Today’s featured Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee is not Derek and the Dominos. Nor is it Eric Clapton, who is a member of the Hall three times over but not with this band (he’s in as a solo artist as well as with Cream and The Yardbirds).

Instead, I chose this song to acknowledge its producer, Tom Dowd, one of the few Rock Hall members who made it in for his engineering and producing resume.

Dowd was inducted in the Musical Excellence category, which is reserved for less heralded artists who likely won’t make it in through the voting process. These inductees are chosen by a special committee.

I don’t know the name Tom Dowd, but reading through his career highlights it’s easy to see why he was selected for this honor. He has worked in every conceivable genre and with a laundry list of talented people who could make up their own Hall of Fame.

Just some of those collaborators: The Allman Brothers Band, the Bee Gees, Ray Charles, Chicago, Eric Clapton, John Coltrane, Eagles, The Four Seasons, Aretha Franklin, Kenny Loggins, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Meat Loaf, Willie Nelson, Otis Redding, Diana Ross, Sonny & Cher, Dusty Springfield, and Rod Stewart.

Dowd is also credited with pioneering the use of multitrack recording and other techniques that became staples of popular music production. His impact was chronicled in a 2003 documentary called Tom Dowd & the Language of Music.

While the Hall is best known as a celebration of performers, I’m glad it makes room for people like this whose massive impact goes largely unnoticed.