Tom Dowd, legendary producer and recording engineer behind top music hits such as Aretha Franklin's Respect, Ben E. King's Stand by Me and Derek and the Dominoes' Layla, died Sunday at an Aventura assisted-living facility after more than 50 years in the music business. He was 77.

A South Florida resident since the 1960s, Dowd was a pioneer in the studio, considered the first to introduce the eight-track recording machine into a major studio in 1957.

"I wanted a machine that you could back up and add to it. That put the chink in everyone's armor, because Atlantic now had a unique sound," Dowd told The Herald in a 1995 interview.

Atlantic Records was Dowd's home for more than 20 years, where he worked with a stable of artists signed to the label between 1947 and the mid-1960s. Later in his career, he was a sought-after producer.

Among other songs Dowd had a hand in: Bobby Darin's Splish Splash, Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird and Ray Charles' What I Say.'

Artists loved to work with Dowd. He was the man behind the scenes for Clapton, who described him as "the ideal recording man" in a 1996 Herald interview.

A MASTER

Allman Brothers' drummer, Butch Trucks, said Dowd was a master in the studio. ''He knows what he's doing, probably better than anyone in the business."

For Atlantic, Dowd hopped around the country, recording both in Memphis and in South Florida. He recorded black artists such as Wilson Pickett, Ray Charles, James Brown, Otis Redding, John Coltrane and Sam and Dave.

"He covered so many genres of music and had so much passion for what he did," his 24-year-old daughter Dana Dowd said.

But music was not originally in Dowd's agenda. Although both his parents were involved in the music field -- his father was a theatrical producer and his mother a singer -- Dowd did not follow his family footsteps, at least not initially.

He attended night classes at the City College of New York while working days at Columbia University's physics department. There he helped operate the cyclotron, an instrument that studied atomic particles, making Dowd a part of The Manhattan Project.

In 1947, he took on a part-time job with Carl Fischer, a music publishing company.

"I didn't know anything about cutting records. I learned in three or four days," Dowd told The Herald in 1996.

Working with the company was Dowd's introduction into the music business, which led to his work with Atlantic.

Miami publicist Susan Brustman worked with Dowd at Atlantic in Miami and described Dowd as special.

"There were very few producers that had his talent. People flew down here to record with him," she said.

HONORED

Recently, Dowd was honored with the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences' Lifetime Achievement Award for his career in producing and engineering work, and he was cooperating with South Florida filmmakers for a 75-minute documentary on his life and career.

When asked in 1996 if he would have chosen a different career, Dowd said he thought about the corporate world for a while.

'But at the same time, I wouldn't trade any living experience I've had for a corporate jet and a limousine. I mean, Eric Clapton might call me up and say, 'Hey Tom, want to go fishing?' Now that's living," he said.

Besides his daughter, Dowd is survived by wife Cheryl Dowd, sons Todd and Steven Dowd, and his longtime friends Marlene Arel and Robert Thomas.

No funeral services will be held.