Song for "A Feather's Not a Bird" and Best American Roots Performance for "A Feather's Not a Bird".[3]
He produced and co-wrote most of the songs on soul singer William Bell's 2016 Stax Records release This Is Where I Live, which won the 2017 Grammy for Americana Album of the Year. In 2018 Leventhal produced the song "Let My Mother Live", co-written with Marc Cohn and performed by The Blind Boys Of Alabama; the song was nominated for a Grammy for Best American Roots Performance. The song "Crossing To Jerusalem" written with Rosanne Cash was nominated for Best American Roots song for the 2019 Grammys.[4] Sarah Jarosz's album World on the Ground, produced by Leventhal, won the 2021 Grammy for Best Americana Album.[5]
Leventhal has produced albums that have been nominated for a total of 19 Grammy Awards.[citation needed]
In September 2015, Leventhal received the Americana Music Association's award for Instrumentalist of the Year.[6]
Leventhal also composed scores to the films Winter Solstice (2004) and Big Stone Gap (2014).[7]
On January 26, 2024, Leventhal released his debut album Rumble Strip (RumbleStrip Records).[8]
John Leventhal's songs are represented by Downtown Music Publishing.[9]
Personal life
Leventhal lives with his wife Rosanne Cash and their children in New York City.[10]
Leventhal's mother was of Irish and Cuban descent, and his father was Jewish.[11] In 2014, Newsweek reported "Before [Leventhal and Cash] were married by a rabbi, Johnny Cash said, 'I've been waiting 40 years for one of my daughters to marry a Jew.'"[11]
References
- ^ "Artist: John Leventhal". www.grammy.com. Recording Academy. 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
- ^ ""Sunny Came Home" Wins Song of the Year". The Recording Academy. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- ^ "Rosanne Cash Reflects on Grammy Wins Then and Now". Rolling Stone. February 10, 2015. Archived from the original on October 17, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- ^ "Grammy Awards 2017: See the Full Winners List". Billboard. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- ^ "Artist: Sarah Jarosz". www.grammy.com. Recording Academy. 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
- ^ "Americana Music Awards: The Winners". Country Music Television, Inc. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- ^ "Winter Solstice". TVGuide.com. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- ^ "The hot young thing? At 71, John Leventhal has made a debut album". AP News. January 25, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
- ^ "John Leventhal". Downtown Music Publishing. Archived from the original on August 18, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- ^ Verna, Paul (April 10, 1999). "Leventhal Juggles Record-Making Tasks As Writer, Arranger, Performer, Producer". Billboard. Cincinnati, Ohio.
- ^ a b Elder, Sean (March 26, 2014). "Bred in the Bone". Newsweek. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
External links
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- "Nel blu, dipinto di blu (Volare)" – Domenico Modugno (songwriter) (1958)
- "The Battle of New Orleans" – Jimmy Driftwood (songwriter) (1959)
- "Theme of Exodus" – Ernest Gold (songwriter) (1960)
- "Moon River" – Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini (songwriters) (1961)
- "What Kind of Fool Am I?" – Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley (songwriters) (1962)
- "Days of Wine and Roses" – Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini (songwriters) (1963)
- "Hello, Dolly!" – Jerry Herman (songwriter) (1964)
- "The Shadow of Your Smile" – Paul Francis Webster & Johnny Mandel (songwriters) (1965)
- "Michelle" – John Lennon & Paul McCartney (songwriters) (1966)
- "Up, Up, and Away" – Jimmy Webb (songwriter) (1967)
- "Little Green Apples" – Bobby Russell (songwriter) (1968)
- "Games People Play" – Joe South (songwriter) (1969)
- "Bridge over Troubled Water" – Paul Simon (songwriter) (1970)
- "You've Got a Friend" – Carole King (songwriter) (1971)
- "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" – Ewan MacColl (songwriter) (1972)
- "Killing Me Softly with His Song" – Norman Gimbel & Charles Fox (songwriters) (1973)
- "The Way We Were" – Alan and Marilyn Bergman & Marvin Hamlisch (songwriters) (1974)
- "Send In the Clowns" – Stephen Sondheim (songwriter) (1975)
- "I Write the Songs" – Bruce Johnston (songwriter) (1976)
- "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)" – Barbra Streisand & Paul Williams (songwriters) / "You Light Up My Life" – Joe Brooks (songwriter) (1977)
- "Just the Way You Are" – Billy Joel (songwriter) (1978)
- "What a Fool Believes" – Kenny Loggins & Michael McDonald (songwriters) (1979)
- "Sailing" – Christopher Cross (songwriter) (1980)
- "Bette Davis Eyes" – Donna Weiss & Jackie DeShannon (songwriters) (1981)
- "Always on My Mind" – Johnny Christopher, Mark James & Wayne Carson (songwriters) (1982)
- "Every Breath You Take" – Sting (songwriter) (1983)
- "What's Love Got to Do with It" – Graham Lyle & Terry Britten (songwriters) (1984)
- "We Are the World" – Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie (songwriters) (1985)
- "That's What Friends Are For" – Burt Bacharach & Carole Bayer Sager (songwriters) (1986)
- "Somewhere Out There" – James Horner, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil (songwriters) (1987)
- "Don't Worry, Be Happy" – Bobby McFerrin (songwriter) (1988)
- "Wind Beneath My Wings" – Larry Henley & Jeff Silbar (songwriters) (1989)
- "From a Distance" – Julie Gold (songwriter) (1990)
- "Unforgettable" – Irving Gordon (songwriter) (1991)
- "Tears in Heaven" – Eric Clapton & Will Jennings (songwriters) (1992)
- "A Whole New World" – Alan Menken & Tim Rice (songwriters) (1993)
- "Streets of Philadelphia" – Bruce Springsteen (songwriter) (1994)
- "Kiss from a Rose" – Seal (songwriter) (1995)
- "Change the World" – Gordon Kennedy, Wayne Kirkpatrick & Tommy Sims (songwriters) (1996)
- "Sunny Came Home" – Shawn Colvin & John Leventhal (songwriters) (1997)
- "My Heart Will Go On" – James Horner & Will Jennings (songwriters) (1998)
- "Smooth" – Itaal Shur & Rob Thomas (songwriters) (1999)
- "Beautiful Day" – Adam Clayton, David Evans, Laurence Mullen & Paul Hewson (songwriters) (2000)
- "Fallin'" – Alicia Keys (songwriter) (2001)
- "Don't Know Why" – Jesse Harris (songwriter) (2002)
- "Dance with My Father" – Richard Marx & Luther Vandross (songwriters) (2003)
- "Daughters" – John Mayer (songwriter) (2004)
- "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" – Adam Clayton, David Evans, Laurence Mullen & Paul Hewson (songwriters) (2005)
- "Not Ready to Make Nice" – Emily Burns Erwin, Martha Maguire, Natalie Maines Pasdar & Dan Wilson (songwriters) (2006)
- "Rehab" – Amy Winehouse (songwriter) (2007)
- "Viva la Vida" – Guy Berryman, Jonathan Buckland, William Champion & Christopher Martin (songwriters) (2008)
- "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" – Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart (songwriters) (2009)
- "Need You Now" – Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott (songwriters) (2010)
- "Rolling in the Deep" – Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth (songwriters) (2011)
- "We Are Young" – Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess (songwriters) (2012)
- "Royals" – Joel Little & Ella Yelich O'Connor (songwriters) (2013)
- "Stay with Me" (Darkchild version) – James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith (songwriters) (2014)
- "Thinking Out Loud" – Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge (songwriters) (2015)
- "Hello" – Adele Adkins & Greg Kurstin (songwriters) (2016)
- "That's What I Like" – Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip (songwriters) (2017)
- "This Is America" – Donald Glover, Ludwig Göransson & Jeffery Lamar Williams (songwriters) (2018)
- "Bad Guy" – Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell (songwriters) (2019)
- "I Can't Breathe" – Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas (songwriters) (2020)
- "Leave the Door Open" – Brandon Anderson, Christopher Brody Brown, Dernst Emile II & Bruno Mars (songwriters) (2021)
- "Just Like That" – Bonnie Raitt (songwriter) (2022)
- "What Was I Made For?" – Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell (songwriters) (2023)