Al Schmitt, Grammy winning engineer and producer, dead at 91

One of the world’s most honored musical producers and engineers has died

NEW YORK -- Twenty-time Grammy winner Al Schmitt, whose extraordinary career as a recording engineer and producer included albums by Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and many other of the top performers of the past 60 years, has died at age 91. Schmitt's family announced on Facebook that he died Monday, without identifying a specific cause. Schmitt lived in the Los Angeles area. A relative, who did not want to be identified, confirmed Schmitt’s death to The Associated Press. “The world has lost a much loved and respected extraordinary individual, who led an extraordinary life,” the Facebook posting reads in part. "The most honored and awarded recording producer/engineer of all time, his parting words at any speaking engagement were, 'Please be kind to all living things.'” He won his first Grammy in 1963, then collected 19 more competitive awards and the honorary Recording Academy Trustees Award, in 2006. Schmitt worked on more than 150 gold records, in a wide range of styles. He engineered Henry Mancini’s “Moon River” and Sam Cooke’s “Another Saturday Night,” Steely Dan’s “Aja” and Madonna’s “This Used to be My Playground.” He engineered Natalie Cole’s blockbuster “Unforgettable” album and Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were.” He produced “Volunteers” and several other Jefferson Airplane albums, helped produce Neil Young’s “On the Beach” and more recently Dylan’s “Shadows in the Night” and McCartney’s “Kisses on the Bottom.”