I earlier asked about George Martin and his work in the classical side
before The Beatles.

Part of what stimulated that post was my perception that producers are
probably much more involved in the creative side of things in the pop/rock
field than in CM.  There are pop/rock producers that are stars in their own
right (Hugh Padgam, Brian Eno, Jimmy Jam to name a few off the top of my
head) and "performers" who are little more than fronts for the producers
(e.g., The Monkees, many anonymous "soul" singers, the current set of boy
or girl groups like 'N Sync).  Producers are routinely credited for
rescuing a pop/rock star with a 'new sound' or something of that sort.

As I thought about it, the closest parallel I could make to a pop/rock
producer in CM is to a conductor...

What do those of you who know much more than me about this think? Am I out
of line? I'm not saying the literal job of the pop producer is the same as
that of a conductor, but it seems to me that both are the individuals that
have the most control, aside from soloists, on the 'sound' of a recording
and the most influence on its feel.

Cheers,
William Jenks