dowd worked as an engineer and producer from the 1940s until the beginning of the 21st century. while working for atlantic records, he lived in westwood, nj with his wife jackie and his sons, steven and todd. he recorded albums by many artists including bee gees, eric clapton, lynyrd skynyrd, black oak arkansas, derek and the dominos, rod stewart, wishbone ash, new model army, cream, lulu, chicago, the allman brothers band, joe bonamassa, the j. geils band, meat loaf, sonny & cher, the rascals, the spinners, willie nelson, diana ross, eagles, the four seasons, kenny loggins, james gang, dusty springfield, eddie harris, charles mingus, herbie mann, booker t. & the m.g.'s, otis redding, aretha franklin, joe castro and primal scream. he was also an employee of apex studios in the 1950s. dowd received a grammy trustees award for his lifetime achievements in february 2002.